Interim Chief Technology Officer (CTO) / Head of Engineering
Position Overview
A high-growth B2B software organization is seeking an Interim CTO (or equivalent technology executive) to provide hands-on leadership during a period of executive transition. This leader will stabilize the engineering organization, partner closely with executive leadership, and help position the company for its next phase of growth while a permanent technology leader is identified.
This is a true interim engagement focused on maintaining momentum, supporting engineering teams, evaluating technology strategy, and ensuring alignment between product vision and technology execution.
Key Responsibilities
- Provide hands-on leadership and guidance to engineering and technology teams during a leadership transition.
- Partner closely with executive and product leadership to align technology priorities with business objectives.
- Assess the current technology organization, engineering processes, architecture, and development practices.
- Establish stability, accountability, and execution discipline across the engineering function.
- Guide technical decision-making related to platform architecture, scalability, infrastructure, and product development.
- Support ongoing AI-driven product initiatives, data platforms, and emerging technology capabilities.
- Evaluate organizational capabilities, identify gaps, and recommend improvements to team structure, processes, and operating models.
- Mentor engineering leaders and technical team members while fostering a collaborative, innovation-focused culture.
- Participate in the evaluation and technical assessment of candidates for permanent technology leadership and key engineering roles.
- Develop transition plans, recommendations, and documentation to ensure a successful handoff to the incoming permanent leader.
Qualifications
- Previous experience as a CTO, Chief Technology Officer, VP of Engineering, Head of Engineering, or similar technology leadership position.
- Proven success leading engineering organizations within high-growth software, SaaS, or technology-driven businesses.
- Hands-on technology leadership experience with the ability to engage deeply in architecture, engineering, and technical problem-solving without necessarily being an individual contributor.
- Strong background in cloud-native environments, platform architecture, distributed systems, and modern software development practices.
- Experience scaling products, engineering teams, and technical organizations in fast-paced environments.
- Demonstrated success partnering with Product and executive leadership teams to drive business and technology alignment.
- Strong communication, stakeholder management, and leadership skills.
Preferred Experience
- Experience leading organizations that leverage artificial intelligence, machine learning, large language models (LLMs), generative AI, or agent-based technologies within customer-facing products.
- Experience with cloud platforms, modern application architectures, search and data technologies, and highly scalable SaaS platforms.
- Background supporting early-stage, venture-backed, private equity-backed, or high-growth organizations.
- Prior interim executive leadership or consulting experience.
Engagement Details
- Interim executive engagement.
- Focused on organizational stability, engineering leadership, technology strategy, AI-enabled product development, and transition planning.
- Opportunity to partner directly with executive leadership while helping shape the foundation for future technology growth and innovation.
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
