Summary
As Chief Technology Officer (CTO), you will contribute to the technology strategy, lead the technology roadmap and ensure that it is in alignment with business goals. Your duties include identifying long- and short-term technology and digital needs, overseeing system designs and changes and leading technical teams in everyday operations.
Background
| Description | Background |
|---|---|
| Understands key issues and opportunities in current IT estate. Understands the objectives of the wider organisation. Is able to attract senior stakeholder input and support. Aware of impact of new technology capabilities and developments, as well as enterprise architecture techniques. Has commercial insight into IT and supplier costs. Understands IT and business continuity risks and their mitigation. Able to build high-level plans within a portfolio of business and IT change programmes. Gains senior sponsor authorisation and support. Able to effectively communicate with and influence stakeholders given agreed IT strategy and plan. | Prior Knowledge and Skills |
| Has gained expertise in the alignment of performance setting and assessment of organisational goals. Understands processes and procedures of performance management. Has managed projects and the work of others. Can demonstrate a responsible and disciplined approach, even under pressure. Has excellent and developed communication and negotiation skills. Understands the legal and best practice requirements of human resource management. Has a positive attitude towards diversity principles. | Prior Knowledge and Skills |
Work Activity Components
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Business needs (Level 6) | Has a clear and thorough understanding of the needs of the business and uses this to develop strategy and plans. Focuses on business risk and continuity issues which impact the strategy. Takes full advantage of wider issues, e.g. commercials, people, processes and systems, for any proposed IT strategy. Understands current IT estate and operations, as well as current enterprise architecture objectives and constraints. |
| Communication (Level 6) | Communicates the strategy and plan as appropriate through-out the organisation, adjusting according to stakeholder needs. Influences across the organisation to ensure its successful adoption and implementation. |
| Engagement (ITSP) (Level 6) | Gains authority in the organisation, including from the wider leadership community. Influences stakeholder groups as required to successfully gain their support and commitment. |
| Exploitation (ITSP) (Level 6) | Exploits new approaches, proposals and technologies to build a credible strategy, building on the existing strengths and potential of the current estate and marrying all relevant organisation objectives with achievable IT goals. |
| Leadership(ITSP) (Level 6) | Leads the strategic planning process. Seeks and gains senior stakeholder involvement and support into the strategic planning process to deliver measurable business value. |
| Monitoring (ITSP) (Level 6) | Regularly monitors and reviews progress on the strategy and plan, communicating, updating and evolving as required with the necessary senior stakeholder support. |
| Strategy planning (ITSP) (Level 6) | Builds a robust high-level plan to deliver the strategy. Is aware of the budgetary and other constraints in analysing business proposals and delivering the plan successfully. |
| Process and capability (INOV) (Level 7) | Embeds innovation processes throughout business units and links strategy execution with innovation. |
| Assessment (EMRG)(Level 6) | Plans and leads the identification and assessment of new and emerging technologies, products, services, methods and techniques and their evaluation in terms of potential impacts, threats and opportunities to the organisation. |
| Communication (EMRG)(Level 6) | Engages with, and influences, relevant stakeholders to obtain organisational commitment to technology roadmaps. Where appropriate develops business proposals to exploit new and emerging technologies in line with the IT strategy. |
| Roadmaps (EMRG)(Level 6) | Creates technology roadmaps which align organisational plans with emerging technology solutions, and gains organisational commitment to their use. |
| Strategy contribution (EMRG)(Level 6) | Provides emerging technology insight and expertise to contribute to the organisation's medium and long-term technology strategy. |
| Capability development (DLMG) (Level 7) | Owns function level resource plans, forecasts future resource requirements, and works with appropriate stakeholders to agree future resourcing strategies. |
| Development processes (DLMG) (Level 7) | Facilitates development ceremonies such as Monthly Team Planning, Weekly Scrum of Scrums and Sprint Demos. Identifies, tracks, removes and escalates impediments at intra-department level. |
| Monitoring progress and security (DLMG) (Level 7) | Ensures that systems and procedures for monitoring and reporting on the progress of systems development projects are in place and operated effectively, and that action is taken to deal with exceptions, problems and unforeseen events in a timely manner. |
| Performance management (DLMG) (Level 7) | Tracks and reports objectives and key results (OKR) progress. Supports PMO with portfolio governance and management, reporting on development activities and supporting preparation of performance management artefacts such as quarterly business reviews. |
| Policy making (DLMG) (Level 7) | Plays a major part in the wider policy making and overall management of information within the organisation. |
| Programme assurance (DLMG) (Level 7) | Ensures that the programme of systems development is implemented in a coherent and consistent manner, liaising as necessary with IS, ICT and client/user management to ensure that planned systems developments are compatible with the organisation's existing systems, infrastructure and strategic plans. |
| Project and programme definition (DLMG) (Level 7) | Typically, within a large organisation, works with senior client or user management to define a costed and prioritised programme of systems development which supports the organisation's objectives and strategic plans. Communicates information about the agreed programme, and how it supports the organisation's objectives. |
| Resource planning (DLMG) (Level 7) | Oversees the resourcing of the agreed programme of systems development, taking full responsibility for the provision of IT resources and advising on requirements for client/user resources. |
| System development standards (DLMG) (Level 7) | Manages the process for establishing and maintaining the organisation's systems development standards, methods and procedures and for ensuring that they are adhered to. Manages existing software process improvement approaches and/or develops new approaches to achieving improvement. |
| Career paths and mentoring (PEMT) (Level 5) | Advises individuals on career paths, and encourages pro-active development of skills and capabilities. Provides mentoring to support professional development. |
| Empowerment and role model(PEMT) (Level 5) | Facilitates effective working relationships within and between teams of staff. Motivates groups of staff and teams towards a high level of performance. Engages with, and empowers groups of staff. Acts as a role model for groups of staff, setting a standard, acting professionally at all times and working to a professional code of conduct and ethics. |
| Formal appraisals (PEMT) (Level 5) | Conducts formal appraisals of the performance of team members. Facilitates a dialogue with team members about expectations, progress, performance and development needs. Participates, as appropriate, in formal processes such as compensation negotiations, grievance procedures, and disciplinary procedures. |
| Guidance, performance and feedback (PEMPT) (Level 5) | Optimises the performance of people, measuring and reporting on performance against agreed quality and performance criteria. Collects data on the performance of groups of staff. Gives regular feedback to teams and senior staff as to team performance on work packages. |
| Lead, manage and supervise(PEMT) (Level 5) | Manages, supports and guides the work of groups of staff in line with organisational strategy. |
| Team dynamics (PEMT) (Level 5) | Integrates staff into teams to perform packages of work, taking account of individual and team capabilities. Consider the importance of skill mix within teams. Is sensitive towards team dynamics. |
| Transformation and change (PEMT) (Level 5) | Manages teams involved in significant transformation projects and/or during times of change, aligning change programmes with staff skills and capabilities. Supports staff, through difficult and challenging change programmes. |
| Work allocation, support and delegation (PEMT) (Level 5) | Allocates responsibilities, including supervisory and assigns packages of work to groups of staff. Ensures that work packages are aligned with the particular skills and abilities of teams. Supports teams in the delivery of work packages. Delegates work to individuals and teams, taking full account of skills and capabilities. |
Behavioural Skills
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Commercial Orientation | Understanding commercial considerations and ensuring alignment with them when making decisions or recommending actions. |
| Conceptual Thinking | Acquiring understanding and insights regarding the underlying issues in complex problems or situations through the development of abstract representations, the identification of patterns and the analysis of hypotheses. |
| Counselling and Developing Others | Helping others to understand their values, needs, goals and limitations and coaching them to develop their effectiveness towards the limits of their potential. |
| Critical Thinking | The ability to think clearly and rationally; review and evaluation of processes and outputs; the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking; reasoned thinking involving critique. |
| Customer Focus | Understanding the needs of the internal or external customer and keeping these in mind when taking actions or making decisions. |
| Decision Making | Making decisions at the appropriate time, taking into account the needs of the situation, priorities, constraints, known risks, and the availability of necessary information and resources. |
| Delegation | Delegating tasks, responsibilities and authorities effectively. |
| Follow-up and Monitoring | Checking progress against targets, taking action to resolve exceptions/ issues and reporting and escalating where necessary. |
| Influence, Persuasion and Personal Impact | Conveying a level of confidence and professionalism when engaging with stakeholders, influencing positively and persuading others to take a specific course of action when not in a position of authority. |
| Interacting with People | Establishing relationships, contributing to an open culture and maintaining contacts with people from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines. Effective, approachable and sensitive communicator in different communities and cultures. Ability to adapt style and approach to meet the needs of different audiences. |
| Leadership | Clearly articulating goals and objectives, and motivating and leading others towards their achievement. |
| Organisational Awareness | Understanding the hierarchy and culture of own, customer, supplier and partner organisations and being able to identify the decision makers and influencers. |
| Planning and Organisation | Determining a course of action by breaking it down into smaller steps and by planning and resourcing each of these, making allowance for potential problems and escalating if necessary. |
| Providing Direction | Directing others to undertake specified tasks within a defined timescale. |
| Strategic Perspective | Keeping organisational objectives and strategies in mind, and ensuring courses of action are aligned with the strategic context. |
Technical Skills
| Title | Details | Depth |
|---|---|---|
| Agile | A collection of methods, practises, tools and techniques, underpinned by the Agile Manifesto, that enable teams to deliver high value products and services in small, workable, increments. An Agile culture typically encompasses concepts such as Servant-Leaders; ceremonies, Stand-Ups, Sprints and Retrospectives; and the deployment of tools and techniques such as Backlogs and A/B Testing. | Expert in |
| Big Data | The discipline associated with data sets so large and/or complex that traditional data processing applications are inadequate. The data files may include structured, unstructured and/or semi-structured data, such as unstructured text, audio, video, etc. Challenges include analysis, capture, curation, search, sharing, storage, transfer, manipulation, analysis, visualization and information privacy. | Familiar with |
| Business Environment | The business environment relating to own sphere of work (own organisation and/or closely associated organisations, such as customers, suppliers, partners and competitors), in particular those aspects of the business that the specialism is to support (i.e. localised organisational awareness from a technical perspective). | Expert in |
| Cloud/Virtualisation | The principles and application of cloud/ virtualisation (including ownership, responsibilities and security implications). Use of tools and systems to manage virtualised environments. | Familiar with |
| Corporate, Industry and Professional Standards | Applying relevant standards, practices, codes, and assessment and certification programmes to the specific organisation or business domain. | Expert in |
| Development Approach | Understanding and application of different development approaches e.g. iterative/ incremental methodologies (Agile, XP, TDD, SCRUM) or traditional sequential methodologies (Waterfall or V-Model). Irrespective of development methodology a DevOps approach may also be taken where development and operational staff work collaboratively. | Expert in |
| DevOps | The collaborative approach consisting of agile practices, processes, and procedures designed to facilitate rapid IT service and product delivery. DevOps emphasizes people (and culture) and seeks to improve collaboration between development (Dev) and operations (Ops) teams with the aim of shortening the systems development life cycle to provide continuous release of high-quality software. | Proficient in |
| Infrastructure Architecture | The frameworks and principles on which networks, systems, equipment and resources are based both on premises and cloud-based. | Proficient in |
| IT Environment | The IT environment relating to own sphere of work (own organisation and/or closely associated organisations, such as customers, suppliers, partners), in particular own organisation's technical platforms and those that interface to them through the specialism, including those in closely-related organisations. | Expert in |
| Networking and Communications | The planning and management of the interaction between two or more networking systems, computers or other intelligent devices. | Proficient in |
| Operational/Service Architecture | Knowledge of the IT/IS infrastructure and the IT applications and service processes used within own organisation, including those associated with sustainability and efficiency. | Proficient in |
| Own Organisation's IT Products and Services | The IT products and/or services supplied to internal and external customers by own organisation. | Proficient in |
| Product Evaluation and Selection | The analytical comparison of IT products against specified criteria (including costs) to determine the solution that best meets the business need. | Proficient in |
| Proof of Concept and Prototyping | Performing a proof of concept or prototyping exercise to demonstrate or evaluate the feasibility and potential benefits of applying a particular technological business change in order to meet a business need. | Expert in |
Other Skills
| Title | Details | Depth |
|---|---|---|
| Appraisal Techniques | Methods and techniques for appraising an individual's performance and potential. | Proficient in |
| Budgets | Principles, methods, techniques and tools for the preparation and monitoring of budgets to manage costs and ensure cost-effectiveness and value for money. | Proficient in |
| Business Proposals | Methods and techniques for preparing and presenting business cases, requests for proposal (RFP) invitations to tender (ITT) and statements of requirements/work both verbally and in writing. | Proficient in |
| Coaching Techniques | Methods and techniques for coaching individuals or groups by a balanced combination of support and direction, which could include use of virtual learning environments plus add-ons to augment feedback specific to work items, workflow or career plans. | Proficient in |
| Disciplinary Issues and Procedures | Managing episodes of unsatisfactory behaviour or performance in accordance with appropriate policies and legislative conformance. Includes changes to circumstances, such as sickness, disability and other personal issues. | Familiar with |
| Financial Management | Knowledge of Financial Management and Management Accounting. Competent management of costs, budgets and cash flow. | Proficient in |
| Function or Department Operations | The activities, structure, and position in the organisation of the functions or departments for which services are provided. | Proficient in |
| Legislation | Relevant national and international legislation. | Familiar with |
| Performance Monitoring | Identifying, agreeing and monitoring (usually by face-to-face interviews) objectives and deliverables with individuals. Identifying under-performance issues against agreed quality standards and performance criteria. Identifying gaps in capability and causes, disciplinary or ability-related (needing assistance, training or other support). | Proficient in |
| Presentation Techniques | Methods and techniques for delivering effective and accessible presentations, either face-to-face or online within various contexts and to a variety of audiences. | Proficient in |
| Project Planning and Control Techniques | Methods and techniques associated with planning and monitoring progress of projects. | Proficient in |
| Resource Allocation | The effective and efficient routine deployment of resources, (but also including reassessment and reallocation in a dynamic multi-project environment), to achieve optimum results. | Proficient in |
| Service Delivery Economics | The economics of service delivery, such as the cost per service line in terms of hardware, software, and manpower used to deliver the service. | Proficient in |
| Stakeholder Engagement | Establishing relationships, analysing perspectives and managing stakeholders from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines. Adapting stakeholder engagement style to meet the needs of different audiences. The identification of key business stakeholders and an assessment of their level of power and interests, and their perspectives to inform the way(s) in which they should be considered and managed. | Proficient in |
| Team Dynamics | Knowledge and understanding of the psychological and environmental forces that influence the direction of team behavior and performance and the tools and techniques to improve team cohesion and performance. | Familiar with |
| Techniques for Effective Meetings | Methods and techniques for running effective meetings and for understanding and influencing the roles played by participants. | Proficient in |
Training
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Architecture Management | Architecture processes and descriptions covering, architecture precursors: goals, directives and scope, and architecture description for business, data, applications and infrastructure. Techniques for migration planning, implementation, change management and governance. |
| Diversity and Inclusion | Raise diversity in-the-workplace awareness in order to better understand how the world looks through the eyes of people of a different age, race, gender, sexuality, etc, improve communications with people from diverse backgrounds and reduce the levels of unconscious bias in decision-making. |
| Human Resource Planning | Techniques and practices involved in planning the numbers and types of personnel needed over time by a particular skillset, department or function within an organisation. |
| Latest Cyber Security Threats for Senior Execs | Short, high-level, up-to-date and to-the-point briefing on the latest threats and vulnerabilities in cyber security. |
Professional Development Activity (PDA)
| Title | Details | PDA Group |
|---|---|---|
| Gaining Knowledge of Broader IT Issues | Increasing and maintaining currency of knowledge of broader IT issues through reading, attending and participating in seminars or conferences, special studies, temporary assignments etc. | Increasing Knowledge |
| Gaining Knowledge of Standards and Legislation | Gaining and maintaining knowledge of relevant national and international standards and legislation. | Increasing Knowledge |
| Gaining Strategic Knowledge of Employing Organisation | Developing a comprehensive understanding of the business environment in which the employing organisation operates and its position, policies and direction in relation to health and care, country and global issues. | Increasing Knowledge |
| General Management | Continuing learning and development in general management skills, such as effective communication, leadership styles and skills, team building and team roles, motivation and delegation, planning and resource scheduling, influencing, persuasion and negotiation, so as to be in a position to accept greater responsibility at senior management or director (including non-exec) level. | Developing Professional Skills |
| Mentoring | Acting as a mentor, advising those for whom there is no direct responsibility, on matters to do with their job role, career and professional development. | Broadening Activities |
Qualification Components
| Title | Awarding Bodies |
|---|---|
| FEDIP Leading Practitioner | The Federation for Informatics Professionals |
The Professional Body Responsible for this job family is BCS. This job role profile was created in collaboration with BCS, using Role Model Plus.