CTO
The title means four different jobs depending on the company. Getting the definition right is most of the search.
Start a confidential conversationWhy this search is hard
A CTO for a twenty-person company and a CTO for a two-hundred-person company share a title and almost nothing else. One is still writing code and setting the first architectural bets. The other is running an organisation, a budget, and a board relationship.
Most CTO searches that go wrong were mis-specified before anyone was approached. So the first conversation is not about candidates — it is about which version of the role your company actually needs next, and which version it will need in two years.
What we assess
What we look for in this search.
Technical judgment at the right altitude
Not whether they can still write the code, but whether they can tell a reversible decision from an expensive one, and know which of those to spend their attention on.
Credible in both rooms
The board and the engineering floor ask different questions in different languages. A CTO who can only hold one of those rooms creates a translation problem the CEO ends up owning.
A hiring and retention record
At this level the deliverable is a team, not a system. We look at who they have hired, who followed them between companies, and who stayed.
Fit for the actual stage
Someone who thrives inside structure can struggle where none exists yet, and the reverse is just as true. Stage fit is not a soft factor — it is usually the deciding one.
Every CTO search we run is partner-led and confidential, from the first scoping conversation through to the signed offer.