Chief Product & Technology Officer

The Chief Product & Technology Officer (CPTO) is a pivotal Executive Leadership Team appointment, leading the transformation of CLA from a traditional licensing organisation into a product-led, digitally enabled business. This is a unique opportunity to shape digital products, e-commerce capabilities and AI-enabled services at the forefront of one of the most significant developments in copyright, content and AI.

CLA is a highly respected organisation with a 40-year heritage of supporting authors, publishers and visual artists through collective licensing. Today, it represents more than 17 million publications, generates over £113m in annual revenue, and operates at the centre of the evolving relationship between content, copyright and artificial intelligence. Having recently launched the world's first voluntary collective licence for generative AI, CLA is entering an exciting new phase of growth through digital commerce, platform innovation and technology-enabled services.

The Role

Reporting to the CEO, the CPTO will provide strategic leadership across product, technology, data, digital delivery and transformation. As a key member of the Executive Leadership Team, you will shape CLA's technology and product strategy from first principles, modernise our digital capability and create the foundations for future commercial success.

Key priorities will include:

• Driving the development and scaling of digital products, an intuitive self-serve customer experience plus our e-commerce capability. Through this activity you will help us accelerate growth across our target SME and private sector markets.
• Leading CLA's response to emerging Artificial Intelligence opportunities, developing innovative licensing, data and platform capabilities that support responsible and ethical AI adoption.
• Building a future-ready product based technology function, establishing a clear operating model, strengthening governance and restoring confidence in technology as a strategic enabler of business success. The successful candidate will inherit a capable and committed team and will have the opportunity to define our future technology strategy, operating model, delivery models and product roadmap.

The Candidate

We are seeking an inspiring and commercially minded technology product leader who combines strategic thinking with a customer centred, commercial mindset. You may already be operating at Executive level, or be an exceptional technology, product or digital leader ready to step into your first CPTO appointment.

You will bring:

• A track record of leading digital, technology, product or transformation programmes within product-led, platform or technology-enabled organisations, alongside experience of delivering customer-centric digital services.
• Adept commercial and strategic capability, with experience leveraging AI, data and technology to create value, improve customer experiences and support organisational growth.
• The leadership presence to influence at Board level, challenge constructively, inspire teams and build trusted relationships across a complex stakeholder environment.

Equally important will be your leadership style. CLA values collaborative and transparent leaders who bring people with them, make clear decisions and create environments where teams can thrive.

Why Join CLA?

This is far more than a traditional technology leadership role. It is an opportunity to shape the future of a respected organisation at a moment of genuine transformation, operating at the intersection of content, technology, commerce and AI.

You will play a central role in creating new products, digital services and licensing models that help define the future of copyright in the AI era. With a supportive CEO, significant executive visibility and the freedom to build something meaningful, this represents a rare opportunity to leave a lasting mark on an organisation with genuine purpose and national relevance.

To find out more about this once in a career opportunity, please click here or contact our retained search partner; Alex Richardson, Managing Partner - IT & Digital Leadership Practice at Berwick Partners on [email protected]