Head of Digital and Technology

We're hiring for one of our clients. HEAD OF DIGITAL & TECHNOLOGY A rare chance to own end-to-end digital transformation at a global $700M+ fashion sourcing platform — with a defined path to Group CTO.

Role Overview

Location:

UK · 20 mins from central London · 5 days in office Salary:

£65,000 – £75,000 base + performance bonus Contract:

Permanent, Full Time Reports To:

COO, Group Team:

Lean team; group-level CTO access and offshore support available Visa:

Visa and Relocation support available

About the Client

One of the largest subsidiaries of a $2B+ global manufacturing and sourcing group operating across 25+ countries. Their platform generates over $700M in revenue by connecting world-class design capability with manufacturing partnerships across Bangladesh, China, Sri Lanka, Turkey, India, and beyond. Their clients include some of the UK and Europe's most recognizable retail brands. They operate as an ecosystem of entrepreneurs — business leaders who bring deep domain expertise, backed by a shared platform that handles finance, legal, HR, compliance, and commercial infrastructure. It's fast-moving, relationship-driven, and built on a culture of accountability and ownership. They’ve grown rapidly. But their digital infrastructure hasn't scaled at the same pace as the business. This role is how we solve it.

The Digital Challenge

Design-to-delivery supply chain is managed across multiple functions — design, merchandising, sourcing, quality, compliance, finance — each operating across countries, time zones, and partner factories. Today, too much of the coordination between them happens on Excel sheets. They have SAP deployed, PLM tools in use, and 3D digital design capabilities beginning to scale. But the data doesn't flow between systems. Teams lack a single source of truth. And leadership can't get real-time visibility into what's happening across the business. The opportunity here isn't hypothetical. The technology exists. The business case is clear. The board is committed. What we need is the person who can make it real.

Key Responsibilities

1. Project & Change Delivery • Own and drive end-to-end delivery of IT and digital projects across the business — ERP expansion, PLM optimization, 3D design integration, supply chain visibility, workflow automation, and reporting. • Act as the single point of accountability for project outcomes: scope, timelines, cost, and business adoption. • Lead structured governance, milestone tracking, and post-implementation reviews.

2. Business-Led Technology Implementation • Work directly with Operations, Finance, Sourcing, Design, and Commercial teams to translate business problems into practical, implemented system solutions. • Ensure solutions are scalable, interoperable, and fit for a multi-entity, multi-country operating model. • Drive standardization of systems and processes across the business where possible.

3. Vendor & Partner Management • Lead selection, onboarding, and performance management of technology vendors, implementation partners, and system integrators. • Negotiate contracts and hold vendors accountable to delivery quality, timelines, and SLAs.

4. IT Strategy & Roadmap • Define a phased IT roadmap aligned to business priorities — balancing short-term delivery wins with longer-term architectural decisions. • Work alongside the Group CTO to ensure Poeticgem's technology landscape integrates with group-level strategy.

5. Governance, Risk & Security • Establish IT policies, data security standards, access management controls, and operating discipline across the business. • Ensure compliance with GDPR and relevant cybersecurity frameworks.

6. Stakeholder Communication • Provide clear, concise updates to the COO and senior leadership on project progress, risks, and decisions required. • Manage stakeholder expectations and drive strong adoption post go-live across all functions and geographies.

Key Skills & Experience

You'll need: • 8–10+ years in IT / Digital roles with a strong, demonstrable track record of personally delivering technology projects at scale. • Hands-on SAP implementation or expansion experience — ideally S/4HANA, with understanding of the AFS-to-S/4HANA migration landscape in fashion and retail contexts. • PLM implementation experience in fashion, apparel, FMCG, or manufacturing — with an understanding of how PLM and ERP must be integrated to eliminate manual data re-entry. • Strong project and change management capability — you've driven technology adoption in organizations where people actively resist new systems, and you've won. • Commercial acumen — comfortable managing budgets, building ROI cases, and speaking the language of the COO, not just the IT team. • Experience managing multi-geography teams, suppliers, and implementation partners across Asia and Europe. • Clear communicator: able to engage technical vendors, non-technical business leaders, and factory teams in six countries with equal credibility.

You'll stand out if you have: • Experience with 3D digital design and digital sampling workflows (CLO 3D, Browzwear) and the shift from physical to digital product development. • Knowledge of supply chain visibility and sourcing collaboration platforms — Inspectorio, TradeBeyond, Coats Digital FastReact, or equivalents. • Integration architecture experience connecting PLM-ERP-3PL ecosystems via SAP CPI, MuleSoft, or API-first design. • TOGAF, SAP S/4HANA, PMP/PRINCE2, CSCP, or Agile certifications (CSM, SAFe).

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in IT, Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field — essential. • Postgraduate qualifications, MBA, or formal certifications are viewed positively but not required.

What Success Looks Like

• Critical IT projects delivered on time and genuinely adopted by the business — not just installed. • Teams across six countries working from a single source of truth, replacing ad-hoc Excel coordination with integrated, real-time systems. • Senior leadership can see the financial and operational performance of the business in real time, across every dimension. • IT is experienced as a value-adding business enabler — and you are seen as a trusted member of the senior leadership team.

What they Offer

• £65,000 – £75,000 base salary + annual performance bonus. • Visa sponsorship and relocation support for candidates based in India. • Day-one access to the Group CTO and group-level technology resources and senior leadership. • Entrepreneurial culture: real autonomy, real ownership, and a leadership team that invests in people for the long term. Many senior leaders have 15–25 years with the group.