Interim CTO (3-Month Contract)

Contract: 3 months initially, with potential extension

Start: Immediate or as soon as possible

Location: Dublin HQ - Option for Fully remote but must be based in Ireland

HRM Search Partners is partnering with a high-growth technology company operating at the intersection of education, data science, and scalable software engineering to appoint an Interim CTO on an initial 3-month contract.

The organisation is a recognised innovator in adaptive, data-driven learning platforms, supporting millions of users globally and working with large, complex institutional clients that require high levels of reliability, security, and technical excellence. The business operates on a fully remote model, with a highly skilled international engineering and data team.

This interim appointment is required to provide continuity of technical leadership during a period of planned absence, ensuring stability across engineering delivery, platform reliability, and client-critical initiatives.

Role Overview

The Interim CTO will assume operational ownership of the engineering function, maintaining delivery momentum and team cohesion while acting as the senior technical decision-maker for the organisation. This role is central to protecting service levels, supporting ongoing product initiatives, and partnering closely with the executive leadership team.

Responsibilities

• Lead and support a distributed team of 10-12 software engineers, collaborating closely with data science colleagues.
• Ensure consistent delivery across client commitments and internal product roadmap priorities.
• Oversee day-to-day engineering operations including planning, prioritisation, and incident response.
• Maintain platform quality, stability, and reliability throughout the transition period.
• Provide structured leadership and guidance to remote engineers and contractors across multiple geographies.
• Act as the senior technical authority, partnering closely with the CEO and leadership team on key decisions.

Experience

• Proven experience as a CTO, VP Engineering, or senior engineering leader in a software-driven organisation.
• Strong track record managing distributed engineering teams and maintaining delivery in complex environments.
• Calm, structured leadership style with the ability to stabilise and motivate teams in time-bound engagements.
• Comfortable operating in remote-first, international engineering environments.
• Ability to rapidly understand existing architectures and make pragmatic, high-quality technical decisions.
• Experience supporting mission-critical, client-facing platform.

Technical Skills

• Engineering delivery managed via JIRA.
• API-first platform integrated into client applications.
• Backend: TypeScript / Node.js/Front-end admin systems: Vue.js.
• Fully serverless AWS infrastructure (Lambda, RDS-Postgres), supported by a third-party provider.
• Mature CI/CD pipeline, with code hosted in GitHub.
• Architecture aligned with AWS Well-Architected principles.
• SOC-2 audited, with established security and governance processes.

Please contact Shannon Begley at [email protected] or call 087 189 3433. Kindly ensure your CV and any relevant information are provided in advance of the call.