Position: Chief Technical Officer (CTO)
Location: United Kingdom – frequent travel expected to St. Helens / Liverpool if not locally based
Who are we recruiting for:
Our client is a fast‑growing Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) platform backed by a leading infrastructure investment fund. With an ambitious pipeline of utility‑scale energy storage projects across the UK, the platform is entering a key phase of technical scale‑up, delivery optimisation, and organisational growth and is seeking a Chief Technical Officer (CTO) to lead its technical, engineering, procurement, and construction strategy.
What will you be doing:
- Define and own the overall technical and delivery framework for BESS projects across the portfolio, ensuring projects are delivered safely, on time, within budget, and aligned with long‑term performance and reliability objectives.
- Establish and oversee delivery models across EPC, multi‑contracting, and hybrid structures, implementing clear governance frameworks, stage gates, escalation mechanisms, and decision‑making processes from Ready‑to‑Build (RtB) through to COD and operational handover.
- Act as the final technical authority across BESS and Balance of Plant (BoP) matters, including: system architecture and design philosophies, technology selection and standardisation, technical deviations, and major engineering risks.
- Define and maintain group‑wide technical standards, ensuring projects are optimised for safety, constructability, operational reliability, performance, and lifecycle cost efficiency.
- Lead procurement strategy and supplier oversight across BESS systems, BoP, and EPC scopes, supporting major commercial negotiations and validating technical positioning around warranties, guarantees, interfaces, and supplier risk exposure.
- Oversee portfolio‑level project delivery performance, reviewing readiness, schedules, cost‑risk profiles, mitigation plans, and execution quality across multiple concurrent projects.
- Define principles and standards for civil and structural works, ensuring scalability, constructability, and cost efficiency are embedded early within project designs.
- Build and structure the technical and delivery organisation as the platform scales, developing engineering leadership capability and clear interfaces between internal teams, EPCs, OEMs, contractors, and advisors.
- Work closely with the CEO, CFO, investors, and executive leadership team to support strategic growth initiatives, project financing discussions, and long‑term platform expansion.
Are you the ideal candidate?
- Degree in Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Power Systems, Energy Infrastructure, or a related discipline.
- 15+ years of experience across energy, infrastructure, or capital‑intensive project environments with a strong engineering and project delivery background.
- Previous experience in senior technical leadership roles such as: CTO, Head of Engineering, Head of Delivery, or equivalent.
- Strong experience leading utility‑scale BESS projects from development through construction and commissioning.
- Deep technical expertise across: BESS technologies, Balance of Plant (BoP), EPC delivery models, grid integration, and large‑scale infrastructure execution.
- Experience building technical standards, governance frameworks, scalable delivery organisations, and engineering best practices.
- Strong understanding of supplier management, procurement strategy, technical risk allocation, warranties, and commercial interfaces.
- Comfortable operating within entrepreneurial, fast‑growing, or private equity‑backed environments where processes and teams are being built and scaled.
- Strong strategic mindset combined with a pragmatic and hands‑on approach when required.
- Commercially aware with sufficient financial acumen to engage in project financing and investment discussions.
- Project management certifications such as PMP, APM, IOSH, APMG, or equivalent would be advantageous.
What’s in it:
- Competitive executive compensation package
- Performance‑based annual bonus
- Long‑term incentive potential
- Opportunity to join a high‑growth platform backed by a leading infrastructure investor
- Strategic leadership exposure with direct influence on the platform’s expansion
- Opportunity to shape the technical foundations and long‑term scalability of a rapidly growing BESS business
- Opportunity to play a key role in accelerating the energy transition
