Chief Technology Officer | TRL | London/Wokingham (Hybrid)
TRL is one of the UK's most respected names in transport research, road safety, and infrastructure trusted by National Highways, the Department for Transport, and major infrastructure operators.
Under new private equity ownership, TRL is shifting gear. Software is where the business and its investors are placing their confidence for the future, and we're looking for a CTO to lead its commercial and cultural transformation.
This is, by our own description, second only to the CEO role in importance to TRL's future direction.
The role:
- Sit on the Executive Leadership Team, reporting directly to the CEO, with high visibility to the Board and investment board
- Own the commercial transformation of the Software business, bringing structure, process, and a clear roadmap to a function that's operated with a high degree of autonomy
- Lead a team of ~20 (5 direct reports), including a ~120-strong offshore development team in India alongside a UK-based team
- Partner with commercial/revenue leadership to align software development with genuine client need
- Shape the software strategy and lead our AI strategy
- Get hands-on, this is an early-stage build, not a role with a team and budget waiting for you
Who we're looking for:
- A seasoned executive, this isn't a first step into exec leadership
- High EQ, comfortable driving change and managing the push-and-pull that comes with it
- Confident engaging directly with Boards and investment boards
- SME experience managing multiple stakeholder groups
- A genuine change and commercialisation leader, someone who can take a technically capable but under-packaged function and make it something investors can understand, measure, and back
- Comfortable with ambiguity and building from scratch
Experience with globally distributed teams, AI strategy, and PE-backed transformation is a plus. Sector background in infrastructure/transport is preferred but not required.