Interim Chief Information Officer — Infrastructure Asset Technology Renewal

Judgement for long-lived technology

The strongest evidence will include an investment decision that deferred a replacement responsibly, as well as one that accelerated it. Applicants need the confidence to challenge both automatic replacement based on age and indefinite life extension based on current availability. Experience coordinating engineers, finance teams and technology suppliers is essential.

Build the renewal decision

Lead a technology renewal programme for long-lived infrastructure assets. The challenge is to reconcile equipment life, software support, operating constraints and investment capacity. A component may still perform its original function while becoming difficult to support, integrate or recover; the renewal decision must account for all of those conditions.

Establish a lifecycle view of critical technology and connect it to asset maintenance plans. Identify where replacement can be coordinated with physical works and where waiting for that opportunity creates an unacceptable exposure. Distinguish urgent continuity action from desirable modernisation so that the capital programme remains intelligible.

Develop options for replacement, life extension and selective isolation. Evaluate each against service disruption, supportability, future dependencies and the capability of the receiving team. Challenge designs that solve an immediate obsolescence problem by creating a new proprietary dependency without a credible exit route.

Execute alongside asset operations

Own the technology programme, including investment recommendations, supplier delivery and integration with operational change windows. Require representative testing and clear fallback arrangements before deployment. Establish what must be known about an asset before its supporting technology can be replaced safely, including configuration, interfaces and operating limits.

The CIO recommends technology capital priorities and controls programme execution within delegated authority. Asset owners retain approval over operating conditions and physical interventions. Success will be judged through reduced unsupported dependencies, credible renewal sequencing and an operating organisation equipped to maintain the resulting environment.

Maintain a dependable lifecycle baseline

Deliver an accepted lifecycle roadmap with explicit assumptions, decision points and ownership. Ensure that newly deployed systems enter maintenance and support arrangements from the outset. Reconcile the asset record after each change so that the next investment decision starts from a dependable baseline.