Chief Technology Officer - Retail/Fashion Industry

Description:

The Opportunity

• This is not a traditional CTO role. You are not inheriting a stable tech function and maintaining it.
• You are building one from scratch and preparing it for public markets all while transforming how
• 1500+ people work, how 500,000+ customers experience the brand, and how the entire business makes decisions.
• The role sits at the intersection of three critical mandates:

PILLAR 1: Operations Intelligence SOPs, Automation & Workforce Efficiency

The CTO will be the architect who eliminates manual work, connects disconnected systems, and creates a self-auditing, data-driven operations backbone.

• SOP Digitisation & Compliance
• Workforce Efficiency
• System Integration Architecture
• Data Accuracy & Decision Intelligence
• IPO-Grade Technology Infrastructure

PILLAR 2: Customer Journey Intelligence CRM, Personalisation & AI Marketing

The brands NPS is already 76+ but the goal is 85, with 50% repeat customers and 60% organic traffic. This requires a unified customer intelligence platform that connects every touchpoint.

• Unified Customer Data Platform
• AI-Powered Personalised Marketing
• Omni-Channel Journey Orchestration
• Marketing Attribution & ROI:

PILLAR 3: Customer-Facing AI & Digital Experience Indias Most Advanced Fashion Interface

• Virtual Try-On & Customisationwebsite and in-store kiosks.
• Build AI-powered chat and WhatsApp commerce that handles pre-sales styling consultations, appointment booking, order tracking, and post-sale support.
• Reduce the current bottleneck of having only 1 CRM per store.
• Store Technology & Digital Integration: Deploy in-store technology that connects the physical store experience with the digital customer profile.

• Store concierges should have instant access to a customers browse history, wishlist, and past purchases.
• Website & App Experience: Own the Shopify Plus storefront architecture. Drive website NPS through performance, personalisation, and experience design. Build the mobile app into a genuine style companion, not just a shopping cart

Who You Are

• 12 to 18 years of technology leadership experience, with at least 4 tov5 years as CTO, VP Engineering, or Head of Technology at a D2C brand, retail/ fashion company, or high-growth consumer tech company.
• Hands-on architecture background: You have personally designed and built systems at scale not just managed teams who did. You understand ERP integrations, API architectures, data pipelines, and cloud infrastructure at a code-level depth.
• AI/ML implementation experience: You have shipped AI products to production recommendation engines, personalisation systems, NLP/conversational AI, or computer vision. You understand the difference between an AI demo and a production system.
• CRM & marketing technology expertise: Deep experience with customer data platforms, marketing automation (WebEngage, CleverTap, or equivalent), and building unified customer views across online and offline channels.
• Retail/E-commerce operations understanding: You understand order management, inventory systems, supply chain workflows, and the specific challenges of omni-channel retail. Shopify Plus experience is a strong advantage.
• Team builder: You have built technology teams from small (510 people) to mid-size (2540 people). You know how to hire senior engineers, manage vendor relationships, and build a technology culture inside a non-tech-native company.

Strong Advantages

• Experience in fashion, luxury, or premium lifestyle brands understanding high- consideration, emotional purchase journeys
• Experience with Indian retail technology ecosystem (Genesis ERP, Biretai, SupplyMint, Unicommerce, or similar)
• Track record of preparing technology infrastructure for IPO / institutional due diligence
• Familiarity with LLM/GenAI integration (Claude, GPT, Gemini) for consumer-facing applications
• Experience working in founder-led, culture-driven organisations where technology serves the brands soul, not just its operations