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Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Technology keeps the world moving - It's no different here at Hot Topic. We are on the hunt for a CTO who is responsible for overseeing all technical aspects of the company. This role requires a leader who can operate at both the strategic and operational level shaping long-term technology vision, including how artificial intelligence and machine learning are applied to create measurable business value, while ensuring day-to-day reliability of systems that directly impact store operations, customer experience, and revenue.

The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) is the senior executive responsible for the strategic direction, governance, and operational execution of all technology functions across the enterprise. This includes cybersecurity, enterprise applications, infrastructure and hardware, IT operations, help desk, end-user support, artificial intelligence and data science and the full portfolio of technology projects across all three brands.

What You'll Need

• In partnership with company leadership team, the CTO will be actively involved and lead in developing the vision and a road map to execute current and future company goals and objectives.
• Support and refine current plan for the product roadmap including setting time frames and successfully drive to fruition and release. Develop plans for new products and enhancements including time frames, release and time to market.
• Own the IT capital and operating budget, ensuring effective allocation of resources across infrastructure, applications, security, and support functions.
• Direct the full software development cycle. Establish, refine and supervise the software development process, setting short-term objectives and assessing progress as defined by the selected software development methodology.
• Manage activities so that products are developed on schedule, maximum efficiency and within quality standards and cost objectives that meet market demands.
• Product Quality Assurance
• Promote achievement of high-quality products through extensive and fool-proof yet efficient quality assurance process.
• Integrate review and quality testing in the development cycle to ensure efficiency, avoid repeated errors and rejects, and ensure all the requirements are appropriately addressed.
• Ensure that products and enhancements provide optimum solutions consistent with what customers need and improve their workflow and usage experience.

Strategy & Planning

• Identify technology trends and evolving social behavior that may support or impede the success of the business. Evaluate and identify appropriate technology platforms (including web application frameworks and the deployment stack) for delivering the company's services.
• Establish a governance process that meets government, partner, and company expectations for customer information privacy and other regulatory compliance.
• Acquisition, maintenance and cost-effective technology including internal infrastructure, systems and client integration.
• Prepare department budget and resource/infrastructure requirements.

Execution & Implementation

• Direct management of engineers/developers (on-shore and off-shore), DBAs, QA staff, product management, infrastructure and production support teams as well as technology partners and vendors.
• Ensure high availability and resilience of systems supporting store operations, distribution centers, and corporate functions.
• Oversee technology asset lifecycle management, hardware refresh cycles, and vendor/OEM relationships.
• Drive standardization and operational efficiency across store-level technology deployments.

Cybersecurity & Risk Management

• Own enterprise-wide cybersecurity strategy, governance, and risk management, ensuring protection of customer data, payment systems (PCI compliance), and corporate assets across all brands.
• Ensure compliance with applicable regulatory requirements (PCI-DSS, state/federal privacy laws, data protection regulations).
• Establish incident response, disaster recovery, and business continuity plans; lead the organization through security incidents when they occur.
• Oversee security operations, vulnerability management, identity and access management, and third-party/vendor risk assessments.

Artificial Intelligence Strategy, Governance and Execution

• Own the enterprise AI strategy and roadmap, identifying and prioritizing high-value use cases across ecommerce, merchandising, marketing, supply chain, customer service, and store operations and all cross functional areas that drive measurable revenue growth, margin improvement, and cost efficiency across both brands and all three websites.
• Champion the adoption of AI, across the technology team and the entire organization.
• Establish an AI governance framework covering responsible and ethical AI use, data privacy, model risk management, bias mitigation, and compliance with emerging AI regulations, ensuring AI initiatives are deployed safely and in alignment with customer trust and brand standards.
• Evaluate and select AI platforms, tools, and vendor/partner relationships (cloud AI/ML services, generative AI and LLM providers, AI-enabled SaaS and copilot tools) that accelerate time-to-value while effectively managing cost, security, and risk.
• Drive a culture of AI literacy and experimentation across the technology organization and the broader business, including deploying internal AI tools that improve developer productivity, IT operations (AIOps), and enterprise efficiency.

Collaboration, Operations & Maintenance

• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of technology standards, industry trends, emerging technologies, and software development best practices
• Define and communicate company values and standards for acquiring or developing systems, equipment, or software within the company. Ensure the company's internal technological processes and customer-facing services comply with community expectations and applicable laws and regulations for privacy, security, and social responsibility.
• Ensure that technology standards and best practices are maintained across the organization.
• Ensure company technical problems are resolved in a timely and cost-effective manner.
• Develop, track, and control the product management, development and deployment of annual operating and capital budgets for purchasing, staffing, and operations.
• Display high-performance, high-energy leadership to direct team, collaboration with company leadership team

Product Management

• In partnership with internal business owners, help direct product and enhancement requirements gathering for software, platform, and web-based solutions including workflow, wireframes, mockups and prototype consistent with both strategic intention of the company as whole (sales, marketing, implementation, support and operations) and clients/customers.
• Collaborate with designers (UX/UI), project managers, operations and Product User Groups to successfully achieve high-quality and useful products.
• Review and approve proposed development releases and manage the release process.
• Present new releases and plans highlighting new products enhancements to existing customers, potential clients and business partners (as well as in trade shows, conferences and user-group meetings).

BS/BA in computer science, engineering or related major or equivalent combination of education and experience. A graduate degree in one of these fields is a plus

Proven experience in multi-brand or multi-business-unit retail, or a comparable complex, distributed operating environment

Demonstrated success managing multi-million-dollar technology budgets and capital planning.

Minimum of 15+ years of professional experience with minimum of 10 years' experience managing tech teams

Keen business acumen and proven executive management abilities based on prior experience.

Forthright and a team player who is an active member of a high-performance management team

Ability to have effective two-way communication with management and technical team

Provide leadership and motivation to the technology team via a dynamic, confident and professional demeanor

Knowledgeable with more than one software development methodology and multiple products.

Strong knowledge of information security vulnerabilities, disaster recovery and risk management

Familiarity with consumer privacy and payments industry compliance requirements

Strong vendor management and negotiation skills, ability to build relationships, manage vendor SLAs and provide appropriate escalation as needed

$300,000 - $350,000 a year Please note the pay range for this position starts as listed in the job posting, but other factors such as an individual's education, location, meeting the minimum job requirements for the role, training and experience, will determine the final salary for potential new hires.