Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Assignment

Following an acquisition by one of the most prominent family offices in Poland and CEE, a fast-growing digital business engaged First Point Partners to appoint a Chief Technology Officer.

The company was entering a new post-deal phase and required a technology leader who could professionalise the tech function, strengthen delivery discipline and support the business in translating its growth ambitions into a scalable operating model.

This was not a purely technical mandate. The role required an executive able to work in a post-acquisition environment, understand the commercial logic of the business, and align technology priorities with the company’s revenue generation model. The client needed a leader who could build trust with the management team, introduce structure without disrupting entrepreneurial momentum and help shape a stronger culture of execution.

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Approach

First Point Partners began by defining the CTO profile in the context of the company’s ownership change, business model and future growth agenda. The key question was not only who could lead engineering, but who could operate effectively in a post-deal environment where technology, revenue generation and M&A context were tightly connected.

We worked with the client to clarify the required balance between strategic leadership and hands-on execution. The ideal candidate needed to understand how technology supports commercial performance, customer acquisition, scalability and operational efficiency. Cultural fit was also critical, as the new CTO would be responsible for building a more professional technology function while working with an existing organisation that had developed dynamically before the acquisition.

First Point Partners mapped senior technology and digital leaders with experience in high-growth, technology-enabled businesses. Particular attention was given to candidates who had worked close to business model development, corporate development or M&A-driven growth, rather than executives operating only within narrow engineering structures.

The selected candidate had experience in corporate development at one of the largest holiday e-commerce groups, a business that had scaled rapidly over the preceding years through acquisition-led growth. This background made the candidate particularly relevant to the client’s situation: they understood both the operational complexity of a scaling digital platform and the strategic importance of aligning technology with acquisition, integration and revenue growth.

Throughout the process, candidates were assessed against their ability to professionalise a technology function, lead teams through change, work with commercial and operational stakeholders, and build a technology roadmap directly connected to the company’s post-acquisition priorities.

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Outcome

The client appointed a CTO with the right combination of technology leadership, corporate development exposure and post-deal operating judgement.

The selected candidate joined the business to lead the development of a more professional technology function, strengthen execution discipline and support the company’s next phase of growth under new ownership.

The mandate demonstrated the importance of First Point Partners’ approach to executive search in private capital-backed environments: understanding the transaction context, the revenue generation model, the culture required after an acquisition and the type of leadership needed to convert a deal thesis into operational performance.

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