Chief Technology Officer

The organisation

Founded in 1992 by brothers Marco and Patrick Draijer, YAYA started off as a male Tee Company that later transformed into what it is now: a Dutch lifestyle brand for women who like to strike the perfect balance between stylish and casual. Thirty years later, customers can find YAYA’s collections – not only elegant fashion but home decor too – at over 2,700 selling points worldwide, and at its concept stores in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Poland and Ireland. All items and prints are passionately designed by YAYA’s in-house styling team at their HQ in Halfweg, close to Amsterdam, where you’ll find approximately 100 employees. YAYA and colleagues working in the stores are committed to ensuring consumers find attractive items and a great experience.

Commercial, yet sustainable
Another thing that’s very high on YAYA’s list is the desire to buy stock as efficiently as possible. In recent years, thanks to the implementation of an effective replenishment tool, the company has managed to take good steps toward reaching this goal. YAYA is set to develop this further and aims to improve it to an even better and more advanced stock a management tool, with segmentation and AI-driven forecasting. Apart from serving the company commercially, it also reduces waste, which we all know is important. Furthermore, a CSR manager is appointed recently. Transparency will also be a big topic when blockchain will come
around the corner.

The position

As CTO, you have a clear mission: to bring IT within YAYA to the next level. A challenging yet very rewarding task, that starts with clearly outlining the organization of YAYA’s IT. You will carefully assess every component of the company’s technological infrastructure and strategy, making sure you have a 360-degree view of the IT landscape. Based on what you see – plus your vast
experience in e-commerce and your personal vision of innovative technologies you will finetune YAYA’s technological vision and strategies so they align with the company’s business needs.

The IT team currently consists of a developer, a product owner, a junior IT professional and an intern. In addition, you will manage a team of developers based in Poland. You’ll translate your insights and findings into a clear IT roadmap, which you’ll share with them. Along with building and strengthening the organization of our IT, you’ll have the opportunity to expand the team further.
As an inspirational leader, you know how to both structure and streamline work processes, but also have very strong interpersonal skills. Both are pivotal to ensuring the team elevates the IT infrastructure and strategy to the level YAYA is aiming for.

Tasks & responsibilities

• Evaluate the current IT organization and identify areas for improvement in a structured roadmap, clearly defining goals, optimizations, deployments and timelines
• Oversee execution of the technology roadmap
• Managing technology budgets
• Ensuring the IT team has clear goals, and that everybody‘s role is defined
• Further developing the team, and attracting new people and skills
• Mentoring the IT team members
• Being the strategic sparring partner on all things technological to the founder and Sales Director, Patrick Draijer, to whom you also report directly

Company culture
While your role as CTO is predominantly managerial and executional in nature, in this dynamic, hands-on organization, you’ll be weighing in on strategic, tactical and operational tasks when needed. In a very open, human organization like YAYA, a flexible, can-do attitude is a perfect fit. YAYA employees have the freedom to perform their roles the way they deem best, and are very open to feedback from colleagues.

Decisions can be made fast in this very entrepreneurial organization and implemented even faster. This ethos makes for a close-knit yet highly ambitious company where people are passionate about their work, and give their best every day. As their skilled and dedicated CTO, you’ll ensure that YAYA has a secure, reliable, and scalable technology landscape and strategy, and as such,
help the company realize its ambitions for the future.

Candidate profile

• Minimum of 6 to 8 years of experience
• People Manager
• All-round IT Manager, IT Consultant, CTO or CIO
• Proven experience in IT management and e-commerce
• Proven track record in developing and executing successful technology strategies
• Data-driven approach
• Strategic skills
• Entrepreneurial mindset

Interested?

You can apply to this position by using the form below. 

Note: Akira Search recruits on an exclusive basis for her clients