11 May How to Write a Chief Technology Officer Job Description

Writing the perfect job description when looking to fill an open position can help you attract and land quality candidates. When writing the job description for the Chief Technology Officer, or CTO, you want to make sure that you are attracting a candidate who has the proper education and professional experience to handle an entire department in an executive role. In this article, we will explore what a CTO is, how to execute writing a stellar job description for this type of role and offer an example of a CTO job description to base your next job posting off of!

What is the Chief Technology Officer?

The Chief Technology Officer or CTO is a technically sound person who is responsible for all decision making, planning, and adoption of technology for a corporation or organization. Typically, this individual will have years of experience building technology solutions to improve processes and increase efficiency and productivity, as well as an understanding on how to reduce costs for its customers, vendors, and internal employees. The CTO is responsible for overseeing the operations of the IT department, which is crucial to the growth and learning of employees. Part of the CTO’s responsibilities include making sure there is a plan for training, learning, and mentorship for the technology teams at the organization. They create a strategy and plan to execute with a vision while providing business leadership with an efficient solution.

The CTO plays a key role in IT operations. They strive to enhance a corporation’s capabilities by ensuring that tech strategies align with the needs of the business, as well as staying within their budgets for allotted resources.

How to write a proper job description for a Chief Technology Officer

Are you not sure how to write a compelling job description for your open CTO role? Follow these tips to attract top talent with your job posting!

Make the job title specific

Making sure that your job title in your posting is as specific as possible is more effective than using a generic one. Include key phrases that accurately describe the position. Job seekers are more likely to search for the job title they want, rather than looking for a job within a general department or field.

Open with a strong summary

Your job description should include an attention-grabbing summary or overview of your company and what your expectations are for the role. Introducing your company and your brand is a great way to get a candidate excited to work for your company. Talk about things like work culture and why the applicant would love to be a part of your executive team. Don’t forget to mention an exact location so it appears higher in search results!

Outline the core responsibilities of the position

When detailing the core responsibilities for the CTO position, make sure you use plenty of detail, but make sure to keep it short and sweet. With leadership positions, it’s important to include details about day-to-day work, who is reporting to the position, and what departments this individual may be working with or managing.

Include a list of soft and hard skills for the candidate

Every job description should have a list of skills or requirements for the position. Things like education, work experience, industry experience, and tech skills are all very important, but adding soft skills like communication, problem solving, and personality traits can help you widen your search for the right applicant for this leadership role.

Include a salary range and top benefits

Candidates are looking for opportunities that meet their salary desires, but most job descriptions have stopped sharing salary information altogether. Listing a salary range can leave room for negotiations with a candidate. Make sure to detail the top perks and benefits of the organization, as they can have a large impact on whether or not a candidate will even apply for a job.

Sample CTO Job Description

[XZY Organization] seeks a visionary business leader skilled in driving organizational success and empowering high performing staff. Reporting to the CEO, the CTO will be based at the organization’s offices in City, State and have overall management responsibility for a growing impactful organization with a $XYZ million annual budget, and XYZ+ employees.

Combining inspirational leadership and sophisticated management abilities, they will advance the organization in terms of culture, capability, processes, and impact. While working closely with the organization’s executive team, the CTO will inspire innovation and ensure that the organization is continually well equipped to advance its mission of XZY.

This full-time permanent position is for immediate hire onsite in beautiful XZY City.

POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES: