Chief Technology Officer, London with Middle East travel  

About us

CF is a leading consultancy dedicated to making a lasting impact on health and healthcare. We work with leaders and frontline teams to improve health, transform healthcare, embed life science innovation and boost growth through investment.   

Our consultancy serves the entire healthcare sector, from healthcare systems and life sciences to health tech and sector suppliers. CF’s multi-disciplinary team provides end-to-end services, spanning strategy, finance, performance, organisational improvement, data and digital.  

As an inclusive and values-driven organisation, we are committed to excellence and are honoured to have received multiple industry awards. With unmatched access to UK healthcare data and specialist data science expertise, our consultants are a driving force for delivering positive and meaningful change.  

About the role

As the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at CF, you’ll be the senior technical leader, driving technology strategy and innovation to support our company’s goals. In this key role, you will lead the development and implementation of technology solutions that enhance our services and improve the way we work, ensuring they deliver measurable impact, increase efficiencies, and maximize value for both our clients and CF.

Your expertise will be vital in creating solutions not only for our clients but also for our management consulting teams, helping them deliver more effective service, as well as for our internal operations. You’ll work closely with clients, colleagues across CF (both technical and non-technical), and our external partners to understand requirements and deliver highly effective solutions.

Leading our Data Innovation Team, which includes both a data operations group and technical consultants (data scientists, engineers, software developers), you’ll be at the forefront of harnessing data to drive business growth. Your leadership will involve providing oversight, direction, mentorship, and quality assurance, ensuring seamless collaboration with project leaders. Additionally, you’ll be responsible for accrediting and managing trusted associates who work with us throughout the year.

As CTO, your role will also be pivotal in supporting business development for technical services. You’ll collaborate with Partners to build client relationships, form partnerships, contribute to proposals, and plan resources. You’ll have the opportunity to position yourself as a trusted industry expert by offering thought leadership and representing CF at networking events and conferences. Staying on top of emerging technologies will be essential in keeping CF at the cutting edge of the healthcare sector.

Adaptability and agility are key, as you’ll be navigating rapidly evolving priorities and leveraging new opportunities to help CF grow. You’ll also ensure the company’s tech infrastructure is robust and scalable, working alongside the Partner responsible for Office and Facilities Management and overseeing critical areas like cyber security, ISO 27001 certification, and data protection processes to meet client expectations.

On the commercial side, you’ll be responsible for the financial performance of the Data Innovation Team, including meeting revenue targets, managing the technology budget, and identifying cost efficiencies. You’ll evaluate and recommend technology investments, manage contracts, and mitigate financial risks to maximize company performance.

Responsibilities

 The requirements, responsibilities and duties of the role will include, but are not limited to: 

 Strategy 

• Own the technology strategy that harmonises with and underpins the corporate strategy 

• Collaborating with the corporate team, convert the strategy into the annual business plan for the data innovation team, and set quarterly OKRs for the team to drive its delivery 

• Discover and implement new technologies that yield competitive advantage 

• Spot emerging market trends and disruptions to drive development of CF solutions that address future client challenges 

• Create optimal policy conditions for healthcare advancements through evidence-based thought leadership, taking a proactive stance on key issues 

• Develop and execute plans for evidence generation using real world data 

• Identify and gain access to data that underpins the corporate strategy and understand what is possible to do within safe grounds of information governance 

• Keep abreast of the frontier of AI and other new technologies as they apply to the business itself and the markets we support, and ensure they are adopted and integrated into CF’s services and ways of working  

• Identify, develop and maintain key strategic partnerships which enable CF to remain at the cutting edge of technology and present new business opportunities.  

 Business development 

• Grow and nurture a network of technical and technically minded leaders across the breadth of the markets CF serves including clients and data/technology partners 

• Develop a compelling and distinctive personal brand within the data, AI and technology fields valued by CF clients, with a growing reputation as a trusted advisor and thought leader 

• Promote CF as a technology innovator through channels such as networking events, speaking at conferences, organising tech meet-ups and LinkedIn 

• Spot emerging market trends and disruptions to drive development of CF solutions that address future client challenges 

• Support business development activities including proposal development, engaging with prospective clients and pitching for work.  

Financial management  

• Own the data innovation team revenue target and collaborate with Partners to ensure it is met  

• Manage the financial performance of the data innovation team, ensuring it is profitable and acting with foresight and agility to respond to downturns in performance 

• Manage the technology budget, ensuring strategic resource allocation to achieve objectives while optimising for cost-efficiency  

Client delivery 

• Collaborates with senior clients to understand their needs and directs teams to produce solutions that have a demonstrable impact in meeting these needs 

• Oversee the development of workplans to deliver on agreed objectives, enabling technical and consulting teams to understand the requirements for delivery  

• Supervise technical and hybrid teams to manage delivery according to agreed timeline and deliverables, ensuring that projects are run to time and resources 

• Bring together the disciplines of data engineering, data science and software engineering to deliver better results 

• Support teams in effective integrated working between consulting and technical teams, setting standardised operating processes to ensure effective operations, and developing the technical knowledge of consulting team members to enable collaboration.  

 Data operations and infrastructure  

• Provide direction to the evolution of data operations in line with corporate strategies and emerging market trends 

• Support the data operations function with the design of technical architecture and infrastructure necessary for scalability, security, reliability and cost effectiveness 

• Lead the development of CF tools and insights, to ensure CF maintains a competitive edge in the use of data in its consulting 

• Develop and maintain internal and external software and infrastructure 

• Engage with consulting leaders to ensure that data operations efficiently meets their needs and maximises our impact with clients. 

Cyber security and information governance compliance 

• Own the operational elements of cyber security and information governance to ensure safe access to healthcare data within agreed legal and policy frameworks, working in conjunction with the Partner with overall accountability 

• Ensure compliance with data industry standards and regulations 

• Own the build quality assurance process for the internally and externally facing products developed by the team 

• Oversee the data protection processes and ensure these meet the expectations of our clients and partners 

• Be responsible for and lead our ISO 27001 certification, including the development of our information security policies and practices.  

 Team leadership and development  

• Cultivate and lead a high-performing technical team, encouraging collaboration, excellence, innovation, and a culture of ongoing learning and growth 

• Act as a technical mentor for the data innovation team, taking responsibility for the team structure and resource requirements to deliver on the corporate strategy and annual business plan 

• Be the line manager to the most senior colleagues in the data innovation team  

• Provide coaching and mentorship to the wider data innovation team 

• Set out the technical career track and attract technical talent and own the technical requirements for progression within the data innovation team 

• Working with the People Team ensure the training and development offer for data innovation team members contributes to CF being a great place to work  

• Working with the Chief People Officer, understand the technological skills and knowledge required at every level of the company beyond the data innovation team and support the people function to realise these requirements, acting as Faculty for relevant training programmes.   

Requirements

To be successful in this role you should have a combination of the following skills and experiences:

Mandatory:  

• Master's degree in computer science or related field 

• 8 years working in a technological role 

• 5 years of managerial experience 

• Advanced technological skillset and a demonstrated history with technology 

• Exceptional team management skills 

• Excellent verbal and written communication 

• Ability to delegate efficiently 

• Extensive industry knowledge with an eye towards the future

Flexible working  

We have a hybrid-working policy, data team members need to be physically together with other team members for a minimum of four days a week.  

In addition, for up to four weeks a year each member of staff can work entirely virtually. This should be agreed with the CEO and CPO.  

Our commitment to Diversity & Inclusion

We are committed to building an inclusive and supportive culture where diversity thrives, and all our people can excel. We only recruit, promote and reward our people based on their skills and contribution, without regard to gender, race, disability, religion, nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or other characteristics. 

We are Disability Confident Accredited, and we want you to feel comfortable and able to perform at your best in the recruitment process, if you require any reasonable adjustments for any part of the recruitment process, please let us know.​ 

Benefits

• Holiday entitlement: 25 days/year for staff and 30 days/ year for leadership increasing by 1 day for every year of service up to a maximum of 35 days of holiday per year 

• We contribute 7% of your salary into your pension, while you contribute 3% (or more if you like) 

• Access to a flexible benefits programme giving you the chance to increase pension contributions, gain access to a cash plan or benefit from a ClassPass subscription 

• Annual leave purchase: employees with less than 35 days annual leave entitlement are able to purchase additional annual leave days 

• Income protection: in the event of long-term incapacity and a qualifying claim, 75% of salary will be paid 

• Enhanced sick pay benefit beyond Statutory Sick Pay for up to a total 12 weeks in any 12-month period 

• Life insurance covering four times your basic salary in a tax-free lump sum payable to your beneficiaries in the event of your death whilst in service 

• Enhanced family leave policies: additional pay for parents who have a baby or adopt 

• Access to an interest free loan of up to £10,000  

• Access to an interest-free season ticket loan, repayable by 12 monthly instalments 

•  Workplace nursery scheme: access to a scheme to help working parents save tax and NI on the cost of the nursery care 

•  Flexible working policy: including the ability to work fully remotely for up to 4 weeks a year 

•  An employee assistance and wellness Program: including access to telephone counselling, life coaching, interactive tools online and digital content downloadable from Lifeworks 

•  Seasonal flu jabs: provided by Boots annually 

•  Eye care tests: vouchers and discounts at Vision Express 

•  Ride to work scheme, saving up to 42% on bikes and cycling accessories at Evans Cycles 

• Membership to the Health Service Journal (HSJ)