Neil Maitland

CTO • Solution Architect • Engineering Leader

30+ years building software systems and the teams that deliver them. Equal focus on technical architecture and engineering leadership: cloud platforms, team performance, and high-velocity delivery with strong reliability.

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About Me

I’m a technical leader based in Zürich, Switzerland, with experience across CTO, Head of Engineering, and Solution Architect roles. Most recently I served as VP Solution Architecture at Hubexo, designing the global platform architecture for a three-year transformation programme.

I work across two complementary areas:

Architecture & Technology

  • Cloud-native system design: microservices, APIs, platform modernisation
  • Data architecture: platforms, lakes, warehouses; selection and governance
  • Technical strategy: Tech Radar governance, technology selection, build-vs-buy decisions

Engineering Leadership

  • Built and scaled teams up to 50 engineers (local, nearshore, and offshore)
  • Improved delivery performance using DORA metrics, driving towards continuous value delivery
  • Developed engineering culture through hiring, mentoring, and succession planning

I’m equally comfortable designing a system architecture or optimising how a team delivers. The two go together: good architecture enables good teams, and good teams build good architecture.

Core Competencies
  • Solution Architecture
  • Engineering Management
  • Cloud: AWS / GCP / Azure
  • Kubernetes / Terraform
  • Java / .NET / Node.js
  • Data Platforms
  • DevOps / DORA Metrics
  • Agile / Scrum

Certifications

AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate AWS Certified AI Practitioner

Experience

VP Solution Architecture, Hubexo Oct 2024

Designed the technical foundation for a global three-year transformation programme, consolidating 35 legacy regional products into a unified SaaS platform.

  • Architected new global Platform Service layer, defining service boundaries, API contracts, and integration patterns
  • Evaluated and selected Databricks over Snowflake for global data platform; designed target data architecture and governance model
  • Established Tech Radar governance; selected core stack (Node, React, PostgreSQL, AWS)
CTO, Olmero (Zürich) Jul 2021 - Sep 2024

Technical leadership of SaaS construction marketplace. Owned architecture decisions, technology strategy, and delivery across four countries.

  • Designed and led PHP monolith decomposition into Java Spring Boot microservices
  • Architected cloud migration from on-premise Docker to Google Cloud Kubernetes (Terraform, Helm, IaC)
  • Integrated Byggfakta Group product APIs, designing integration architecture enabling cross-product upsell
CTO, Vortal (Lisbon, 50%) Feb 2022 - Dec 2023

Technical leadership of SaaS e-Tendering platform (Azure, .NET, React) serving government customers across Europe and South America. Concurrent with Olmero role.

  • Drove architectural improvements reducing defect escape rate through automated testing, CI quality gates, architectural reviews
  • Redesigned deployment pipeline from quarterly to weekly delivery; DORA metrics as north star
  • Implemented DevOps/SRE model, restructuring teams around service ownership
Head of Engineering, Olmero Jul 2020 - Jun 2021
Technical oversight of development team. Introduced architectural standards and code review practices.

Head of Product Management & Pre-sales Jan 2017 - Jun 2019

Technical product leadership for mobile network monitoring solutions deployed to 25+ operators worldwide.

  • Defined architecture for next-generation virtualised monitoring platform: containerisation, horizontal scaling, cloud-native analytics
  • Technical authority for RFP responses, building $40M+ pipeline through credible technical proposals
Engineering Team Leader Jan 2015 - Dec 2016
Technical lead for 8-engineer team. Introduced gitflow, mandatory code reviews, automated testing, and CI.
Senior Developer Feb 2012 - Dec 2014
Designed and built high-throughput data pipeline (millions of events/day). Java 8, Spring, RabbitMQ, MongoDB, Clickhouse.

Owner / Technical Consultant Oct 2010 - Jan 2012

Software consultancy for aerospace and defence clients.

  • Astrium Satellites: Led team designing distributed satellite ground terminal management system
  • Roke Manor Research: Implemented PCI drivers and real-time Matlab interfaces in C++ on embedded Linux

Co-Founder & CTO Jan 2004 - Sep 2010

Technical co-founder of mobile forensics start-up. Designed and built the core product architecture from scratch.

  • Architected complete product suite: low-level hardware interfaces, data extraction algorithms, analysis UI
  • Patented novel techniques for SIM/USIM card data access (US 7,886,347 / US 8,161,537 / EU EP1717767)
  • Technical face to police, military, and government customers; presented at conferences (Chicago, London)
  • Grew company to 25 staff, £2.5m turnover; raised £1.5m funding

Embedded Systems & Telecoms 1993 - 2003
  • Maitland IT (1998-2003): Embedded software consultant designing firmware for Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Siemens mobile devices
  • Anite Systems (1996-1998): Team leader, GSM/GPRS Type Approval test equipment
  • Roke Manor Research (1993-1996): Computer vision, ATM networking; published peer-reviewed research

Education & Certifications

1989 - 1993
M.Eng Electronic Systems Engineering (First Class)
Aston University, Birmingham, UK
Major in Computer Science
2020
AWS Certified Solutions Architect (Associate)
Amazon Web Services
Credential ID: D7MPT202GN41QFCM
2025
AWS Certified AI Practitioner (Foundational)
Amazon Web Services
AWS Certified AI Practitioner
2020
TELC German Level B1
TELC

Publications, Patents & Speaking

Patent: Forensic toolkit for electronic smart cards
US 7,886,347 / US 8,161,537 / EU EP1717767: Method for accessing data stored on SIM/USIM cards
5G World, London (2018)
Conference presentation: Next Generation Network Monitoring
ICQT Warsaw (2015)
International Conference on Quality of Telecoms Services: Roaming User Experience Testing as SaaS
Defence Industry Security Association (2010)
Is My Mobile Device Secure?
Mobile Forensics World, Chicago (2008)
Horses for Courses: Using the Right Tool for the Job
Medical Image Analysis (1996)
VISLAN: Surgical Planning and Guidance System Using intra-Operative Video Imaging

Contact

I’m always open to discussing CTO, Head of Engineering, or Solution Architect opportunities, as well as technology leadership and cloud transformation challenges.
Email me