Group Technical Officer

Group Technical Officer Location: Basingstoke As the Group Technical Officer you will provide strategic and executive leadership for SCG's technology platforms, infrastructure and technical capabilities. The role has overarching responsibility for ensuring that the Group's technology estate remains resilient, scalable, secure and capable of supporting current and future product strategy. Working closely with the CEO, Group Product Officer, commercial leadership and senior technology leaders, the role will translate business and product priorities into a coherent technology strategy, roadmap and investment plan. The role will lead and provide strategic direction to the senior technology leaders responsible for the Groups’ voice platforms and architecture; it’s data infrastructure (Ethernet, Broadband, Cloud Compute and Infrastructure/Data Centres); and its products and services it develops and takes to market (Surgery Connect, Evonex, FUSE2 technologies, AI Agents and SIP trunking). Key Responsibilities: - Own and deliver the Group technology strategy and long-term roadmap, aligned with business and product priorities. - Advise the Executive team on technology investment, emerging technologies, AI, infrastructure opportunities and key risks. - Provide strategic leadership across the Group’s technology platforms, infrastructure, cloud, networks, voice, data centres and AI-enabled services. - Ensure technology platforms are secure, scalable, resilient and fit for future growth. - Partner with Product and Commercial teams to turn customer and market needs into achievable technology roadmaps. - Lead and develop senior technology leaders, creating clear accountability, shared standards and collaboration across the Group. - Oversee platform performance, capacity, lifecycle, business continuity and disaster recovery. - Lead technology investment and budget planning, balancing innovation and growth with security, resilience and commercial return. - Embed security, privacy, compliance and resilience into technology architecture and development. - Provide technical leadership for acquisitions, including due diligence, integration and technology rationalisation. - Build strong relationships with internal stakeholders, technology partners, suppliers and infrastructure providers. Skills and Competencies Required: - Executive-level technology leadership within a complex telecommunications, cloud, managed services or technology environment. - Strong knowledge of IP networking, connectivity, cloud infrastructure, data centres, hosted voice, SIP and UCaaS technologies. - Proven ability to develop and execute technology strategy, roadmaps and investment plans. - Experience leading senior technical specialists and multi-disciplinary technology leadership teams. - Strong commercial and financial judgement, including budget ownership and investment appraisal. - Sound understanding of cybersecurity, resilience, business continuity, risk and technical governance. - Ability to translate complex technology matters into clear business choices for Executive and Board audiences. - Collaborative, pragmatic and influential leadership style, balancing innovation and pace with stability, security and governance. - Experience of acquisition due diligence and technology integration would be advantageous. SCG is proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from all parts of the community and are committed to upholding the principles of the Equality Act 2010. We are committed to supporting applicants with disabilities. We will endeavour to make necessary adjustments to ensure a fair and accessible recruitment process.