Chief Technology Officer (Telco Operator)

Role Overview

The Chief Technology Officer will steer strategy and technical execution for a large engineering and delivery setup of more than 200 professionals. This position owns the full technology lifecycle across engineering, operations, QA, and deployment, while also taking responsibility for customer engagement, partner and vendor coordination, and the stability and scalability of the platform. It is a senior leadership role that blends telecom domain expertise, technology vision, and direct customer-facing accountability.

Technology Strategy & Architecture

• Set the long-term technology direction in line with business goals.
• Guide the evolution of architecture for telecom-grade, cloud-native systems.
• Maintain scalability, reliability, and strong performance across all environments.

Network & Infrastructure Ownership

• Oversee the design, build, and operation of mobile telecom network infrastructure.
• Manage cloud platforms, transmission systems, and core network components.
• Ensure production systems deliver high availability, resilience, and performance.

Engineering, Delivery & Operations

• Lead delivery across engineering, quality assurance, and operations end to end.
• Strengthen production readiness through rigorous testing and alignment between lab and production environments.
• Own release governance, deployment controls, and production stability.
• Promote operational excellence and ongoing process improvement across teams.

Customer & Stakeholder Management

• Serve as the senior technical point of contact for major telecom customers.
• Handle escalations, delivery commitments, and alignment on solutions.
• Support contractual obligations and drive customer satisfaction outcomes.
• Work closely with sales, product, and delivery stakeholders.

Vendor & Ecosystem Management

• Manage key technology vendors and strategic platform partners.
• Assess and integrate strong telecom and cloud solutions.
• Balance cost efficiency with long-term ecosystem fit.

Security, Compliance & Risk

• Ensure adherence to telecom regulatory requirements, including EU and GDPR expectations.
• Oversee cybersecurity planning across infrastructure and applications.
• Define disaster recovery and business continuity structures.
• Put in place effective backup, restore, and incident recovery procedures.

Team Leadership & Organizational Development

• Build, coach, and lead a high-performing engineering and operations organization.
• Create a culture centered on accountability, innovation, and strong delivery.
• Improve productivity, cost efficiency, and delivery effectiveness.
• Encourage stronger collaboration across business functions.

Budget & Operational Efficiency

• Own technology budgets and allocation of resources.
• Optimize costs without reducing quality or performance.
• Advance automation and standardization across engineering and operations.

Required Qualifications

• Extensive senior leadership experience within a mobile telecom operator or telecom infrastructure setting.
• Deep knowledge of mobile networks, cloud infrastructure, and transmission systems.
• Demonstrated success leading large engineering and operations organizations of 200+ people.
• Strong experience in designing production-grade, highly available systems.
• Background in managing enterprise or telecom customer relationships.

Additional Information

Location: Greater Dusseldorf Area.