CIO · job description template
CIO job description
The short answer · updated
A CIO job description sets out the executive who runs a company’s information technology: the systems, data and infrastructure the business depends on. The core responsibilities are technology strategy aligned to the business plan, IT operations and service, cyber security and resilience, data, technology investment and suppliers, and leading the IT team.
Job purpose
The government’s digital and data framework describes the chief digital and information officer as the leader who shapes and enables the organisation’s strategy through digital, data and technology, and notes that the job varies with the organisation’s context. The purpose line should name that context: ageing systems, a merger to integrate, a cyber incident, a cloud move, or a board that cannot see what it spends on technology. For the role itself, see what does a CIO do.
Decide early whether you need a CIO or a CTO. A CIO usually runs the technology the business uses; a CTO usually builds the technology the company sells. If the brief is mostly product engineering, start from our CTO job description instead. Acas publishes an outline job description template whose headings (the main duties and who the post reports to) suit either.
Key responsibilities
Order the duties by importance and start each with a verb. A typical CIO job description covers:
- setting the technology strategy and roadmap to deliver the business plan;
- running IT operations, infrastructure, networks and the service desk;
- owning enterprise applications: finance, HR, CRM and operational systems;
- keeping the company secure and resilient to cyber attack, and ready to recover;
- setting data governance, architecture and standards;
- securing and prioritising technology investment, and reporting what it delivers;
- choosing and managing suppliers, contracts and cloud providers;
- leading digital change and the adoption of new technology, including AI, safely;
- managing technology risk, business continuity and disaster recovery;
- leading, hiring and developing the IT team;
- advising the chief executive and the board on all matters of technology and data.
Reporting line and scope
The CIO usually reports to the chief executive, and in some companies to the COO or CFO. IT operations, infrastructure, applications, service delivery and often data report in; the information security lead or CISO may report to the CIO or independently. List what reports in, and where the CTO sits if there is one.
Board exposure is growing. The Cyber Governance Code of Practice sets out the cyber governance actions boards and directors are responsible for, and the NCSC’s Cyber Security Toolkit for Boards explains how boards put them into practice. The CIO is usually the executive who briefs the board and the audit or risk committee on them. Say whether the role carries a board seat and which committees it attends.
Skills, experience and qualifications
No law requires a CIO to hold a qualification. Some employers ask for BCS Chartered IT Professional (CITP) registration, which requires professional or fellow membership of BCS and evidence of competence; mark it desirable unless the role needs it. Acas advises that a phrase such as ‘highly experienced’ in an advert can discriminate on age, so describe experience by what the candidate has done. Our guide on how to become a CIO covers the usual routes in.
- experience leading an IT function at a comparable scale and complexity;
- a record against the specific problem: a systems replacement, a cloud move, a merger, a cyber recovery or a cost reset;
- cyber security and resilience experience at the level the business needs;
- managing large technology budgets, suppliers and contracts;
- reporting to a board and explaining technology risk in plain terms;
- building and leading an IT team;
- sector knowledge where the systems, data or regulation are specialised.
Fractional CIO job description
A fractional CIO works a set number of days a week or month, so the job description narrows. Name the days, the few problems that matter most (a technology strategy the board signs off, a supplier review, a security baseline, a systems selection) and the outcomes expected over the first six to twelve months. Say who runs IT day to day in between.
A fractional CIO often works through their own company, so the engagement may fall within the off-payroll working rules (IR35). Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, not on the wording of the job description, and a medium or large client makes the determination. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests. To see how the engagement works, read how to hire a fractional CIO.
Interim and permanent versions
Interim. An interim CIO works full-time for a fixed period, so the job description leads with the situation (a failing programme, a merger to integrate, a cyber incident, a departed leader, or cover while the permanent search runs) and the date or event that ends the assignment. See our interim CIO page.
Permanent. The permanent version looks further ahead: the technology estate over several years, the team to be built and the platforms to scale on. When the CIO is hired as an employee, the job title or a description of the work goes into the written statement of employment particulars they must have on the first day, so keep the two consistent. For a permanent search, see our CIO headhunter page.
We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors. For a CIO brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after our five-stage vetting.
A template you can copy
Copy these headings and write one short block under each. Keep pay out of the job description and state it in the offer.
- Job title: chief information officer or IT director, and whether the role is fractional, interim, part-time or permanent.
- Reports to: the CEO or the executive named, with any board seat and committees; list the technology roles who report in.
- Purpose: two or three sentences on why the role exists now and the technology problem it must solve.
- Responsibilities: eight to twelve duties, each starting with a verb, in order of importance.
- Requirements: essential and desirable experience, described specifically, and any registration you need, with equivalents accepted.
- Terms: full-time or days a week, location, start date, fixed term or permanent, and the pay basis (salary or day rate).
Questions people ask
What should a CIO job description include?
The job title and type of engagement, who the CIO reports to and who reports in, the purpose of the role, the key responsibilities, the experience and any registration required, and the terms. Keep the technology problem the CIO must solve at the top.
How long should a CIO job description be?
Long enough to cover purpose, responsibilities, reporting line, requirements and terms, and short enough to read in a few minutes: one to two pages is usually enough. The detail of the systems, budget and suppliers belongs in the candidate pack and the interviews.
What is the difference between a CIO and a CTO job description?
A CIO job description centres on the systems, data and security the business runs on; a CTO job description centres on the technology the company builds and sells. In a smaller company one person may do both. See our CTO job description.
How is a fractional CIO job description different?
It names the days a week or month, the few problems to fix, the outcomes expected over the first six to twelve months, and who runs IT in between. See how to hire a fractional CIO.
What does a CIO earn?
It depends on the size of the company, its sector, and whether the role is permanent, interim or fractional. Our CIO salary page sets out pay and day rates, each figure with its source.
How do I hire a CIO?
Define the technology problem, choose between permanent, interim, part-time and fractional, write the job description around that problem, and test every candidate against it. Our CIO headhunter page sets out the process; we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
