Chief Technology Officer

Part-Time Chief Technology Officer

Celestial Systems Inc. is seeking a Part-Time Chief Technology Officer. This role is based in Vancouver, requiring presence at the Celestial Burnaby Office and some days at a client site in Surrey. The expected commitment is an average of 80 hours per month, which translates to approximately 20 hours per week or 4 hours per day.

As the Chief Technology Officer, you will serve as a strategic technology leader for Nationwide Fuel, spearheading continuous innovation and acting as the primary technology liaison between Nationwide's leadership and Celestial Systems. Your core responsibility will involve integrating Nationwide’s business initiatives into a cohesive technical roadmap. This includes defining strategic technology investments for efficient and sustainable business scaling, modernizing existing systems to enhance company valuation, and alleviating day-to-day technical burdens by owning key technical decisions and coordinating with Celestial. You will also ensure that the technology strategy and the 3-5-year roadmap are closely aligned with Nationwide’s overarching business goals and growth plans, developing a deep understanding of their current operations and workflows.

Key Responsibilities

1. Business & Technology Strategy

• Develop a clear technology strategy reflecting Nationwide’s business model (where technology is a primary asset) and growth ambitions.
• Translate this strategy into a prioritized 3-5 year roadmap, covering modernization, new product development, integrations, and opportunities for AI/automation.
• Proactively introduce and advocate for technological ideas and options that can deliver competitive advantages or open new revenue streams.
• Identify inefficiencies, manual processes, and bottlenecks where technological solutions can provide significant leverage.

2. Liaison Between Nationwide and Celestial

• Act as Nationwide’s senior technical representative in all interactions with Celestial and other vendors.
• Validate and refine requirements provided by the Nationwide team to ensure they accurately reflect current realities and future needs, not just historical processes.
• Identify practical AI and automation opportunities that align with concrete business impact.
• Assess the feasibility, cost, and readiness of AI adoption before making recommendations.
• Challenge proposed approaches when necessary and implement course corrections as required.

3. Governance, Prioritization, and Decision-Making

• Establish lightweight technology governance frameworks for Nationwide, including decision forums, documentation expectations, and review checkpoints.
• Assist leadership in prioritizing initiatives and making trade-offs (e.g., what to do now versus later, what to discontinue) to ensure technology investment is focused and coherent.
• Own the translation of business requirements into clear technical direction, enabling Celestial and other partners to implement solutions efficiently.
• Support leadership in managing change and facilitating the adoption of new systems and processes.
• Ensure that technology improvements are user-friendly, widely adopted, and effectively integrated into operations.

4. Security, Risk, and Compliance (Oversight)

• Provide comprehensive oversight of Nationwide’s security posture, identify policy gaps, and address compliance considerations, particularly as systems undergo modernization and expansion.
• Coordinate testing, policy reviews, and similar activities, engaging specialist resources and vendors as needed.

Key skills/competency

• Technology Strategy
• Business Alignment
• Digital Transformation
• System Modernization
• AI/Automation Integration
• IT Governance
• Vendor Management
• Cybersecurity Oversight
• Stakeholder Communication
• Technical Leadership