5 Top Tips for Employing a CIO

What are the skills and competencies CIOs have to demonstrate to work with the marketing function in a more integrated and consolidated way, and is this shifting dynamic feeding into job descriptions for CIO roles?

According to research from Gartner, CIOs who build strong relationships with their colleagues in marketing will drive a 25% improvement in return on marketing technology investment. And to generate greater business value, IT leaders need to work more closely with marketing to determine where IT leads versus where marketing leads and how both parties can work more effectively together

These findings reflect the fact that the relationship between the CIO and the CMO has become one of the most critical strategic interfaces in many businesses. And this means that today’s CIO has to understand the challenges of the marketing department so that both functions can drive mission-critical initiatives in partnership.

Aligning CIOs and CMOs

“CIOs who work closely with CMOs will boost ROI by 25%” – Gartner

This is a far cry from the traditional role of the CIO to simply support other functions. We find that when organisations are looking for a CIO, they are increasingly seeking an individual with a range of skills and experience that go far beyond simply marrying technical competence with being a good communicator.

Today’s CIO needs to demonstrate better communication, leadership skills, and better business acumen and illustrate adaptability and flexibility in working in new ways increasingly interdependent upon other front office issues and functions for just the back office and support functions. They may (or may not) have great expertise, but if they cannot communicate or translate this for others, it is futile.

Skills of a CIO Today

So as headhunters, what is it that we look for in a potential CIO?

And, when it comes to CVs our 5 top tips for job seeking CIOs are:

1. Demonstrate reasonably permanent tenures, but not too long. A career history that shows progression and delivery through four or five firms with three-to-five years spent at each is ideal. Moving every two years doesn’t demonstrate this.

2. Single-sector experience isn’t a problem for a role within that same sector. But a track record across multiple sectors will suggest flexibility, adaptability and (possibly) a wider set of skills. Some of the most impressive CIOs have combined a stint in a strategy house or consultancy (often the early part of their career) followed by end-user experience. These candidates often have the highest intellect and most impressive interpersonal skills/gravitas.

3. Use the language of business to describe your achievements both on paper and at interview stage. If you can’t communicate effectively in business, rather than ‘techie’ terms, you will lose your audience and alienate the rest of the leadership team and it certainly won’t help to secure a new role.

Top Tips for Seeking CIOs

4. One way to do this is by demonstrating the business advantages of your technology initiatives and show evidence of agility. Historically much of a CIO’s role was about managing large operations and delivering a programme of work. Now, agility and nimbleness are the order of the day and the days of negotiating long-term business contracts and measuring success by technology results – vendor agreements, outsourcing, reduction in headcount, etc - are gone. Organisations today are looking for evidence of positive business results. A CIO needs to demonstrate what he or she has done to move a business forward in terms of products, services, sales and marketing.

5. As the CIO’s role has evolved, it has become more strategic and is increasingly about the ability to communicate, build relationships and interface with a wide variety of other stakeholders, skills that are not always a CIO’s strength. So, in addition to a track record that illustrates the ability to work effectively with marketing, we also look for experience in areas, such as logistics, operations or supply chain or sitting on the board rather than one or two removed.

Top Tips for Seeking CIOs

Lucy FelthamPartner, San FransiscoTel: (+1) 415 432 4362 Lucy.Feltham@wilton-bain.com

Ben LatreuillePartner, LondonTel: +44 (0) 7780662761ben@wilton-bain.com

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