Chief Product and Technology Officer

Chief Product and Technology Officer

America's Test Kitchen (ATK), a pioneering brand in food media, is seeking a Chief Product and Technology Officer (CPTO) to establish and execute our company’s product and tech vision, and to drive transformational change to propel ATK to a best-in-class product and tech organization. The CPTO will oversee all aspects of product, technology and information technology, and the role provides the rare chance to help shape the future of an esteemed media company that reaches millions of fans across platforms including digital, television, streaming, magazines, books, social media, and podcasts.

A newly created position, the CPTO will report to the Chief Operating Officer and will oversee the management and deployment of all product and technology in support of ATK’s consumer-facing digital products, platforms, and subscription business, as well as all internal information technology needs. The CPTO will partner with Content Strategy, Design and Marketing leadership to bring to life ATK’s digital product vision. The role provides the opportunity for an ambitious leader to help set and execute on a strategic vision to evolve ATK’s product strategy, technology, infrastructure, data management, systems, and processes.

The CPTO will manage a product team of six, a distributed team of more than 20 engineers and QA specialists, in addition to offshore resources, and the on-site team managing the company’s corporate technology infrastructure, service desk, and IT operations.

Primary Responsibilities

Strategic Vision

• Craft a strategic vision for ATK’s digital technology and product roadmap that aligns with company business goals

• Create a cutting-edge data infrastructure to support a myriad of content, search, personalization, and marketing opportunities in partnership with Marketing leadership to acquire, engage and retain subscribers

• Leverage emerging technologies including AI to improve publishing workflows and internal processes

• Position ATK to adapt to the changing media landscape with technological foresight

Operational Management

• Oversee the seamless operation of ATK’s tech stack (including NextJS, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Python, AWS, and React Native) of software, hardware, and integrated systems

• Lead a distributed engineering team, ensuring best practices in software development, release management, DevOps, and security

• Establish a scalable, modern tech infrastructure that enables fast-paced product development, cloud-based deployment, and fosters multiple teams to work across multiple priorities

• Enhance processes and standards to make ATK’s technology approach as premium as our recipes and equipment reviews

• Support product roadmap and prioritization work to maximize outcomes that drive the business forward

• Track key performance indicators (KPIs) across tech functions to drive measurable improvement in reliability and responsiveness

• Establish and/or refine baseline metrics to track success of product objectives after every release

• Modernize legacy systems and workflows to improve foundations on which to build

• Optimize engineering operations, workflows, and tech debt management to support high growth scalability

• Ensure all platforms are designed and operated to meet cybersecurity standards and best risk management practices

Budget and Resource Management

• Oversee all budgets and collaborate with Finance to forecast future spending and capital expenditures

• Coordinate resource allocation to align with project needs and company goals

• Align technology investments with business goals

• Manage vendor relationships, negotiate contracts and hold vendors accountable for service quality and performance

Team Leadership, Development and Collaboration

• Build and mentor high-performing product and engineering teams grounded in accountability

• Develop senior leaders’ skills and managerial expertise

• Inspire and create a culture of resilience, collaboration and execution

• Foster an environment where team members innovate, experiment and continuously improve

• Partner closely with Content, Marketing, and Research and Data teams

• Lead, manage and optimize on-shore and off-shore dev. teams

Innovation and Trends

• Keep abreast of emerging technologies and industry trends in order to refine internal approaches

• Understand competitive landscape in order to differentiate ATK’s offering

Skills and Experience

• 10+ years experience as CPTO/CTO, VP of Engineering, or similar role at media and/or digital subscription company

• Strategic thinker who balances technology mastery with business objectives

• Experience overseeing product management and developing value-driving roadmaps

• Ability to translate complex technical concepts into actionable strategies

• Strong background in modern, scalable technology stacks and cloud infrastructure

• Expertise in engineering, DevOps, and digital software development

• Track record of building and developing high-performing engineering teams

• Expertise leading large-scale enterprise technology initiatives and small, nimble projects for consumer-facing media brands

• Experience with data architecture, analytics platforms, and enabling real-time and batch data flows

• Strong expertise in cloud infrastructure (e.g. AWS, Azure, and/or GCP)

• Understanding of content management systems and tech needed to support content workflows

• Familiarity with AI platforms, machine learning frameworks, and intelligent automation tools

• Deep understanding of audience data and leading indicators of subscription behaviors

• Familiarity with tech requirements of industry privacy standards (e.g. CCPA, COPPA, GDPR)

• Diplomatic leadership style that builds consensus and fosters collaboration

• Expertise navigating technology/vendor ecosystems

• Experience performing technical due diligence for M&A, and overseeing post-acquisition integrations a plus

• Degree in computer science, information systems, or a related field a plus

• Passion for cooking and connecting with the home cook’s journey welcome

This position is located in our Boston, MA, office in the Seaport district. It is the expectation that the person in this role will work a hybrid schedule of 3 days per week (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday) in the office and 2 days per week remotely.

About America’s Test Kitchen

The mission of America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) is to empower and inspire confidence, community, and creativity in the kitchen. Founded in 1992, the company is the leading multimedia cooking resource serving millions of fans with TV shows (America’s Test Kitchen, Cook's Country, and America’s Test Kitchen: The Next Generation), magazines (Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country), cookbooks, a podcast (Proof), FAST channels, short-form video series, and the ATK Essential subscription for digital content. Based in a state-of-the-art 15,000-square-foot test kitchen in Boston’s Seaport District, ATK has earned the trust of home cooks and culinary experts alike thanks to its one-of-a-kind processes and best-in-class techniques. Fifty full-time (admittedly very meticulous) test cooks, editors, and product testers spend their days tweaking every variable to find the very best recipes, equipment, ingredients, and techniques.

Why America’s Test Kitchen

We're passionate about cooking, and about creating the best place to work. We're small enough for your ideas to make a big impact, and large enough to offer you opportunities to grow professionally at any stage of your career. We want you to take risks and make mistakes — that's how innovation happens in our test kitchen, in our offices, and in life.

We at America’s Test Kitchen believe food media can be a powerful force for social change. We are passionate about building an inclusive workforce that represents many different cultures, backgrounds, abilities, identities, and perspectives.

We welcome your application.