{"id":2352090,"url":"https://alion.io/job/akqa-executive-technical-director","title":"Executive Technical Director","company":{"id":64634,"name":"Akqa","domain":"akqa.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/akqa-com","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":75,"open_postings":6,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":1,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":null,"computed_at":"2026-10-13T05:45:00Z"}},"role":"Leadership","role_family":"Leadership","seniority":"head","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["London, United Kingdom"],"countries":["GB"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":131000,"max_usd":246000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":54},"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"AI Agents","optional":false},{"name":"CI/CD","optional":false},{"name":"Platform Engineering","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-07-22T15:23:11Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-02","last_verified_at":"2026-10-13T12:11:33Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":82,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":82},"description":"At AKQA (part of WPP), we believe in the imaginative application of art and science to create beautiful ideas, products, and services. We design connected experiences that transform brands and businesses through the integration of creativity, technology, and data.\nWe are seeking an Executive Technical Director to lead and shape technology-driven transformation for our clients. This role combines deep technical expertise with strategic thinking, client leadership, and a strong point of view on how AI is redefining customer experience, commerce, and business operations.\nThe Executive Technical Director operates as a senior partner to both clients and internal leadership, helping define how AI and modern technology reshape customer experience, commerce, and business operations. They translate business ambition into technology strategy, identify and originate new opportunities, and drive the creation of innovative, AI-enabled products and experiences. This role is critical in scaling AKQA’s impact by extending CTO-level thinking across key clients and engagements in the region.\nROLE REQUIREMENTS\nTechnical Leadership\nDefine and drive end-to-end technical strategy and architecture across complex ecosystemsLead design of scalable, secure, cloud-native systems\n\nChampion MACH architectures\nEstablish engineering standards and best practicesOversee architecture, integrations, and data flows\n\nDrive modern development practices (CI/CD, DevOps, etc.)\n Partner with Data teams on data architecture, personalisation strategies, and real-time decisioning systems\nClient & Strategic Leadership \nAct as a senior technology partner to clients, leading strategic conversations at C-level across AI, platforms, and digital transformation\nTranslate business ambition and customer experience goals into clear, actionable technology strategies and roadmaps\nShape and originate new opportunities, from early-stage thinking through to solution definition and proposal\nLead technical discovery, solution design, and estimation for new business and pitches\nDrive the conversion of innovation initiatives (POCs, pilots) into scaled programmes and long-term partnershipsNavigate complex enterprise environments, influencing stakeholders across business, technology, and experience functions\n\nProactively identify whitespace opportunities and define new AI-led use cases, propositions, and engagement models for clients\nAI, Innovation & Product Thinking \nDefine how AI transforms client business models, customer experience, and operational efficiency\nIdentify and shape AI-driven opportunities, products, and services that create tangible business value\nApply generative AI, LLMs, and agent-based systems to real-world use cases across commerce, marketing, and service\nContribute to the development of AI-led propositions, accelerators, and repeatable offerings\nLead the integration of AI into end-to-end solutions, from use case definition to architecture and deployment\nEnsure responsible AI implementation, including governance, scalability, and compliance\nCustomer Experience & Business Understanding \nStrong understanding of customer journeys, digital ecosystems, and experience design principles\nAbility to connect technology decisions to customer experience quality, brand impact, and business outcomes\nExperience working within large, complex organisations, understanding governance, stakeholders, and decision-making dynamics\nAbility to bridge strategy, design, data, and technology into cohesive solutions\nDelivery & Team \nOversee delivery across multiple programmes, ensuring technical quality, performance, and scalability\nLead and mentor senior engineers and technical leaders, building high-performing, distributed teams\nContribute to AKQA’s technical roadmap, capability development, and thought leadership\nHelp scale technology leadership across the region by elevating senior talent and acting as a proxy for CTO-level thinking when required\nAct as a senior representative of AKQA’s technology leadership in key client engagements, operating with autonomy and authority\nQUALITIES & CHARACTERISTICS\nStrong strategic thinker, able to connect business ambition, customer experience, and technology into clear, differentiated propositions\nA client-first technology leader, comfortable operating at senior levels within complex organisations and influencing strategic direction\nDeep technical credibility across platform engineering, distributed systems, and modern web/application stacks\nA natural leader and coach, experienced in developing senior technical talent and building engineering capability\nPassionate about engineering craft, including code quality, performance, scalability, and maintainability\nDeeply fluent in AI and emerging technologies, with the ability to translate them into concrete client opportunities, products, and transformation programmes\nConfident communicator, able to influence both technical and non-technical stakeholders at senior levels\nCollaborative and cross-disciplinary, thriving in environments that blend creativity, technology, and data\nCalm and decisive in complex environments, balancing strategic vision with practical delivery\nHighly credible in client environments, with strong communication and presentation skills, able to influence senior stakeholders\nCommercially minded, with experience shaping solutions that drive revenue, growth, and long-term client value\nEntrepreneurial and proactive, bringing ideas and opportunities rather than only responding to briefs\nComfortable operating across strategy, experience, and technology, not confined to a single discipline\nWe believe great work happens when we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. That's why we’ve adopted a hybrid approach including required in-office days. If you require accommodations or flexibility, please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process.\nAKQA is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to particular characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.\nAbout WPP\nWPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. We unite cutting-edge media intelligence and data solutions, world-class creativity, next-generation production, transformative enterprise solutions and expert strategic counsel in a single company - powered by exceptional talent and our agentic marketing platform, WPP Open, to help our clients navigate change, capture opportunity and deliver transformational growth. For more information, visit WPP.com.","description_format":"text","description_chars":6696,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Commerce"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-12T14:04:29Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"GB","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"Licensed UK visa sponsor (Senior or Specialist Worker, Skilled Worker)","filings_12m":null,"filings_prev_12m":null,"green_card_filings_12m":null,"median_offered_wage_usd":null,"route":"Global Business Mobility: Senior or Specialist Worker; Skilled Worker","cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-13T06:20:30+00:00","sources":["UK Home Office: register of licensed sponsors (workers)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":13,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.458,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":82,"expected_fill_days":30,"reasons":["conf:0","win:tail","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-10-13T05:45:00Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/akqa-executive-technical-director","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/akqa-executive-technical-director.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-13T13:53:28Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":21398,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-14T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":64634},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=64634"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fakqa-executive-technical-director"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fakqa-executive-technical-director"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fakqa-executive-technical-director"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/akqa-executive-technical-director\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fakqa-executive-technical-director"}]}