The Senior Vice President & CTO NL will contribute to the development of the IT business strategy, as part of the continues transformation in being a true FoodTech company. The CTO will drive the way how we run, change and continuously develop our Tech NL ecosystem into adaptable, resilient and consumable Tech. All in a way to:
• Run reliable, secure, efficient and resilient - The CTO is taking honor in providing reliable, resilient, compliant and cost efficient Tech in order to keep our business running smoothly
• Build cutting edge Tech foundations - The CTO is leading the way to deliver products with speed, scalability, security, stability and will make sure to have a cutting-edge Tech foundations in place
• Develop our Tech organization - The CTO takes care to continuously develop our Tech organization, our Tech Community by developing the best Tech team in retail and praising and developing true engineering principles
• Deliver our high ROI Business Portfolio - The CTO is responsible for delivering Tech to our business in a timely trustworthy manner and at scale. The CTO will inspire and lead on new opportunities and help our business to capitalize on Tech
• Scale and Converge Platforms to drive Growth and Innovation - The CTO will ensure to stay competitive and to maximize ROI. Therefore we make our Tech platform reusable across platform domains, NL banners and EU AD banners where relevant

key responsibilities
Technology, strategy & Innovation
• Deliver our Tech NL Growth Strategy, by leading the technology strategy in close collaboration with the product management organization
• Successful fusion of Business and Tech priorities into a unified roadmap and data driven backlog priority process
• Ensure role of technology business partner to senior management
• Contribute to the development of the Global (GSO) and European Tech Strategy (EU Tech) and Roadmap and align local strategy accordingly
• Responsible for Core Retail and the CTP Platform locally

Tech Architecture, Infrastructure and Security Management
• Oversee the management and security of the local technology architecture and infrastructure
• Responsibility for scalable and future proof platform architecture landscape aligned with EU Enterprise Architecture
• Ensure the availability of tech-systems to support the business and to reduce manual activities
• Promote and offer hands-on approach on continuous development of new disruptive technology products inspired by the outside market
• Support standardization of tech processes and tooling (e.g. monitoring, incident management etc.) in line with global Enterprise Architecture strategy and standards
• Build relationships with key suppliers and manage dispute resolution with service providers of local tech contracts, together with Tech Sourcing team
• Review acquisition and maintenance contracts and pursue master agreements to capitalize on economies of scale for the local brand and in support of EU and global objectives, in close cooperation with the Global IT Procurement organization
• Maintain and monitor Tech governance structures, services, policies, standards and programs to drive engineering excellence within Tech NL

Delivery of Tech Products & Platforms Roadmap
• Work with Product Management to deliver business priorities
• Coordinate with and support the Platform Leaders to ensure aligned tech platform management over NL and also within EU
Operational Excellence
• Ensure that the tech infrastructure properly support business needs with aim to consolidate and harmonize
• Monitor and optimize the performance of existing technologies and tech operations
• Identify opportunities for investment in IT systems and resources, including staffing, sourcing, purchasing, and in-house development with a goal to optimize (operational) processes and to improve efficiency and cost-effectiveness
• Signal possibilities for standardization and optimization of tech processes and tooling
• Manage and monitor the successful delivery of outsourced services for infrastructure, applications maintenance and support and projects and ensure performance management within contract/SLA terms
• Direct Tech NL initiatives to a) outsource non-core activities, b) access better technologies, skills & expertise, c) reduce operating cost and d) align to group Technology and sourcing strategy
• Monitor, validate and take responsibility for the adherence to standards and policies supporting internal controls, audit, security, data confidentiality and business continuity in Tech NL

Technical Team Leadership and Development
• Develop and lead a shared culture of engineering excellence and the development of diverse top Tech talent
• Ensure the best use of our TechHub in Eastern Europe  as well as Internal and External resources
• Drive collaboration within the Tech Network of NL and EU, bring Tech talents together
• Ensure effective collaboration and communication within and between technical teams, the product management team and other departments

Key Relationships
• This role will report directly to the NL CEO and functional to the CTO EU. Be part of NL board, NL leadership team and EU Tech leadership team
• The CTO NL leads the NL Tech team of approx. 1200 people in the IT Community (including external partners)

candidate profile
This role requires an innovative technology leader with broad business acumen, strategic and analytical insights, financial savviness and deep business partnering capabilities to ensure that the workforce, leadership, and culture stay agile in order to contribute successfully to our business growth. This is an all-encompassing strategic Tech business partner and high caliber IT professional, coming from a high-growth business with a large and diverse workforce. S/he is up to date on the latest digital and IT trends, new ways of working, and organizational forms. The candidate will be a humble, smart, curious leader who is effective in working in a collaborative environment (with both internal and external stakeholders).
The ideal candidate possesses, at a minimum, the following qualifications and attributes:
• A minimum of 15 years of experience in Technology and IT, or a related field, with a significant portion working in a leadership position in (food or non-food) retail, FMCG, or other fast-moving company or division
• Mature and proactive thought leader as a CIO/CTO and strategic partner who adds value to the business as a respected source of critical thinking. Must have experience in fusing business and technology strategy
• Has managed a leveraged team (full-time employees & contractors) of at least 500+ associates and has worked extensively with outsourcing partners to seek optimization opportunities
• Extensive Technology knowledge and solid understanding Product Management, DevSecOps and Change Management principles
• Passion for driving agile ways of working and opportunities to mature operational and engineering excellence
• Experience in designing innovative IT operating model (incl. Tech / Product), thereby leveraging an existing tech ecosystem
• Proactive business-focused technology leader with an excellent track record of supporting profitable businesses and overseeing complex tech transformations
• Strong knowledge of key and contemporary IT trends, processes, roles, and responsibilities across the entire IT spectrum.
• Excellent people leader who develops and empowers top Tech talent, inspires their team towards engineering excellence and leverages the enterprise wide tech ecosystem.
• Outstanding influencing, interpersonal, and communications skills, possesses an ability to influence and quickly gain the respect of individuals at all levels
• Fluent in Dutch and English, verbal and written
• Strong cross-functional collaboration and internal stakeholder management skills, preferably with experience working in a multi-banner and/or matrix setting
• Embodies and acts in accordance with our leadership behaviors and fosters a culture aligned with them.

education
University Degree in Engineering, Computer Science or Business and/or other relevant areas