Market Update: Tech & Change Hot Roles – WC 22.09.25

A week of contrasts: interim surged back, particularly across programme/change and architecture, while permanent remains dominant with a broad spread of CIO/CDO/CTO leadership and functional heads. What’s notable is the geographic breadth — interim roles stretching across the UK and Europe, while permanent briefs continue to cluster in London but with strong regional representation.

Volume & Mix

• 42 roles this week – up from 36 last week, but below the September peak of 57.

• Permanent leads (26 roles, ~62%) – with CIOs, CTOs, technology directors, and functional heads across data, engineering, and cyber.

• Interim activity rebounds (16 roles, ~38%) – dominated by programme directors, PMO/change leadership, and head of IT/architecture briefs.

• Agency remains the main channel, though notable direct appointments include Raspberry Pi Foundation (Director of Product), Justice Digital (Chief Architect), King Edward VI Foundation (Director of IT & Digital), Age UK (CTTO), Target Ovarian Cancer (Head of Data & Tech).

Key Trends This Week

1. Interim surge in programme/change leadership

   • Over 10 interim roles across programme directors, PMO, change leads, and transformation directors.

   • Wealth management, higher education, housing, and insurance all hiring interim delivery leadership.

2. CIO/CDO/CTO presence steady

   • Multiple CIOs (housing, professional services, B2B).

   • CTOs across FinTech, SaaS, hospitality/retail, Tech4Good, and Birmingham-based tech.

   • CPTO in SaaS (Germany), showing crossover into product/tech combined leadership.

3. Data leadership continuing

   • Heads of Data and Head of Data Governance (housing, PE).

   • Senior charity roles like Head of Data & Technology at Target Ovarian Cancer.

   • Ongoing thread of perm demand for data leaders across sectors.

4. Charity & NFP representation strong

   • Age UK (CTTO), Target Ovarian Cancer, Raspberry Pi Foundation, King Edward VI Foundation.

   • Reflects consistent flow of digital/data leadership into the not-for-profit sector.

5. Cyber & risk on the agenda

   • Head of Cyber at M&G adds weight to the FS/cyber cluster.

   • Fewer cyber briefs than last week’s spike, but presence remains steady.

6. Sector diversity remains wide

   • Housing (Curo, CIOs), FS (M&G, Wealth Management), healthcare, retail, gaming, maritime, real estate, and government all represented.

Week-on-Week Comparison

• Total rose to 42 (from 36) – back up after last week’s dip.

• Interim share higher (38% vs 28%), marking the first interim-led upswing in several weeks.

• CIO/CDO/CTO steady – no big spike, but consistent presence across sectors.

• Programme/change much stronger than last week – interim-heavy, especially in wealth management and education.

• Data leadership continues steady – fewer than two weeks ago, but still a strong undercurrent.

• Charity/NFP presence rising – cluster of 4 notable roles this week.

Month-on-Month Trend (September so far)

• w/c 1/9: Record 57 roles, perm-heavy.

• w/c 8/9: 57 again, strong CIO/CDO/CTO presence.

• w/c 15/9: Normalised at 36, perm dominant.

• w/c 22/9: Rebound to 42, interim proportion climbing, NFP cluster visible.

• Overall: September has been the busiest month yet, with perm volume consistently high but interim bouncing back in the second half, keeping the market balanced.