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Institute of Advanced Technological and Commercial Studies

Careers

Chief technology officer

The chief technology officer decides what the company builds, what it buys and what it retires. They carry technology strategy, budget, teams, and the product's ability to carry the growth it is promised.

Deciding what the company builds

The build-or-buy arbitration returns every quarter, and it commits years: building gives control and costs teams, buying gives speed and creates dependency. The chief technology officer decides on explicit criteria. They then organise teams so the decision holds, defend a budget before the executive committee, and keep responsibility for security and for the capacity to absorb growth.

  • Arbitrate build versus buy on explicit criteria
  • Organise engineering teams and define their perimeter
  • Defend a technology budget before an executive committee
  • Guarantee security and the system's capacity to absorb growth

Companies that open this directorship

  • Digital platforms and regional software vendors
  • Digital financial services and payment operators
  • Digital services companies running client projects
  • Traditional groups creating an in-house technology division
  • Startups moving from product to scale

Duration, credits, hours: the facts

The hours shown are taught hours, led by an instructor and set in the timetable. Personal study comes on top of them under the catalogue rule: twenty-five hours of total work per credit. Both figures are given together so that the real workload reads clearly on a first visit.

Expert and executive

qualification level
7
months of programme
9

Led by an instructor.

taught hours
700 h

1 credit = 25 h of work, 10 of them taught.

credits
70

Framework of the « Chief Technology Officer » qualification, code TP64.

competency blocks
5

What the qualification actually contains

Here is the framework exactly as filed, with the taught hours of each block. A candidate sees what they will learn; an employer sees what the holder can do on arrival. One document serves both readings, which closes the usual gap between a brochure and a job description.

  1. 01

    Technical strategy and roadmap

    Vision, structuring choices, debt, platform, build-versus-buy — 190 taught hours.

  2. 02

    Organisation and talent

    Team structure, hiring, retention, engineering culture — 180 taught hours.

  3. 03

    Budget, suppliers and risk

    Technical budget, contracts, dependency, security, continuity — 180 taught hours.

  4. 04

    Alignment with product and leadership

    Translating strategy into technology, roadmap, executive committee, board — 100 taught hours.

  5. 05

    Executive conduct

    Committing to a multi-year technical path, owning a failure — 50 taught hours.

Towards technical leadership

Entry into this occupation runs through one or more of these programmes. They combine: a short certificate opens the door, a longer programme consolidates the position a few years later. The fees shown match the real billing unit — per year for a long programme, one-off for a short format.

ProgrammeDurationCreditsTaught hoursFees
Computer Science programme — Bac+3 level · Bachelor's degree3 years1801800 h5 400 000 GNF per year
Digital Transformation Certificate · Professional certification6 months18180 h3 600 000 GNF in total
Chief technology officer — Careers | IHETC — IHETC