Fractional CTO

Big Red Recruitment; Stratford-upon-Avon; Hybrid; GBP 170,000 - 200,000; Part time

Job summary

A recruitment company in Stratford-upon-Avon seeks a fractional CTO to provide leadership in a growing SaaS business. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in SaaS, AWS, and data strategies, and will work 2-3 days per week. This role focuses on transforming the technology landscape and unlocking innovative solutions with AI. The company offers flexible engagement and equity participation.

Benefits

Flexible engagement model

Equity participation

High trust from leadership

Qualifications

• Experienced fractional or portfolio CTO with a strong SaaS and engineering background.
• Deep knowledge of AWS and modern tooling including CI/CD, containerisation, and observability.
• Demonstrated capability in leveraging data and AI for commercial impact.
• Strong leadership presence, able to influence and challenge at board level.

Responsibilities

• Provide CTO-level leadership across architecture, delivery, DevOps, and automation.
• Define and oversee a modern data and AI strategy.
• Guide the evolution of AWS-native services to support scale, security, and resilience.
• Lead transformation across UI/UX, CMS, delivery practices, and platform scalability.
• Act as a trusted advisor to the CEO and board, translating ambition into execution.

Skills

Strategic leadership

AWS

Data governance

AI strategy

CI/CD

Containerisation

Observability

UI/UX transformation

Job description

Are you a visionary technology leader looking for a high-impact fractional CTO opportunity?

We’re partnering with a scaling SaaS business that processes billions in transaction volume annually and supports mission-critical workflows for enterprise clients. The company is seeking part-time strategic leadership to evolve its cloud-based infrastructure, uplift engineering productivity, and define the long-term technology vision, particularly in AI, data, and automation.
You’ll work closely with the CEO and senior leadership to modernise the platform, explore commercial opportunities within large-scale data sets, and unlock next-generation innovation with AI.
This is an ideal role for a seasoned portfolio CTO who thrives in transformation settings and wants to help shape the future state of a tech business with massive potential.

What you'll do:

• Provide CTO-level leadership across architecture, delivery, DevOps, and automation
• Define and oversee a modern data and AI strategy, from infrastructure through to insight-driven product opportunities
• Guide the evolution of AWS-native services to support scale, security, and resilience
• Introduce structure and maturity to a development function that needs direction and pace
• Lead transformation across UI/UX, CMS, delivery practices, and platform scalability
• Act as a trusted advisor to the CEO and board, translating ambition into execution

Future of data and AI:

• This is more than a technical leadership role. It’s about unlocking the commercial value of data and AI.
• You will shape how large volumes of user and platform data can be productised, monetised, or automated
• You will lead efforts to embed intelligent services such as personalisation, decisioning, and workflow automation into the platform
• You will own the long-term vision for data governance, pipelines, and real-time insights, ensuring it underpins both product and commercial strategies

Ideal profile:

• Experienced fractional or portfolio CTO with a strong SaaS and engineering background
• Deep knowledge of AWS and modern tooling including CI/CD, containerisation, and observability
• Demonstrated capability in leveraging data and AI for commercial impact
• Strategic and hands-on, comfortable operating in lean environments with evolving teams
• Strong leadership presence, able to influence and challenge at board level

Why joinus:

• Flexible engagement model designed to complement your existing portfolio
• Equity participation with real upside potential
• High trust from leadership, with autonomy and influence built in
• Opportunity to shape the future-state of a platform handling data at scale

Salary: up to £200k pro rata
Commitment: 2-3 days per week

If this sounds like the right engagement for you and you would like to hear more, please apply as we have interview slots available.