Interim Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
Position Overview
Our client is seeking an Interim Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to provide executive leadership during a period of organizational and technology transformation. This executive will serve as a stabilizing presence for the technology organization while evaluating the current state, identifying improvement opportunities, and helping establish the foundation for a long-term technology strategy. The engagement is expected to last approximately 3-6 months while a permanent CTO search is completed.
Key Responsibilities
- Provide steady leadership and guidance to the technology organization during a leadership transition.
- Assess the current technology organization, including leadership structure, team capabilities, operating model, and technical functions.
- Partner closely with executive stakeholders to evaluate the current technology landscape and define recommendations for a future-state organization.
- Develop and document a prioritized set of strategic, operational, and organizational initiatives for the incoming permanent CTO.
- Lead efforts to document current application architecture, infrastructure, platforms, and technology operations.
- Identify organizational, technology, and process risks that could impact scalability, execution, or business objectives.
- Establish recommendations for technology governance, organizational design, and execution practices.
- Serve as a trusted advisor to executive leadership on technology strategy, engineering effectiveness, and transformation initiatives.
- Support a seamless transition to the permanent CTO through comprehensive documentation, knowledge transfer, and transition planning.
Qualifications
- Previous experience as a CTO, Chief Technology Executive, EVP Technology, or comparable senior technology leader.
- Proven success leading technology organizations through transformation, modernization, or organizational change.
- Deep background across software engineering, architecture, infrastructure, cloud technologies, and technology operations.
- Experience conducting organizational assessments and building future-state operating models.
- Strong executive communication skills with the ability to influence technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Ability to quickly assess complex environments, establish credibility, and drive alignment across leadership teams.
Preferred Experience
- Financial services, fintech, payments, lending, banking, or other highly regulated industry experience.
- Experience supporting private equity-backed or growth-stage organizations.
- Prior interim executive leadership or consulting experience.
- Experience partnering closely with Product and Operations leaders to improve organizational alignment and delivery effectiveness.
Engagement Details
- Interim executive engagement (approximately 3-6 months).
- Focused on assessment, stabilization, transformation planning, organizational evaluation, and transition readiness.
- Executive-level interaction across Technology, Product, Operations, and senior leadership teams.
About Korn Ferry
Korn Ferry unleashes potential in people, teams, and organizations. We work with our clients to design optimal organization structures, roles, and responsibilities. We help them hire the right people and advise them on how to reward and motivate their workforce while developing professionals as they navigate and advance their careers. To learn more, please visit Korn Ferry at www.Kornferry.com
