Chief Product & Technology Officer (CPO/CTO)

Job description

About Zinkworks Zinkworks is an Irish technology company delivering advanced software engineering, cloud, AI and network solutions to leading telecommunications and financial-services organisations. We have built a strong reputation for solving complex engineering problems for some of the world’s largest enterprises. Our next phase of growth is focused on building a scalable product business alongside our existing services organisation, creating meaningful recurring software revenue from products developed around our telecom expertise, engineering capability and customer relationships. We are now looking for an exceptional Chief Product & Technology Officer (CPO/CTO) to join our Executive Team and lead that growth. The Role The CPO/CTO will have overall responsibility for Zinkworks product strategy, product commercialisation and technology direction. This is fundamentally a commercial leadership role. The successful candidate will be accountable not only for what products Zinkworks builds, but for whether those products achieve product-market fit, win customers and deliver meaningful recurring revenue. The CPO/CTO will own an annual product revenue and ARR target and will be expected to build the strategy, organisation and go-to-market model required to deliver against it. They will work closely with the CEO and Sales leadership to identify attractive market opportunities, validate customer demand, secure lighthouse customers, establish pricing and packaging, and create scalable propositions that can be sold repeatedly across the telecommunications sector. This is therefore not a traditional CTO role centred primarily on engineering, architecture or internal technology. We are looking for a leader who combines technical credibility with strong commercial instincts and a demonstrable record of building products that customers buy. Key Responsibilities Own and deliver Zinkworks' product revenue and ARR targets. Define the commercial strategy for Zinkworks' product portfolio, including target markets, customer segments, pricing, packaging and routes to market. Build a portfolio of scalable software products capable of generating material recurring revenue. Identify product opportunities based on genuine customer pain points, willingness to pay and attractive market economics. Develop clear business cases for product investment, including expected revenue, market size, investment requirement, margins and time to payback. Decide where Zinkworks should invest — and equally where it should not — based on commercial potential rather than technology alone. Take direct ownership of product-market fit and ensure development priorities are driven by validated customer demand. Work directly with Tier-1 telecom operators to validate propositions, secure design partners and convert early deployments into paying reference customers. Partner closely with Sales to build and execute product go-to-market plans. Support major sales opportunities directly, particularly during early market development and strategic customer engagements. Establish compelling product positioning and value propositions linked to clear customer outcomes and ROI. Develop pricing and commercial models that support strong gross margins and recurring revenue. Create a repeatable sales proposition capable of scaling beyond individual customer-specific implementations. Drive customer acquisition, adoption, retention, expansion, and renewal for the product portfolio. Develop a clear roadmap for growing product revenue across both existing Zinkworks customers and new logos. Establish commercial KPIs including pipeline, conversion, ARR, customer acquisition, retention, gross margin and revenue growth. Own the complete product lifecycle from market discovery through launch, revenue generation and scale. Define Zinkworks' overall technology strategy and ensure the technology roadmap supports commercial objectives. Ensure products are secure, scalable, cloud-native and capable of being deployed within complex Tier-1 telecom environments. Lead product management, architecture and relevant technology functions. Build and develop a high-performing product organisation with strong commercial accountability. Represent Zinkworks with customers, strategic partners, technology vendors and industry bodies. What We Are Looking For The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate a strong record of turning technology into revenue. We are specifically looking for someone who has built, launched and commercially scaled enterprise software products, rather than someone whose background has been predominantly internal technology leadership or bespoke customer delivery. The successful candidate will ideally have: Significant leadership experience as a CPO, CTO, Chief Product & Technology Officer, SVP Product, GM Product or equivalent. A demonstrable track record of building and commercialising B2B software products. • Experience taking at least one product from concept or early stage through to material external revenue. Direct experience owning a revenue, ARR or P&L target. Experience selling or commercialising enterprise technology into the telecommunications sector. Strong understanding of how Tier-1 telecommunications operators buy, procure and deploy technology. Evidence of successfully creating product-market fit and converting early customer interest into repeatable sales. Strong understanding of enterprise software pricing, packaging and commercial models. Experience building recurring revenue businesses rather than relying solely on project or professional-services revenue. Strong commercial judgement and the ability to evaluate product opportunities based on market attractiveness, customer demand and return on investment. The confidence and credibility to engage directly with C-level and senior decision makers within major telecom operators. Experience working alongside enterprise sales teams on complex, high-value software opportunities. Strong understanding of SaaS, licensing, recurring revenue and enterprise product economics. Sufficient technical depth to provide credible leadership across architecture, cloud, AI, software engineering and data. Experience building and leading high-performing product and technology teams. Commercial Accountability The CPO/CTO will be expected to operate with the commercial accountability of a business-unit leader. Key measures will include: Annual product revenue Annual recurring revenue (ARR) New customer acquisition Product sales pipeline Pipeline conversion Average contract value Gross margin Customer retention and renewal Expansion revenue Number of referenceable Tier-1 customers Product adoption and usage Return on product development investment Product success at Zinkworks will not be measured primarily by roadmap completion, features delivered or technical sophistication. It will be measured by customers won, revenue generated, recurring revenue created and sustainable product economics. Experience in one or more of the following would be highly valuable: Telecom OSS/BSS Network automation Autonomous Networks SMO / RAN Intelligent Controller technologies Network assurance or optimisation AI applied to telecom operations Cloud transformation within Tier-1 operators Enterprise SaaS sold to communications service providers Building software businesses from an engineering or professional-services base The Opportunity This is a key Executive Team position with responsibility for building one of the most important elements of Zinkworks' future growth strategy. Zinkworks already has deep engineering capability, significant telecom expertise and relationships with major international customers. The opportunity is to convert those assets into a substantial, scalable product business. The successful candidate will have both the mandate and accountability to do that. This is an opportunity for an experienced product and technology executive to build a meaningful recurring-revenue business — with commercial ownership, executive-level influence and direct accountability for growth. Inclusion & Diversity at Zinkworks At Zinkworks, we are deeply committed to fostering a culture of diversity, inclusion, and belonging. We believe that our strength lies in the unique backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences of our team members. By embracing an inclusive environment, we empower innovation and collaboration across all levels of our organisation. Based in Ireland, we are proud to support and engage with our local communities through meaningful initiatives that promote equity and opportunity. Our commitment extends beyond the workplace, as we actively contribute to creating a more inclusive and connected society for all.