Chief Innovation Officer (CPTO)

About the Role

We are seeking a visionary Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) to drive the next phase of growth for a leading fintech and payments company in Southeast Asia. Combining the strengths of a CTO and CPO, this role focuses on innovation, product strategy, and scalable technology platforms that position the business at the forefront of fintech evolution. The CIO will partner with the CEO and leadership team to translate market trends into actionable strategies and inspire teams to deliver world-class products.

Key Responsibilities

• Shape and execute the company’s long-term innovation, technology, and product roadmap.
• Partner with the CEO and C-suite to steer strategic direction and business growth.
• Drive product vision and market differentiation through data- and customer-led insights.
• Build secure, scalable, and compliant platforms leveraging emerging technologies.
• Lead high-performing, cross-functional teams across Southeast Asia.
• Forge partnerships with fintechs, tech providers, and regulators to expand market leadership.

Requirements

• Minimum 10 years of technology leadership experience as a CIO, CTO, CPO, or CDO.
• Define and execute the technology roadmap aligned with business growth and regulatory needs.
• Architect highly scalable, low-latency, and fault-tolerant payment platforms (covering authorization, clearing, settlement, reconciliation).
• Evaluate and adopt emerging technologies (real-time payments, APIs, AI/ML fraud detection, blockchain, and cloud-native architectures)
• Drive digital transformation and modernization
• Regional exposure across SEA with multi-country team leadership.
• Bilingual in Mandarin and English with exceptional stakeholder management skills.
• Background in fintech, payments, or financial services preferred.