Optimal
Chief Technology & Product Officer | SaaS + Proprietary Hardware | Platform Modernisation | PE-Backed
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Chief Technology & Product Officer | SaaS + Proprietary Hardware | Platform Modernisation | PE-Backed | Microsoft / Azure Cloud migration | UK Remote
Salary: Up to £200,000 + strong package
Contract: Permanent
Working model: Fully remote, with occasional UK travel (fully expensed) to meet business units
Location: UK-based, full right to work required
Required:
C-level technology + product leadership across Engineering, Architecture, Security and IT, in a software + hardware business. Microsoft / Azure cloud migration at scale (Non-Negotiable)
🚨 Please only apply if you have ALL of the following 🚨
- Operated at CTO, CTPO or equivalent C-level, owning Product, Engineering, Architecture, Security and IT under one function
- Personally defined and led large-scale technology and product transformation end-to-end
- Led a business or product combining software with hardware, embedded systems or IoT
- Owned platform modernisation or re-architecture of a legacy estate, making the target-state architecture calls yourself
- Experience inside a PE-backed or investor-backed, growth-stage business
Role Overview
This is a genuinely special one - a key executive hire for an investor-backed business operating at the heart of essential, large-scale UK infrastructure.
The platform is a rare combination: cloud-hosted SaaS paired with proprietary hardware deployed at scale in the field. That mix creates architectural, operational and commercial challenges most tech leaders never touch - and it's exactly why this role needs someone who has genuinely done it before.
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You'll unify Product, Engineering, Architecture, Infrastructure, Security and IT into one cohesive, customer-centric function. You'll own the technology and product vision, drive platform modernisation, lift engineering maturity, and get the estate secure, scalable and well-governed ahead of a planned exit. Strategic at board level, but with the technical depth to make the hard architectural and investment calls yourself.
What You'll Own
- A unified technology and product strategy across SaaS and hardware, aligned to the value creation plan
- The shift from a sales-led to a product-led operating model - culture, governance and commercial framework
- Modernisation and re-architecture of legacy platforms, defining target-state architecture and the key trade-offs
- Engineering process maturity - CI/CD, test automation, DevOps tooling and developer experience
- Technology leadership for on-device hardware, firmware, embedded software and hardware-software integration
- Customer-centric product roadmaps tied directly to ARR growth, retention and measurable value
- Security and compliance posture across recognised industry certifications, secure-by-design throughout
- Building and developing a high-performing tech and product leadership team, reducing key-person dependency
- Board, investor and due diligence engagement - a credible senior voice through exit preparation
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What They're Looking For
- A leader who has personally driven transformation, not sat inside a wider programme
- Deep experience of software + hardware constraints on roadmap, architecture and delivery
- Proven platform modernisation and technical debt reduction with measurable outcomes
- Strong secure-by-design grounding and comfort with security and compliance frameworks
- Commercial acumen that connects technology investment to enterprise value and exit readiness
- The judgement to be the final decision-maker across Product, Engineering, Architecture, Hardware, Security and IT
Nice to Have
- Background in complex software + hardware or embedded/IoT product ecosystems
- Microsoft / Azure cloud migration at scale
- Experience preparing a technology function for technical due diligence or PE exit
If you've led a software + hardware business through modernisation and out the other side - and you want a genuinely high-impact executive seat - get in touch for a fast response.
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