Chief Technology Officer

Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Location: Lagos (Hybrid)
Industry: Fintech, SaaS, Payments, Marketplace, SME Digital Services
Base Salary: 2.3 million monthly (27.6 million annually)
Experience Level: 15+ Years
Reports To: CEO / Board of Directors

Company Overview

Our client is a high-growth digital technology company developing a unified SME Business Operating Platform designed to power the next generation of African businesses. The platform delivers integrated digital solutions across payments, POS, lending, accounting, e-commerce, HR, broadband, and API-driven services enabling SMEs to operate efficiently, access finance easily, and scale sustainably.

As part of the companys expansion and technology transformation journey, we are seeking an outstanding Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to lead the technology organisation and drive platform innovation across multiple markets.

Role Summary

We are hiring a seasoned Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to define and execute the end-to-end technology vision for a fast-scaling digital platform serving SMEs across Africa. The CTO will provide leadership across engineering, product development, cloud infrastructure, DevOps, cybersecurity, and fintech/payment integrations.

The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker with deep technical expertise in:

• Fintech systems, digital wallets & payment architecture
  
  

• SaaS and multi-tenant platform engineering
  
  

• POS systems, settlement engines & API ecosystems
  
  

• Cybersecurity, compliance & risk frameworks
  
  

• Scaling engineering teams and high-growth products
  
  

• Multi-country digital platform deployment
  
  

This role requires hands-on technical depth and strong leadership capability.

Key Responsibilities
A. Technology Leadership & Strategy

• Define and implement the long-term technical roadmap for the platform.
  
  

• Architect a secure, scalable, multi-tenant SaaS ecosystem.
  
  

• Establish engineering standards, coding frameworks, and best practices.
  
  

• Lead technology budgeting, infrastructure planning, and vendor management.
  
  

B. Product Development & Engineering Management

• Build and lead a high-performing engineering team (frontend, backend, mobile, QA, DevOps, data).
  
  

• Implement agile delivery, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and system observability.
  
  

• Oversee UX/UI efforts to deliver seamless SME onboarding and usage.
  
  

• Manage the full product lifecycle: ideation development release iteration.
  
  

C. Fintech, Banking & Payments Integrations

• Lead integrations with core banking APIs, wallet services, POS systems, virtual accounts, and settlement engines.
  
  

• Ensure real-time synchronization between POS transactions, wallet balances, and settlement flows.
  
  

• Integrate and manage third-party platforms including:

  • Accounting systems
    
    

  • Payment gateways
    
    

  • Broadband and utility APIs
    
    

  • HR/Payroll APIs
    
    

  • KYC/AML identity verification tools
    
    

• Oversee development of lending and BNPL modules with embedded credit decisioning.
  
  

D. Security, Compliance & Risk Management

• Ensure adherence to key regulatory and compliance standards including:

  • CBN Regulations
    
    

  • NDPR
    
    

  • PCI-DSS
    
    

  • ISO 27001
    
    

• Build enterprise-grade security frameworks covering:

  • Data encryption & tokenization
    
    

  • Identity and access management
    
    

  • Transaction monitoring & fraud detection
    
    

  • Disaster recovery, backups & business continuity planning
    
    

E. Infrastructure, Architecture & Scalability

• Lead cloud infrastructure strategy (AWS / Azure / GCP).
  
  

• Implement high-availability architecture (99.9% uptime), microservices, containerization, and distributed systems.
  
  

• Build systems capable of supporting:

  • 100,000+ SMEs
    
    

  • Multi-currency operations
    
    

  • Multi-country expansion (Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, etc.)
    
    

• Oversee DevOps pipelines, performance tuning, and automated deployment processes.
  
  

F. Stakeholder & Partnership Management

• Manage technical relationships with banking partners, fintech providers, and API vendors.
  
  

• Collaborate cross-functionally with Product, Risk, Finance, Operations, and Commercial teams.
  
  

• Present technology updates, insights, and performance reports to Executives, the Board, and Investors.
  
  

Required Qualifications & Skills

• 15+ years of software engineering experience, with at least 7 years in senior technology leadership (CTO, VP Engineering, Head of Technology).
  
  

• Deep experience in fintech, payments, digital wallets, settlement systems, and API-driven architectures.
  
  

• Proven ability to build and scale:

  • Multi-tenant SaaS platforms
    
    

  • Banking-grade infrastructure
    
    

  • POS/acquiring systems
    
    

  • Lending/BNPL workflows
    
    

  • Large API ecosystems
    
    

• Strong expertise in:

  • Microservices architecture
    
    

  • Cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP)
    
    

  • DevOps & CI/CD
    
    

  • Distributed systems & cloud-native engineering
    
    

  • Cybersecurity frameworks
    
    

• Experience supporting multi-country deployments is an added advantage.
  
  

Personality Traits

• Visionary technology leader with hands-on technical competence
  
  

• Strong leadership and cross-functional collaboration skills
  
  

• Excellent communication and decision-making ability
  
  

• Passion for digital inclusion and SME empowerment
  
  

• Ability to thrive in fast-paced, high-growth environments
  
  

Growth Potential

As the platform expands across Africa, the CTO will have opportunities to:

• Lead a multi-country engineering organisation
  
  

• Access expanded equity through future option pools
  
  

• Play a central role in fundraising and investor discussions
  
  

• Influence long-term strategy and platform direction
  
  

Compensation Package

Base Salary: 2.3 million monthly (27.6 million annually)

Annual Performance Bonus: 35 million based on milestones:

• MVP Launch
  
  

• System Reliability & Uptime
  
  

• Wallet/POS/Settlement Integration Delivery
  
  

• User Growth Targets
  
  

• Revenue & Platform Adoption
  
  

How to Apply

Qualified candidates should send their CV and a brief cover note to:  
Subject Line: Application Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

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