Non-Executive Director — Technology Supplier and Cyber Assurance

Supplier dependence belongs in the commercial case

The role calls for someone who can connect commercial terms with operational consequences. A supplier's reputation or a completed procurement process does not establish that dependency has been understood. The board needs evidence of what could fail, how quickly alternatives could be used and what customers would experience during disruption.

Assurance and continuity questions

Challenge the identification of critical providers and the rationale for concentration. Examine contractual rights, support commitments, data access, exit arrangements and responsibilities for security updates. Ask whether assurance evidence covers the actual service or component being used, and whether management understands the limits of that evidence.

Review how supplier risk is reflected in product pricing, customer promises and investment choices. Consider the consequences of a provider changing terms, withdrawing a product or suffering a material incident. Encourage proportionate contingency planning that can be exercised rather than merely documented.

The director capable of pursuing them

Candidates should have senior experience in industrial technology commercial leadership, technology partnerships or complex enterprise procurement, with credible exposure to cyber and operational resilience governance. They must be able to challenge both a sales-led justification and a technically framed assurance claim.

Applicants should provide examples of decisions involving supplier concentration, contractual protection or service continuity. Board-level communication and the ability to recognise when specialist technical assurance is necessary are essential.

How this seat influences decisions

The director will work through collective board and committee processes, ensuring that commercial, technology and risk teams present a coherent account of dependency. They will not become the operational owner of procurement or incident response.

The board should be able to see its most consequential dependencies, understand residual exposure and make deliberate choices about mitigation or acceptance. The director will follow material issues through to resolution and disclose relevant supplier or customer relationships. Independence and appointment-specific requirements will be assessed before appointment. Success is informed governance, not an unrealistic promise that every technology dependency can be eliminated.