Chief Information Officer – Brussels

Why this role

Because it is one of those rare CIO roles where the real challenge is not “technology”: it is legitimacy, influence, delivery under constraint, and modernisation without fatigue.

If you like winning trust, shipping progress, and making complexity governable, you will feel at home.

Brussels based & employed status

About our client & the opening

Our customer is an international, member-owned, non-profit organisation operating at the crossroads of cooperation and competition between major global operators.

Technology is both their largest cost item and its main lever to deliver value to its members through performance, security, and innovation.

This is a mission-critical CIO role at a pivotal moment: modernisation from legacy to cloud-native and data-centric platforms, tightening budget discipline, and accelerating practical AI adoption to support an e-commerce-driven roadmap.

What you will own

You will define and deliver the technology strategy, governance, and execution across the organisation, ensuring platforms, data services, security posture, and development practices are resilient, modern, and aligned with member needs.

Key responsibilities

Strategy and leadership

• Define and execute the IT strategy aligned with transformation objectives.
• Build a high-performance culture: delivery-focused, pragmatic, innovation-oriented.
• Drive the transition to modern, cloud-native, data-centric architectures, with strong governance.

Technology delivery and product enablement

• Lead delivery of complex software systems in a multinational, multi-stakeholder context.
• Oversee enterprise architecture: scalable, interoperable, consistent designs.
• Develop AI-enabled services (analytics, automation, operational optimisation) and guide safe integration of LLM-based solutions across products and internal processes.
• Build the data foundations required for AI at scale (governance, quality, semantic layers, structured and unstructured data).

Security, privacy, risk

• Strengthen security posture and operational resilience.
• Ensure security-by-design and privacy-by-design across cloud and AI.
• Drive compliance and audit readiness (notably GDPR, ISO 27001, NIS2).

Stakeholder management

• Engage Executive Team, Board, and member organisations with clarity and credibility.
• Translate what can be ambiguous member expectations into actionable roadmaps and priorities.
• Manage strategic partnerships with vendors, cloud providers, and technology partners.

Scope

Direct leadership spans key technology domains including security, data protection, application development, DevSecOps, enterprise architecture, data management, service desk, and PMO (scope may vary slightly by internal setup).

What we are looking for

Must-haves

• Fluent English (working language).
• Senior leadership experience in complex, international and multi-stakeholder environments.
• Strong delivery track record: you turn strategy into shipped outcomes.
• Solid security maturity and governance (GDPR, ISO 27001, NIS2; comparable frameworks accepted).
• Strong expertise in cloud-native architectures (CI/CD, microservices, containerisation, DevSecOps).
• Proven ability to translate AI into secure, practical use cases, not “AI theatre”.

Your leadership signature

• You lead through credibility and proximity, not through title.
• You can influence without formal authority and create alignment in a co-opetition context.
• Calm, supportive, inspiring style, with the courage to challenge when needed.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience in data-intensive platforms, transactional environments, logistics, supply chain, tracking or RFID ecosystems.
• Experience scaling AI-enabled products and data governance frameworks.

Working model

• Status: Employed (No Freelance or Management Company)
• Location: Brussels, Belgium
• Office presence: typically 3 days per week on site (or more depending on needs). CIO IPC Briefing - Intake
• Employment model: Belgian payroll only (no freelance/interim).
• A truly competitive executive package is offered (base salary, bonus, and full benefits package).

Recruitment Process

This opening is accepting applicants up to 08/02/26.
We reserve the right to alter that timing based on our search progress.

• Relevant candidates will have an initial screening interview (30/45 minutes) with one of our team member

• The most qualifying candidates meet Connected Minds Managing partner for an in-depth & structured interviews

• Psychometrics & Self-profiling document

• Shortlisted candidates will then meet our customer for a round of 2 interviews taking place somewhere between 16/03 and 25/03.

  Decision / offer is expected for April 2026.