At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead technology strategy and build a high-performing engineering team for growth.
- Company: Fast-growing tech business with a proven digital platform.
- Benefits: Up to £150,000 salary, hybrid work, and a supportive culture.
- Other info: Opportunity to influence architecture and foster a culture of excellence.
- Why this job: Shape the future of technology in an ambitious company and drive impactful change.
- Qualifications: Experience in leading tech teams and scaling startups or scale-ups.
The predicted salary is between 63000 - 77000 £ per year.
- London | Hybrid – three days per week in the office
- Up to £150,000 base salary, plus share options
The opportunity
We are working with a fast-growing, technology-led business to appoint its first Chief Technology Officer.
The company has built a proven digital platform, established a strong recurring-revenue base and is now preparing for its next stage of growth.
It needs a CTO who can define the technology vision, evolve the platform and build the internal engineering capability required to scale.
This is an executive leadership role, but it is not one that sits far away from the technology.
You will remain close enough to the architecture, platform and delivery detail to challenge decisions, raise standards and recognise what good looks like.
The current development function comprises approximately 15 outsourced specialists across backend, frontend, mobile, QA, analysis, project management and delivery.
A central part of your remit will be leading this capability while building a high-performing in-house engineering team and culture.
- What you’ll do
- Define and deliver a technology strategy aligned with the company’s commercial and product ambitions.
- Assess the existing platform and guide its evolution into a secure, reliable and scalable architecture.
- Identify and manage technical debt, platform risk and future investment priorities.
- Design the engineering organisation and build critical capability in-house.
- Recruit, develop and retain strong engineering leaders and teams.
- Create a culture of ownership, collaboration, technical excellence and continuous improvement.
- Lead the existing outsourced development function and determine the right long-term balance between internal and external capability.
- Improve engineering practices across planning, testing, CI/CD, observability, security, incident response and reliability.
- Partner closely with product and commercial leaders, connecting technology investment to customer value and measurable business outcomes.
- Champion the effective use of data and AI across product development and internal operations.
- Communicate technology priorities, risks, trade-offs and progress clearly at leadership level.
- What we’re looking for
- Significant experience leading technology or engineering within a startup moving into scale-up, or a scale-up entering its next stage. This is essential.
- A demonstrable record of building engineering teams, in-house capability and culture from scratch or through a substantial transformation.
- Strong architectural judgement across modern Saa S platforms, APIs, data, infrastructure, security and reliability.
- The technical credibility to challenge and support engineering teams without needing to operate as the principal hands‑on developer.
- Using AI to improve software delivery, product capabilities or internal operations.
- Experience leading internal, outsourced and distributed engineering teams.
- Commercial awareness and the ability to balance speed, quality, cost, risk and customer value.
- A strong product mindset and experience shaping priorities alongside product and commercial leaders.
- Clear, low-ego leadership with the ability to create alignment and explain complex technical decisions to non-technical stakeholders.
- Comfort operating in an ambitious environment where not everything has already been defined.
- Leading Ruby on Rails teams or working closely with teams responsible for a Ruby-based platform.
- Subscription, marketplace or other recurring‑revenue digital products.
- Payment platforms such as Stripe.
- Native mobile applications.
Hands‑on Ruby expertise is not required.
Experience of the ecosystem would be beneficial, but leadership, architectural judgement and relevant scale‑up experience are considerably more important.
- The package
- Base salary up to £150,000
- Company pension
- Hybrid working, with three days per week in the London office
- Collaborative and supportive working culture
This is an opportunity to shape the technical future of a proven, ambitious business and build an engineering organisation capable of supporting its next phase of growth.
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Chief Technology Officer in London employer: TrueNorth
Join a dynamic and innovative fitness tech company that values your expertise and offers a flexible working environment, allowing you to work from home with just one visit to London each month. With a strong focus on employee growth, you'll have the opportunity to take ownership of complex projects while collaborating closely with leadership, ensuring your contributions are recognised and impactful. Embrace a culture that fosters creativity and teamwork, making it an ideal place for passionate engineers looking to make a difference.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Chief Technology Officer in London
✨Join Local Tech Meetups
Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at TrueNorth or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!
✨Contribute to Open Source Projects
Show off your coding chops by jumping into open-source projects. Not only does this give you practical experience, but it also gets you noticed in the dev community. You'll create a killer portfolio that speaks volumes about your skills to TrueNorth.
✨Tap into Online Developer Communities
Don’t underestimate the power of online developer communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and even Reddit. Participate in discussions, share your projects, and build your visibility. We can often find opportunities through these channels that can lead to a full-time gig at companies like TrueNorth.
✨Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles
Keep your eyes peeled on job boards that focus on tech roles. Sites like TechCareers or Stack Overflow Jobs can often have listings for companies like TrueNorth that might not show up on broader job sites. Make it a habit to check these regularly, and don’t hesitate to apply directly through our website!
We think you need these skills to ace Chief Technology Officer in London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at TrueNorth.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at TrueNorth and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!
How to prepare for a job interview at TrueNorth
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If TrueNorth uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.
