Chief Technology Officer

Overview

A privately held specialty retailer and wholesale distributor in the Dallas-Fort Worth area wants a practical, strategic CTO to own technology across distribution operations and a growing set of specialty shops, many of them located inside secure facilities. You report to the President and sit on the executive team. Scope covers store platforms, POS and payments, warehouse systems, custom apps, analytics and reporting stacks, infrastructure, the help desk, and security. The company needs a leader who can set direction and still roll up sleeves on a lean team. The role is office-based every day; remote arrangements are not available.

Responsibilities

• Set a multi-year technology plan that matches growth plans and modernization goals, then drive it to delivery.
• Counsel the President and peers on technology choices, risk, and spend so business decisions stay clear.
• Hire, mentor, and organize IT operations, service desk, and application development so the function scales with the company.
• Guide architecture, engineering practices, infrastructure, and software rollouts.
• Hold the help desk to defined SLAs for shop-floor and HQ users, with regular performance reporting.
• Put durable standards, documentation, and operating habits in place across technology.
• Own retail POS, ERP, and payment stacks for the expanding location network, including upgrades and terminal or gateway migrations.
• Lead technology readiness for each new shop opening, coordinating circuits, hardware, and systems with host-facility IT and facilities teams.
• Collaborate across Ops, Sales, and Finance on in-house applications, warehouse tooling, and reporting that lift store and company results.
• Scout and trial new capabilities, including AI, that improve guest experience or competitive edge.
• Run the security program against an industry framework (CIS Controls or similar) and keep card-present PCI obligations current.
• Accountable for backups, DR readiness, and incident handling, and lead answers when customers or partners review security posture.
• Publish and enforce policies on topics such as AI use and data handling to manage risk and compliance.
• Build and manage technology CapEx and OpEx budgets.
• Select, negotiate, and manage vendors, dealers, and MSPs.
• Build a culture that values ownership, written procedures, and steady improvement.

Qualifications

• CS, IS, or related bachelor's degree, or equivalent career experience; MBA helpful but not required.
• A decade or more in technology roles of increasing scope, with five or more years running an IT organization.
• Demonstrated leadership of technology for multi-location retail, distribution, or similar operations spanning POS, ERP, and payments.
• Willingness and ability to diagnose and fix problems yourself; this seat is a player-coach on a small staff.
• Depth in architecture, cloud, networking, data platforms, and security.
• Familiarity with PCI DSS plus a recognized security framework such as CIS Controls or NIST CSF.
• Vendor negotiation experience and oversight of managed service providers.
• Strong leadership presence and the skill to translate technical tradeoffs for non-technical executives.