Fractional CTO / Technology Due Diligence Lead

I would publish the following. It is executive, attractive to senior candidates, and positions AIDEA professionally without exposing unnecessary internal weaknesses. --- # **Fractional CTO | Independent Technology Audit & Vendor Governance Lead** ## **Independent Technical Audit of Vendor-Built Loyalty, Martech & Marketplace Platforms** ### **About Us** We are an international customer engagement and business execution company supporting leading telecommunications clients across multiple European markets. Over the past several years, we have built a portfolio of customer engagement and digital commerce platforms through external software development partners, including: * Customer Loyalty Platforms * Customer Engagement Platforms * Marketplace Solutions * E-commerce Capabilities * Customer Experience Applications As our business continues to grow, we are seeking an experienced **Fractional CTO / Technology Audit & Vendor Governance Lead** to independently assess our technology landscape, validate its quality and resilience, and advise executive management on our long-term technology strategy. This is **not a software development role**. It is a strategic, hands-on technology leadership engagement focused on **technology governance, architecture, vendor management, technical due diligence, and business risk.** --- # **Objective** Provide executive management with an independent assessment of our technology ecosystem by answering four key questions: * What technology do we actually own? * Is our current architecture scalable, secure and maintainable? * Are we overly dependent on external suppliers? * What should our future technology operating model look like? --- # **Scope of Work** ## **Phase 1 – Technology Discovery & Assessment** Review and assess our existing technology ecosystem, including: * Application Architecture * Technology Stack * Cloud Infrastructure * APIs & Integrations * Database Architecture * Development Environments * Deployment Pipelines * Technical Documentation * Development Processes * Third-Party Dependencies Identify strengths, weaknesses, technical debt, operational risks and improvement opportunities. --- ## **Phase 2 – Technology Ownership & Vendor Governance** Assess our current supplier model, including: * Source Code Ownership * Repository Ownership (GitHub, GitLab, Azure DevOps, etc.) * Cloud Account Ownership * Infrastructure Ownership * Database Ownership * Production Access * Intellectual Property Ownership * Licensing * Vendor Lock-In Risks * Knowledge Transfer * Business Continuity Work alongside executive management (and legal advisors where appropriate) to determine whether the company has sufficient technical control over its technology assets. --- ## **Phase 3 – Technical Review** Perform a high-level technical assessment covering: * Overall Software Architecture * Scalability * Performance * Security Posture * API & Integration Architecture * Code Quality * Technical Debt * Maintainability * Documentation Quality * Development Standards * QA Practices * Release Management * DevOps & CI/CD * Monitoring & Logging This is **not expected to be a penetration test or a detailed code review of every component**, but an executive-level technical assessment highlighting key risks, priorities and strategic recommendations. --- ## **Phase 4 – Executive Recommendations** Prepare a clear management report including: ### Current State Assessment * What's working well * Key strengths * Critical risks * Operational weaknesses * Vendor dependency * Technology maturity ### Prioritized Roadmap Recommend: * Immediate actions (0–3 months) * Medium-term improvements (3–12 months) * Long-term strategic recommendations --- ## **Phase 5 – Future Technology Strategy** Advise executive management on the most appropriate long-term technology operating model. Recommendations may include: * Hiring an Internal CTO * Continuing with a Fractional CTO * Building an Internal Engineering Team * Strengthening Vendor Governance * Restructuring Supplier Relationships * Improving Architecture Governance * Establishing Long-Term Technology Leadership --- # **Expected Deliverables** At the conclusion of the engagement we expect: * Executive Technology Assessment Report * Current-State Architecture Overview * Technology Ownership & Control Assessment * Vendor Dependency Analysis * Technology Risk Assessment * Prioritized Remediation Roadmap * Future Technology Operating Model Recommendation * Executive Presentation to Leadership --- # **Required Experience** We are looking for candidates with demonstrated experience in: * 10+ years in Software Engineering, Enterprise Architecture or CTO-level leadership * Technical Due Diligence of commercial software platforms * Auditing vendor-built software solutions * Enterprise Architecture * Cloud Architecture * Vendor Governance * Technology Risk Management * Technical Leadership * Software Delivery Governance * API & Integration Architecture * DevOps & CI/CD * Software Quality Assurance * Security-by-Design Principles * Commercial SaaS Platforms --- # **Highly Desirable Experience** Experience with one or more of the following: * Loyalty Platforms * Customer Engagement Platforms * Martech * CRM * Marketplace Solutions * E-commerce * Telecommunications * Multi-country Digital Platforms * Customer Rewards Ecosystems --- # **Success Criteria** By the end of the engagement, executive management should clearly understand: * The maturity of the current technology ecosystem * Technology ownership and supplier dependencies * Critical technical and operational risks * Immediate priorities * Long-term investment requirements * Recommended governance model * Recommended technology organization structure --- # **Ideal Candidate** You are: * Independent and objective * Comfortable challenging suppliers with evidence * Able to communicate effectively with executives and engineers * Commercially minded * Hands-on enough to validate technical findings * Experienced in complex outsourced technology environments * Able to distinguish business-critical risks from lower-priority technical improvements --- # **Working Style** We are looking for someone who can: * Challenge assumptions with evidence * Balance strategic thinking with hands-on technical validation * Produce concise executive reports supported by clear technical findings * Work collaboratively with management and external technology partners * Maintain strict confidentiality and professional discretion throughout the engagement --- # **Engagement Details** **Type:** Fractional / Contract **Duration:** 4–8 Weeks **Commitment:** 10–20 Hours per Week **Location:** Remote **Time Zone:** Minimum 3–4 Hours Overlap with Central European Time **Hourly Budget:** **USD 80–120/hour** **Potential Extension:** Ongoing Fractional CTO or Strategic Technology Advisory role. --- # **Screening Questions** ### 1. Vendor-Built Software Audit Describe the most complex vendor-built software platform you have personally audited. Please include: * The type of platform * Your role * The key technical and governance risks identified * Your recommendations * The business outcome following your engagement --- ### 2. Technology Ownership How would you verify whether a company genuinely owns and controls its: * Source Code * Cloud Infrastructure * Production Environment * Databases * APIs * Intellectual Property rather than relying solely on supplier contracts? --- ### 3. Your First Two Weeks If selected, what would your first two weeks look like? Please describe: * The stakeholders you would interview * The documentation you would request * The technical environments you would review * The repositories, infrastructure and processes you would assess first --- ### 4. Relevant Industry Experience Which of the following have you worked with directly? * Loyalty Platforms * Customer Engagement Platforms * CRM * Martech * Marketplace Solutions * E-commerce Please briefly describe your responsibilities. ---