CTO – Product and Engineering — Low-Carbon Platform

The mandate

The board has concluded that incremental adjustment will not resolve product engineering requiring a step-change in pace without compromising reliability within a listed integrated energy producer and services platform. The immediate arena is the low-carbon platform during a capital-discipline reset. For mandate 391, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The CTO – Product and Engineering operating perimeter covers approximately AED 45,000 million in operated asset and trading portfolio, with activity spanning several low-carbon platform customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The CTO – Product and Engineering Oil & Energy remit carries direct influence over roughly 825 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors want a CTO – Product and Engineering who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the low-carbon platform. The CTO – Product and Engineering Oil & Energy seat must resolve a capital-discipline reset, while preserving the underlying strengths of the low-carbon platform. For mandate 391, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The CTO – Product and Engineering’s first year on the low-carbon platform is expected to end with release confidence, architecture health and engineering productivity. In mandate 391, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

This is a newly created CTO – Product and Engineering — Low-Carbon Platform seat approved as part of the next operating model; it is not an incumbent replacement. The board is running a planned 4–6 month search so the appointee can join ahead of the next capital and talent cycle. Current leaders retain their existing accountabilities until the low-carbon platform remit is formally activated. Confidentiality protects organisation design choices while the board compares external and adjacent-sector talent.

What you will own

• Set the CTO – Product and Engineering value-creation thesis for the low-carbon platform, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately AED 45,000 million in operated asset and trading portfolio, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the CTO – Product and Engineering Oil & Energy organisation of about 825 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the low-carbon platform economics and execution constraints created by a capital-discipline reset, with CTO – Product and Engineering-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one CTO – Product and Engineering operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the low-carbon platform; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have made consequential architecture and engineering trade-offs while scaling release throughput and reliability in mandate 391.
• Build the CTO – Product and Engineering’s three-year succession and capability plan for the low-carbon platform, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Oil & Energy organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the low-carbon platform baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to product engineering requiring a step-change in pace without compromising reliability, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal CTO – Product and Engineering portfolio and organisation choices for the low-carbon platform, install the new operating cadence, fill critical leadership gaps and deliver the first measurable release of cash, capacity or customer value.
• Months 10–12: Demonstrate a repeatable low-carbon platform trend against release confidence, architecture health and engineering productivity, lock the following year’s capital and talent plan, evidence control sustainability and present a credible three-year value case with downside actions.

What the board will measure

• Delivery of the CTO – Product and Engineering’s agreed first-year low-carbon platform value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A CTO – Product and Engineering forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the low-carbon platform’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the CTO – Product and Engineering mandate’s highest-priority low-carbon platform risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical low-carbon platform talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the CTO – Product and Engineering’s direct reports.
• A quantified CTO – Product and Engineering-owned improvement in the low-carbon platform operating constraint behind a capital-discipline reset, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 391: no unresolved high-severity escalation older than 30 days and no material surprise withheld from its agreed governance forum.

The person

You are currently a CTO, SVP Engineering or Product Technology Head in a listed Oil & Energy or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the low-carbon platform, your CTO – Product and Engineering track record includes a transition where the original plan was no longer sufficient; you can explain your choices, evidence and numerical impact. Candidates from energy, oil and gas, utilities, chemicals, renewables or industrial services will be considered where the operating model, customer stakes and governance intensity match this CTO – Product and Engineering brief.

As a CTO – Product and Engineering candidate, you bring 18–22 years of progressive Oil & Energy or adjacent-sector experience, consistent with the 18-22 experience band. At minimum, you have carried a P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio of AED 26,100 million and led an organisation of at least 575 people.

For mandate 391, the board wants two transitions: a difficult low-carbon platform portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a capital-discipline reset. As the prospective CTO – Product and Engineering for this low-carbon platform, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 391 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The CTO – Product and Engineering must be based in Abu Dhabi; international relocation is supported, but this Oil & Energy role is not designed as a remote appointment.

Non-negotiables

• Current or recent accountability at the level of CTO, SVP Engineering or Product Technology Head, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Oil & Energy governance forum.
• Proven CTO – Product and Engineering ownership of at least AED 26,100 million and leadership of no fewer than 575 employees in a comparable low-carbon platform context.
• One completed Oil & Energy or adjacent-sector example of product engineering requiring a step-change in pace without compromising reliability with outcomes sustained for at least two reporting periods after the initial intervention.
• Sector credibility from energy, oil and gas, utilities, chemicals, renewables or industrial services; experience that is purely functional and lacks CTO – Product and Engineering-level low-carbon platform consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the Abu Dhabi location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 391.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated CTO – Product and Engineering package is AED 1.9–2.7 million fixed + annual incentive and LTI, calibrated to the final low-carbon platform scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 391 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The CTO – Product and Engineering appointment in Abu Dhabi, centred on the low-carbon platform, offers regular exposure to the chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors. A notice period of up to 6 months can be accommodated for the selected executive in mandate 391.

Confidentiality

The organisation will be identified only after reciprocal interest and a confidentiality undertaking for mandate 391. The market, scale and situation in this brief are intentionally composite and are not a coded description of a named enterprise for mandate 391.