From Automotive Redundancy to Chief Technology Officer in Wind Energy

Paul Higginson had been Chief Engineer at DRVN Automotive. Redundancy removed that role, and like many senior engineering leaders he took a bridge position — a programme-management role in a family business at approximately half his former earnings. It protected income. It did not protect his trajectory.

Working through Career OS™ MOVE, Paul completed the full process: diagnosis, positioning, evidence, market targeting and interview readiness. When Dai Jones learned through a senior contact in the MTC network that a clean-energy technology company needed a Chief Technology Officer, Paul was one of four names submitted. He progressed through three interview stages, including an interview with the CEO, and was appointed CTO at Katrick Technologies.

The Situation at a Glance

The Starting Point: Redundancy and an Interim Bridge

Senior engineering redundancy rarely reflects a failure of capability. Programmes end, investment decisions change and organisations restructure. What follows, however, often determines the next decade of a career.

Paul’s immediate priority was income. He accepted a programme-management role in a family business earning roughly half what he had previously earned as Chief Engineer. That decision was pragmatic and understandable. It also created a new problem: the market began to see a programme manager in a small business rather than an engineering leader capable of holding technical authority at executive level.

Why a Bridge Role Becomes a Career Risk

A bridge role buys time. Left unmanaged, it also resets expectations — the candidate’s own expectations as much as the market’s. Salary anchors move downwards. Recent experience stops evidencing leadership scope. Confidence erodes quietly.

The strategic question was not “how does Paul find another job?”. It was “how is Paul positioned at the level his engineering leadership evidence genuinely supports, in a sector with a future?” That is a diagnosis problem before it is an application problem.

A Complete MOVE Process, Not a CV Refresh

Paul completed the whole MOVE process rather than selecting the parts that felt comfortable. Direction and target market were established first. His evidence was rebuilt around technology development, design authority, programme delivery and engineering leadership rather than around automotive as a sector label. Positioning, professional profile and interview readiness were then aligned to executive-level technical leadership.

That sequencing mattered when the opportunity arrived. He was not asked to become credible at short notice; he was already prepared to be considered.

How the Opportunity Actually Arrived

The role was not advertised. Dai Jones heard through a senior contact within the MTC network that a clean-energy technology company was looking for a Chief Technology Officer, and submitted four names for consideration. Paul was the candidate the company chose to take forward.

This is how a significant proportion of senior technical appointments genuinely happen: trusted introduction, followed by rigorous employer assessment. Eich Dyn is a career consultancy rather than a recruitment agency; the introduction opened the door, and the appointment decision belonged entirely to the employer.

Three Interview Stages, Including the CEO

Paul went through three interview stages, one of which was with the company’s CEO. At CTO level, an interview is not a test of enthusiasm. It examines technical judgement, commercial understanding, delivery credibility and whether the individual can hold technology direction in a growing business.

The MOVE preparation meant he could evidence how he had led engineering programmes, made technical decisions under constraint and taken responsibility for outcomes — and could translate that record into the language of a clean-energy technology business.

A Direct Appointment as CTO

Paul was appointed Chief Technology Officer at Katrick Technologies, a company developing wind and energy technology. The move took him from a reduced-earnings interim role directly into executive technical leadership in a sector with long-term structural demand — without an intermediate step to “prove” he was still a senior engineer.

Timing, Patience and a Five-Month Funding Delay

The opportunity was identified within approximately three months. The appointment itself took longer: the company was awaiting grant funding, which took a further five months to be confirmed.

That gap is worth stating plainly, because career timelines are not controlled by the candidate alone. Funding rounds, board approvals and budget cycles all move at their own pace. The candidate’s job is to be positioned, credible and ready when the decision finally becomes possible.

Paul’s Review in His Own Words

Client wording below is reproduced from Paul’s verified review. Eich Dyn’s current service is structured career consultancy delivered through Career OS™.

Executive Career Coach or Structured Career Consultancy?

Senior technical leaders in this position often begin by searching for an executive career coach. Coaching is a reflective conversation; it helps someone think more clearly about a decision they already own. What this case required was different work: a diagnosis of market level, a rebuilt evidence base and a defined target sector.

That is why people searching for a career coach for executives, or a career coach for senior executives, frequently need structured executive career consultancy instead — someone accountable for the positioning itself, not only for the reflection around it. Eich Dyn’s career consultant services are built on that distinction.

Where progression, leadership and evidence overlap

Much of this work sits on the same ground as technical director career progression: scope, authority, commercial understanding and the ability to hold technology direction. Engineering leadership coaching can support the behavioural side of that shift, but the market judges documented evidence. Practical CV writing for engineers matters here too — not as formatting, but as the disciplined translation of engineering delivery into decisions, constraints and outcomes a board can assess.

What This Case Demonstrates

1. A bridge role should be managed, not accepted permanently

Taking interim work to protect income is reasonable. Allowing it to define your market level is not.

2. Sector labels understate engineering leadership

Technology development, design authority and delivery leadership travel further than the industry in which they were built.

3. Senior opportunities often arrive through trust

Many executive technical roles never reach a job board. Being known, credible and ready matters as much as applying.

4. Readiness must precede the opportunity

Four names were submitted; one candidate converted three interview stages. Preparation completed months earlier decided that.

5. Progression in role has its own route

Where the right move is internal rather than external, the PROPEL route applies the same discipline inside an existing employer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Publication and Evidence Note

Paul Higginson has authorised the use of his name, previous role at DRVN Automotive, his appointment as Chief Technology Officer at Katrick Technologies and his verified review. The announcement graphic was published by Katrick Technologies. No remuneration figures, product claims or company performance claims beyond those stated by the client and the employer are implied.

Individual outcomes vary and depend on experience, evidence, competition, market conditions, timing, employer decisions and client execution. Eich Dyn does not guarantee interviews, offers, appointments, promotions, salary outcomes or immigration outcomes.