About the Opportunity

Are you a technical executive who excels at strategic leadership but still genuinely loves rolling up your sleeves and being close to the technology?

We are partnering with a high-impact, Australian-based global non-profit organisation dedicated to breaking down technical barriers and ensuring software accessibility remains equitable and freely available for under-served communities. Their flagship open-source platform empowers hundreds of thousands of users worldwide to access essential digital tools, education, and employment opportunities.

Operating as a lean, agile organisation, they are seeking a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to join the Executive team. This is a true “player-coach” executive appointment. You will balance high-level product strategy and executive governance with practical, hands-on involvement across code reviews, technical architecture, and day-to-day delivery alongside a talented engineering team.

What You’ll Do

As CTO in a small, purpose-driven organisation, you will lead the technology function from end to end:

- Strategic & Hands-On Engineering: Provide architectural leadership while remaining actively engaged in technical delivery—participating in code reviews, issue triage, CI/CD pipeline improvements, and direct problem-solving where required.
- Product Strategy & Delivery: Define and execute the product vision, technical roadmaps, and requirement artefacts aligned with user needs and organisational goals.
- Engineering Management: Mentor, coordinate, and run day-to-day agile workflows with the engineering team, upholding software quality, security protocols, and disciplined release schedules.
- Open-Source Community Collaboration:



Serve as the technical lead and liaison to an active global open-source contributor network, guiding discussions, building consensus, and mentoring emerging contributors.
- Executive & IT Operations: Partner with executive peers on sustainability initiatives, compliance, and direct oversight of internal cloud systems, hosting, and operational IT infrastructure.

What You’ll Bring

- Proven Technical Leadership: Experience in a senior technology leadership role (CTO, Head of Engineering, Principal Architect, or Lead Developer) within a lean, agile environment.
- Active Technical Capability: A strong, contemporary background in software engineering, architecture, systems security, and release pipelines, paired with the appetite to remain hands-on when needed.
- Pragmatic Mindset: Comfortable operating without layers of middle management; able to transition seamlessly between executive board strategy and technical execution.
- Collaborative Stakeholder Skills: Exceptional communication abilities to engage board members, internal colleagues, and a passionate, distributed open-source community.
- Qualifications: Tertiary degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or relevant practical industry experience.

Desirable:

- Direct experience contributing to, managing, or coding an open-source software project.
- Background in digital accessibility, inclusive design, or assistive technology ecosystems.




- Experience within non-profit (NFP/NGO) or social-enterprise operating models.

Why Consider This Role?
- Tangible Global Impact: Direct technological leadership of a platform that changes hundreds of thousands of lives globally.
- Autonomy & Influence: High-visibility executive influence with zero corporate bureaucracy.
- Flexibility & Purpose: Work with a values-driven team offering remote flexibility across Australia.

Confidential Enquiries & Applications To explore this chance in confidence, please submit your CV and a brief cover letter outlining your leadership and technical background. A note on the package

This role sits within a registered Public Benevolent Institution, which means you can salary package up to approximately $15,900 of your salary tax-free each year, plus a further $2,650 in meal and entertainment benefits. Depending on your marginal tax rate, this typically translates to several thousand dollars of additional take-home value beyond the headline figure, so the effective package compares more favourably to commercial roles than the number alone might suggest.

What to include in your application

Because the screening questions above can only capture yes or no, please use your application message or cover note to address three things briefly:

1. Any experience with disability or accessibility, in a few specific sentences.
2. What about this role and this kind of organisation genuinely appeals to you, and what concerns you.
3. What you are ideally seeking on package, if different from the advertised range. This will not be used to disqualify you; it helps us have an honest conversation early.

Applications that don't address these will not progress.

📌 Chief Technology Officer (Australia)
🏢 techexec. | Technology Leadership Recruitment
📍 Australia