How to hire a chief information officer

How to hire a chief information officer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step chief information officer hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a chief information officer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new chief information officer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a chief information officer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a chief information officer, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a chief information officer to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a chief information officer that fits the bill.

   Here's a comparison of chief information officer salaries for various roles:

   Type of Chief Information Officer	Description	Hourly rate
   Chief Information Officer	Top executives devise strategies and policies to ensure that an organization meets its goals. They plan, direct, and coordinate operational activities of companies and organizations.	$47-105
   Vice President, Technology	A vice president of technology is in charge of overseeing all technological operations in a company while managing the workforce involved, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. Typically, it is their responsibility to establish goals and objectives, devising strategies to enforce them... Show more	$50-104
   Director, Technical Operations	A director of technical operations is in charge of spearheading the efforts in optimizing business operations. Their responsibilities revolve around performing research and analysis to determine the best operational practices, setting goals and objectives, allocating budgets, coordinating different departments, and evaluating the performance of technicians and engineers... Show more	$47-96

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • CIO
   • Project Management
   • Network Infrastructure
   • Architecture
   • Portfolio
   • Customer Service
   • Cloud
   • Business Strategy
   • Healthcare
   • Digital Transformation
   • Disaster Recovery
   • Emerging Technologies
   • Application Development
   • Strategic Plan

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead formulation and execution of technology strategy essential to achieving investor ROI objectives.
   • Manage all Microsoft SQL databases, SQL 2005 and SQL 2008R2.
   • Manage the process and deliverables for the FY2016 FISMA audit.
   • Manage the team of Java developers to customize Java links for data integration.
   • Manage design, development and implementation of a corporate web sites and intranet sites.
   • Attain PCI compliance by minimizing the scope to ease the cost and burden of compliance; saving an estimate 187k.

   More chief information officer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your chief information officer job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A chief information officer can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, chief information officers' average salary in mississippi is 53% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level chief information officers 55% less than senior-level chief information officers.
   • Certifications. A chief information officer with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a chief information officer's salary.

   Average chief information officer salary

   $146,907yearly

   $70.63 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level chief information officer salary

   $98,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 31, 2025

   Average chief information officer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$177,036	$85
   2	District of Columbia	$161,636	$78
   3	New York	$161,433	$78
   4	New Jersey	$159,988	$77
   5	Pennsylvania	$157,104	$76
   6	Oregon	$155,969	$75
   7	Massachusetts	$153,804	$74
   8	Connecticut	$151,826	$73
   9	Washington	$149,131	$72
   10	Minnesota	$148,462	$71
   11	Illinois	$146,299	$70
   12	Nevada	$141,281	$68
   13	Virginia	$139,572	$67
   14	Colorado	$128,300	$62
   15	North Carolina	$127,402	$61
   16	Texas	$127,113	$61
   17	Hawaii	$124,957	$60
   18	South Carolina	$124,792	$60
   19	Indiana	$123,371	$59
   20	Florida	$120,578	$58

   Average chief information officer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Mayer Brown	$209,721	$100.83	1
   2	McKinsey & Company Inc	$195,336	$93.91
   3	Rush Street	$184,506	$88.70
   4	Targus	$184,475	$88.69
   5	Daltile	$182,861	$87.91
   6	North Highland	$177,688	$85.43
   7	World Bank	$169,546	$81.51
   8	Cisco	$168,794	$81.15	6
   9	RF-SMART	$168,467	$80.99
   10	MorganFranklin Consulting	$167,421	$80.49
   11	Impact Networking	$167,009	$80.29
   12	Forrester	$166,835	$80.21	6
   13	Chobani	$164,876	$79.27	3
   14	Population Services International	$164,690	$79.18
   15	Arlington County, VA	$164,442	$79.06
   16	SourceTech	$163,712	$78.71
   17	Ventura County Community Foundation	$163,387	$78.55
   18	ADT Security Services	$163,181	$78.45	5
   19	Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield	$161,884	$77.83
   20	Landmark Hospital	$161,476	$77.63

4. Writing a chief information officer job description

   A good chief information officer job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a chief information officer job description:

   Chief information officer job description example

   Kendall Auto Group is seeking a highly skilled Chief Information Officer (CIO) to provide IT leadership and vision. With 2,200 employees in 43 dealerships across 5 states, the CIO will work collaboratively with other senior managers to optimize our IT infrastructure for efficiency, security, and effectiveness. The CIO will report directly to the CFO of Kendall.
   Responsibilities will include:
   Work with the leadership team to set clear priorities and goals for IT management and production, balancing the long-term and immediate needs. Develop and manage annual and quarterly budgets. Oversee data security, management, and governance. Manage strategic vendor and technology partner relationships. Manage IT resource allocation, goal/KPI setting, and performance metrics. Define Kendall's overall technology strategy to support business objectives. Make infrastructure decisions, ensuring technical excellence, versatility, safety and soundness, resiliency and scalability of product solutions. Facilitate the development and implementation of disaster recovery and IT security failure plans. Ensure tight collaboration across departments to drive strategic initiatives, including understanding of the alignment between technology strategy and various technology road maps. Assist in creating strategic plans and set timelines for evaluation and deployment of all technical solutions.
   Qualifications/Skills required:
   Strong leader with skills in strategic planning, goal setting, process development, budgeting, and creating opportunities for professional development within technology teams. Excellent communication, leadership, and strategic thinking abilities with a problem-solving aptitude. Solid understanding of broad technology trends and the ability to align innovation with business goals. Strong communication with ability to convey technical topics in easy-to-understand business terms and work collaboratively with cross-functional teams and external partners. Strategic thinking, including the ability to identify new opportunities, drive clarity, create focus, and make tough decisions in complex and dynamic contexts. Ability to track and identify new technologies to solve complex business issues.
   Education & Experience Requirements
   Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, information systems or related field. Previous experience as a CIO, director, or similar leadership role. Prior experience as a senior technology leader in the automotive retailing business is a plus. Experience leading complex, major changes, and initiatives Experience with integrating teams across multiple business units and managing a geographically dispersed workforce. Experience designing and managing an effective IT governance framework across the spectrum of IT service delivery.
   Join Kendall Auto Group and START SOMETHING GREAT! We are a family-owned and operated company with auto dealerships in Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Washington and Alaska. Kendall has been selling and servicing vehicles since 1937.
   
   Our mission at Kendall is simple: To deliver an unrivaled customer experience. Through our highly motivated, knowledgeable, and caring team of professionals, we pledge to listen to and respect your needs. Doing the right thing means more than selling and servicing vehicles. Our progressive attitude means being exceptional stewards of the communities we operate in. It means going above and beyond every day for the people who mean so much to us - our employees and customers.
   
   Our employees are members of the Kendall family, who share our same goals and passions. Ideal candidates are confident, driven people who are excited to grow and succeed with one of the most successful automotive dealerships in the Pacific Northwest. We offer eligible employees medical, dental, vision and life insurance, Paid Time Off, a 401(k) plan with company contributions, an entire family purchase plan and much more! If you are looking for a rewarding career, we would like to meet you and start something great!"
   
   To apply, please follow the link to our job board site.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find chief information officers for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any chief information officers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level chief information officers with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your chief information officer job on Zippia to find and recruit chief information officer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting chief information officers requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new chief information officer

   Once you've decided on a perfect chief information officer candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a chief information officer?