How to hire a chief technology officer

How to hire a chief technology officer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step chief technology 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 technology officer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new chief technology officer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a chief technology officer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The chief technology officer hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   A chief technology officer's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, chief technology officers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list shows salaries for various types of chief technology officers.

   Type of Chief Technology Officer	Description	Hourly rate
   Chief Technology 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.	$50-136
   Director Of Software Development	A director of software development is primarily in charge of overseeing the workflow and the workforce involved in the entire software development process. Their responsibilities also include creating strategies for optimal performance, coordinating with different teams and departments to identify strengths and weaknesses, implementing training and workshop programs, and liaising with external agencies, including key clients... Show more	$52-109
   Director Of Information Management	A director of information management is an information technology expert in charge of spearheading the efforts to manage and develop information systems. Their responsibilities revolve around setting goals and objectives, handling budgets, identifying the company's needs, and performing research and analysis to determine the best practices to optimize business operations... Show more	$45-92

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Infrastructure
   • Cloud
   • Architecture
   • Python
   • Java
   • C++
   • Digital Transformation
   • R
   • Project Management
   • Technology Strategy
   • Software Development
   • Web Services
   • SQL Server
   • Linux

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Implement, manage and customize Salesforce, a CRM system, allowing the company to convert sales leads into opportunities.
   • Manage windows and linux servers.
   • Manage patches and security on windows and RHEL/CentOS systems.
   • Develop and manage a complete network solution featuring EMC, Cisco and VmWare solutions.
   • Design, manage, and analyze PPC, SEO, strategies for internet marketing.
   • Manage computer operations, end-user computing, PC support, network systems and voice telecommunication systems.

   More chief technology officer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your chief technology officer job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A chief technology officer salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a chief technology officer in Maine may be lower than in Hawaii, and an entry-level chief technology officer usually earns less than a senior-level chief technology officer. Additionally, a chief technology officer with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average chief technology officer salary

   $172,989yearly

   $83.17 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level chief technology officer salary

   $105,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 14, 2026

   Average chief technology officer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Washington	$207,301	$100
   2	California	$185,596	$89
   3	New York	$181,388	$87
   4	Virginia	$179,919	$87
   5	District of Columbia	$174,976	$84
   6	Massachusetts	$172,616	$83
   7	Oregon	$170,814	$82
   8	Texas	$163,546	$79
   9	Illinois	$159,959	$77
   10	Nevada	$159,632	$77
   11	Pennsylvania	$159,366	$77
   12	Colorado	$147,654	$71
   13	Florida	$142,277	$68
   14	Minnesota	$141,381	$68
   15	Georgia	$140,967	$68
   16	Missouri	$137,193	$66
   17	North Carolina	$136,019	$65
   18	Arizona	$132,563	$64
   19	Utah	$116,224	$56
   20	Maine	$109,743	$53

   Average chief technology officer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	InPhonex	$254,951	$122.57
   2	Community Health Systems	$253,392	$121.82	80
   3	Rightside	$246,755	$118.63
   4	Cruise Automation	$244,615	$117.60
   5	Zenefits	$243,058	$116.85
   6	Allina Health	$236,896	$113.89	1
   7	Birchbox	$233,779	$112.39
   8	Palo Alto Networks	$232,654	$111.85	33
   9	Bloomberg	$229,445	$110.31	17
   10	Thomas	$228,539	$109.87
   11	Lucid Motors	$225,777	$108.55	13
   12	Bristol-Myers Squibb	$223,154	$107.29	20
   13	Maine Health/maine Mental Health Partners	$223,152	$107.28	9
   14	Coatue Management	$222,969	$107.20
   15	Meta	$222,452	$106.95	119
   16	Collective	$222,440	$106.94
   17	Rush Street	$222,206	$106.83
   18	NewEdge	$222,082	$106.77
   19	Walmart	$220,780	$106.14	357
   20	City of New York	$219,366	$105.46	55

4. Writing a chief technology officer job description

   A chief technology officer job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a chief technology officer job description:

   Chief technology officer job description example

   The Washington Post is searching for its next Chief Technology Officer, serving as a strategic advisor to the CEO and playing a prominent role on our senior executive team with broad responsibility over engineering, product, design, and information security functions.
   
   MotivationFirst and foremost, you possess sterling integrity and personify the highest values of The Post: truth, accuracy, quality, speed, and continuous experimentation and innovation. You are deeply technical, yet can fluidly change altitudes to understand and address issues at the strategic, tactical, and transactional levels. You enjoy teaching others and can distill complex technical challenges into language that non-technical audiences can understand. You've always been enamored with the future and, as such, are grounded in the latest technologies, their potential impact, and how they can be used to good effect. You possess a growth mindset and are adept at growing employees' careers, growing audience, and growing an organization's capacity to iterate and launch new products at speed. Your energy level is very high, enabling you to inspire, enable, change, and protect a fast-paced, growing, 24/7, and global organization. You have an aptitude for building diverse and inclusive teams where people can do their best work. You bring an entrepreneurial - even scrappy - approach to organizations, yet function effectively within large, interdependent systems and frameworks. You are naturally data-driven and comfortable analyzing large, complex data sets, homing in on critical insights and galvanizing action around those insights.
   
   StructureThe Chief Technology Officer role reports to the Publisher & CEO and is part of the executive team that leads The Washington Post in long-term strategy, planning, investment, growth, change, culture, policy, and innovation. As a trusted advisor to and member of this team, the successful candidate must build solid relationships and work effectively with leaders across the company, including news, editorial, sales, marketing, subscriptions, finance, legal, HR, production, circulation, and security, helping the C-suite in problem-solving and seizing opportunities that directly support The Post's ongoing transformation and growth.
   Responsibilities
   Lead the engineering team of The Washington Post and continue a culture of agile and collaborative software development at speed, cultivating a willingness to experiment, disrupt, fail, succeed, and keep trying throughout the organization.Play a significant role in developing the company's strategy and align engineering infrastructure and capital with that strategy. Help the company achieve its short- and long-term goals by focusing the right engineering resources in the right place at the right time.Advance the company's technical capacity and progress by monitoring the latest digital trends, identifying potential opportunities for the company and focusing our efforts accordingly.Strengthen our information security environment and systems, and work proactively to reduce vulnerabilities.Act as a technical advisor for our global Arc XP SaaS business, which has successfully evolved from start-up to growth phase, including partnering with the President of Arc XP.Lead product and design by growing the capacity of our newsroom to more effectively surface, cover, report, and edit the news and building new digital products that grow readership, subscribers, and revenue.Lead our partnerships with technology platforms, including our relationships with Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta, and others.Cultivate a fast, brave, innovative, experimental, metrics-driven, and customer-focused culture-not only within your own organizations-but across the entire company.
   
   Requirements
   An undergraduate degree in computer science or related field; a graduate degree or MBA is strongly preferred.At least 15 years of progressively responsible experience in the engineering field, including hands-on experience in several different technology functions (e.g., software development, cloud-based technical architecture, product management, big data, and information security).At least five years in a senior leadership role leading a large, complex, interdependent organization of at least 300 employees that includes engineering and related functions.Significant experience building customer-facing products that increase audience, revenue, and future growth opportunities.
   
   LocationThis role is based in The Washington Post's headquarters in downtown Washington, D.C. If the successful candidate is not already based in the D.C. region, relocation will be necessary. This role is based in the office five days per week.
   
   About The Washington PostWhen you join The Post, you are joining a mission to connect, inform, and enlighten those around the globe with the highest caliber, most trustworthy news and information. Our multicultural, multi-generational workforce is constantly creating and innovating, leading the media and technology industries to better solutions. We welcome perspectives and celebrate diverse backgrounds. Whether you contribute to journalism, engineering, finance, or marketing, you are helping define the future of news. We continue to shine a light into the darkness and hope you will join us.
   
   The Post strives to provide its readers with high-quality, trustworthy news and information while constantly innovating. That mission is best served by a diverse, multi-generational workforce with varied life experiences and perspectives. All cultures and backgrounds are welcomed.
   
   The innovation doesn't end in the Newsroom - dozens of teams power The Washington Post. We are now hiring the next innovator - how will you Impact Tomorrow?
   #washpostlife

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5. Post your job

   To find the right chief technology officer for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with chief technology officers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit chief technology officers who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit chief technology officers, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   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 technology officer

   Once you've found the chief technology officer candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   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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