Chief Technology Officer

Selby Jennings; Amsterdam; Hybrid; EUR 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Selby Jennings is seeking a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) in Amsterdam, with hybrid work. You will define the long-term technology vision, build a scalable in-house engineering organisation, and drive architecture across payments and trading platforms.

You will lead a global team of ~50 and partner with the leadership team to align technology with business strategy, governance, and growth targets. This role demands deep fintech domain expertise and exceptional executive communication.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading fintech engineering teams.
• Experience scaling engineering from early-stage to growth.
• Deep expertise in distributed systems and cloud infrastructure.
• Strong communication at board/executive level.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the company's end-to-end technology roadmap.
• Lead the transition from external vendors to in-house engineering.
• Design hiring strategies to scale engineering, data, and infra.
• Establish team structure, leadership, and career frameworks.
• Oversee scalable, secure systems and platform ownership.
• Drive cloud-native architecture, microservices, and observability.
• Work with product and data teams on data-driven solutions.
• Set KPIs, SLAs, and performance benchmarks for eng org.

Skills

Leadership

Fintech experience

Distributed systems

Cloud infrastructure

Executive communication

Job description

Job Title: Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Location: Amsterdam (Hybrid)

Industry: FinTech / Payments / Trading

Overview

A fast-growing fintech business is looking to appoint a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to lead its next phase of growth. With a strong market position and a team of ~50 employees globally, the company is now entering a critical scaling phase, transitioning from reliance on third-party vendors to building a best-in-class in-house engineering organisation.

This is a high-impact leadership role where you will define the long-term technology vision, professionalise the engineering function, and build a scalable, high-performing platform to support rapid business growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Technology Strategy & Vision

  • Define and execute the company's end-to-end technology roadmap aligned with commercial and product goals
  • Act as a key member of the leadership team, contributing to overall business strategy and growth

• Build & Scale Engineering Function

  • Take ownership of transitioning core systems from external vendors to a fully in-house engineering team
  • Design and implement a clear hiring strategy to scale engineering, data, and infrastructure capabilities
  • Establish team structure, leadership layers, and career frameworks

• Vendor to In-House Transition

  • Evaluate existing third-party systems, dependencies, and architecture
  • Lead the gradual migration and knowledge transfer into internal teams
  • Optimise cost, control, and long-term scalability by reducing vendor reliance

• Architecture & Platform Ownership

  • Oversee the design of scalable, secure, and high-performance systems
  • Ensure the platform can handle large transaction volumes with strong reliability and uptime
  • Drive modern engineering practices including microservices, cloud-native architecture, and observability

• Product & Data Collaboration

  • Work closely with product and commercial teams to build data-driven solutions
  • Support the development of advanced capabilities across payments, risk, fraud, or trading infrastructure

• Operational Excellence

  • Implement best practices across software development, testing, deployment, and monitoring
  • Define KPIs, SLAs, and performance benchmarks for the engineering organisation

• Stakeholder Management

  • Communicate effectively with senior leadership, investors, and non-technical stakeholders
  • Act as the technical face of the company internally and externally

Requirements

• Proven experience leading engineering teams in fintech, payments, trading, or a high-scale tech environment
• Strong track record of building and scaling engineering organisations (ideally from early-stage to growth)
• Experience transitioning from vendor-led solutions to in-house development is highly desirable
• Deep expertise in distributed systems, cloud infrastructure, and scalable architecture
• Strong understanding of data-driven systems, ideally with exposure to risk, fraud, or financial systems
• Hands‑on technical background with the ability to challenge and guide engineering decisions
• Excellent communication skills and ability to operate at board/executive level