Fractional Chief Technology Officer

About us

Talent Garden is a leading digital skills academy in Europe, empowering individuals and organizations to thrive in the innovation ecosystem through diverse learning experiences. With online, offline, and hybrid courses, corporate programs, and work and events spaces we offer an unparalleled vision to combine work life and learning.

Founded in Italy in 2011, Talent Garden has trained over 25,000 professionals in digital skills and business innovation, developed tailored corporate education programs for Fortune 500 companies, and built a network of 13 campuses in 4 countries, hosting over 4,500 innovators from startups, corporate labs, investors, and SMEs.

The mission

We are seeking a Fractional Chief Technology Officer to bring structure, clarity, and long-term sustainability to Talent Garden's technology ecosystem.

This is a strategic, part-time engagement (around two days per week) focused on driving coherence and scalability across systems, tools, and processes — ensuring that technology becomes a true enabler of business efficiency and innovation.

In the coming months, your mission will be to:

• Lead the audit and rationalization of Talent Garden's tech ecosystem, ensuring systems and processes are coherent, stable, and business-aligned
• Define and guide the implementation of a clear technology governance model, establishing standards for documentation, scalability, and security
• Provide strategic direction and mentoring to the internal tech team (two Developers and one IT Helpdesk), helping them strengthen structure, focus, and autonomy
• Coordinate and oversee the work of external tech partners, ensuring efficiency and accountability across vendors
• Support build-vs-buy evaluations and long-term decisions on what to maintain, consolidate, or outsource
• Maintain visibility over budget allocation and tech performance, helping prioritize initiatives based on impact and sustainability
• Represent the tech function in cross-functional discussions, ensuring alignment between technology management and overall company priorities

About you
Ideally, you are a senior technology leader with 10+ years of experience in tech leadership roles, guiding organizations through phases of rationalization, integration, or transformation.

You're not driven by the desire to build new systems, but by the satisfaction of making existing ones work better, smarter, and more sustainably.

You bring:

• Experience in environments with small, hands-on tech teams, ideally within startups or scale-ups
• Comfort working in fractional or advisory capacities, bringing focus and direction within limited timeframes
• A deep understanding of systems architecture, data management, and integrations, with the ability to turn complexity into clarity
• A structured mindset, able to diagnose, prioritize, and communicate complex issues clearly
• Skill in mentoring and empowering developers to work with greater independence
• Pragmatic decision-making, with strong business and cost awareness
• A collaborative, reliable, and outcome-oriented approach — naturally aligned with a "make it work, make it simple" philosophy

Perks and benefits

• Hybrid work environment, allowing you to work wherever you prefer, unless your physical presence is needed for business reasons
• Access to all our co-working spaces across Europe
• Access to discounts, events, and networking opportunities within our community
• P.S. We're pet-friendly, so you're welcome to bring your furry friend to work

Selection process

Submit your application. Send us your CV and feel free to showcase your personality. If you prefer a creative format, go ahead. Please also include a list of references and past cases or projects that best reflect your experience in similar contexts.

Response time. We'll get back to you within 10 days if we're a match. If not, we'll still do our best to notify you promptly.

Initial video call. An initial video call with our Talent team will be scheduled to assess cultural fit, align expectations, and provide more context about the role. Make sure to check out our company page beforehand.

Next steps. For this role, there will be a couple of interview rounds — both business and technical — to explore your experience, approach, and alignment with our goals.

Final step. The last stage in the process is a call with our CEO.

At Talent Garden, diversity is our strength. We're committed to a safe, inclusive environment, welcoming applicants regardless of background. While we set high standards, we encourage individuals, especially women, not to let the fear of not being a perfect fit hold them back. We prioritize talent over traditional qualifications and invite passionate individuals to apply. Your unique strengths could make a valuable contribution to our team

You can read our privacy policy here.