CTO Scorecard
This hiring scorecard has been designed to help you map out your requirements for your key CTO hire. Avoid costly hiring mistakes and make the right hire first time!
What is the role of a CTO?
The Chief Technology Officer is responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of innovative technological strategies that boost efficiency and revenue for the organisation.
The CTO has to communicate with other executives to identify areas that are open for technology-driven advancements, lead research and development efforts and makes sure all departments in the company stay ahead of industry trends.
What qualifications are required to be a CTO?
Similar to most C-level positions there are no set qualifications to become a CTO. Although most CTOs will usually have a Bachelor’s degree in a relevant sector such as information technology, engineering or computer science, this is not a hard requirement. The main qualification companies tend to look for is extensive experience in a tech and leadership position, along with a track record of successful implementations of new technologies, strong team management and long term strategic planning.
What are the responsibilities of a CTO?
The main responsibilities of a CTO include driving the company’s technology strategy & vision and leading and recruiting the technology function.
The technology function would typically consist of engineering, but in some cases, the CTO would also manage data and product teams, especially if the company does not have a CDO or CPO.
It should also be noted that a CTO is not simply a senior engineer. In fact, many successful CTOs may have begun their careers as engineers, but over time, have built up the management experience necessary to lead and grow a team of engineers, rather than be involved in the day-to-day operations of the tech function.
With that being said, in smaller organisations (Pre-Seed to Series A), there may be cases where CTOs are responsible for programming and working in a hybrid leadership/individual contributor position.
It is very common in early-stage startups that the CTO is one of the Co-Founders and was responsible for writing the first lines of code; this is somewhat of a career chasm. Then over time, their responsibilities change as the organisation grows.
When to hire an CTO?
This primarily depends on the size and stage of the organisation.
For most startups and scaleups (less than 1000 employees and/or pre-Series D), the CTO is often one of the Co-Founders of the company. There are, however, a couple of circumstances where one may hire a CTO as an early stage organisation:
1. Where the founders of the company are non-technical: This hire would usually take place from the outset, either at Pre-Seed or Seed stage.
2. Where the current CTO leaves the organisation or changed their responsibilities: This takes place from time to time after Seed stage. There are cases where one of the technical founders switches their responsibility to another C-level position, typically CPO (Chief Product Officer), CDO (Chief Data Officer) or CEO. This happens when the company decides to change their technology strategy significantly, or encourage new, innovative ideas through hiring another leader. This can also happen when the CTO and Co-Founder’s technical ability/experience is not significant enough to continue leading the technology division, and they decide to move into another technical or commercial role.
For larger organisations (post-Series A and 100 employees), hiring a CTO is often a reactive, rather than proactive decision. Because most later stage organisations already have a CTO, this typically occurs if the current CTO leaves the organisation (and they need to backfill the role, or promote internally), or if the CTO is dismissed due to underperformance.
In some circumstances, similarly to point 2 above, the company may decide to change their technology strategy and move the existing CTO into another technical leadership position like CPO, and hire a new CTO to take over the technology function.
Should I hire a CTO or VP Engineering?
This is a common question asked by startups and the simple answer is it depends on the size of the company and their engineering team.
The main difference between a CTO and VP Engineering is that CTOs tend to focus more on the overall technology strategy of the company, whereas VPs of Engineering are more concerned with the practical implementation of technology in the organisation. Therefore, the latter would be more involved in the day-to-day operations of the technical function.
For startups and earlier-stage businesses (typically less than 50 employees and pre-Series A), it is rare for there to be both a CTO and VP Engineering because the CTO will often be responsible for both of these roles. Not to mention, they would mostly likely also be one of the Co-Founders of the company and therefore responsible for the wider strategic direction of the business.
However, once companies raise their Series B, we typically see the CTO hire a VP Engineering to manage and continue to build the existing tech function, whilst they focus on the wider technology strategy.
What Salary and Benefits should I offer a CTO?
Similarly to most positions, this is entirely dependent on the size and stage of your business. With that being said, it is hire you have to get right as the CTO will be the main driving force behind the company’s technological innovation and success in creating a market-leading products.
In terms of benefits, most companies have a bonus scheme in place linked to the function’s performance (in terms of meeting product release dates) or company performance. This is typically between 10-25% of the candidate’s base salary.
In terms of base salary, the table below gives an indication of CTO salaries depending on the stage of the company’s growth (this is an average and results may vary):
| Growth Stage | Basic Salary |
|---|---|
| Seed | £80 – £100k |
| Series A | £100 – £120k |
| Series B | £120 – £175k |
| Series C | £150 – £200k |
| Series D | £200k + |
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