Chief strategy officers · the role
What does a chief strategy officer do?
The short answer · updated
A chief strategy officer is the executive who helps the chief executive and board decide where the company competes, how it wins and what it stops doing, and then makes sure the plan is carried out. The chief strategy officer runs the strategy process, leads analysis of markets, acquisitions and partnerships, and tracks the priorities that follow.
What is a chief strategy officer?
A chief strategy officer is the member of the executive team whose job is the company’s direction.
The chief executive and board own the strategy; the chief strategy officer does the work that lets them decide well, and then turns the decision into priorities the rest of the leadership team can carry out.
Why the role exists is set out in a Harvard Business Review article by Breene, Nunes and Shill: chief executives remain responsible for strategy but have less and less time to devote to it.
The chief strategy officer gives that work a full-time owner.
Watch the abbreviation.
CSO also stands for chief sales officer and, in some companies, chief security officer.
Our fractional CSO page is about the chief sales officer.
What a chief strategy officer is responsible for
The remit depends on the company’s size and on how much of the plan’s delivery the chief executive hands over.
The common core is below.
- The strategy process. The annual or multi-year cycle: what is reviewed, by whom, and when the board decides.
- Market and competitor analysis. Where the company can win, where it is losing, and why.
- Choices. Framing the options for the chief executive and board, including what to stop doing.
- Acquisitions and partnerships. Identifying targets and partners, and often leading the case for a deal.
- Execution. Turning the strategy into a small number of priorities, with owners and measures, and tracking them.
- Resource allocation. Making sure budgets and people follow the priorities.
- Board support. Preparing the board’s strategy discussions and the strategic sections of the annual report.
Where strategy sits in law and governance
Strategy is a board responsibility, not a delegated one.
Under section 172 of the Companies Act 2006, directors must act in the way most likely to promote the success of the company, having regard to the long-term consequences of their decisions and to employees, suppliers, customers, the community and the environment.
The strategic report in the annual report exists to help shareholders assess how the directors have performed that duty, with a fair review of the business and its principal risks.
In listed companies the UK Corporate Governance Code opens with board leadership and company purpose.
A chief strategy officer usually drafts the board’s material for all three, but the decisions remain the board’s.
Chief strategy officer vs COO vs head of strategy vs chief innovation officer
A chief strategy officer decides with the chief executive where the company is going and makes sure the plan is followed.
A chief operating officer runs how the business delivers today; see what a COO does.
A head of strategy usually leads the strategy team and its analysis without a seat on the executive committee.
A chief innovation officer owns the search for new products and business models within the strategy; see what a chief innovation officer does.
Titles vary, so compare the remit, the reporting line and whether the role carries delivery as well as advice.
Fractional, interim and permanent chief strategy officers
A permanent chief strategy officer suits a larger company with a standing strategy cycle and an active deals agenda.
An interim chief strategy officer works full-time for a fixed period: a strategic review, a merger, a turnaround or a new owner’s plan.
A fractional chief strategy officer works part of the week, often around a strategy cycle, a fundraising or exit plan, or a new-market decision.
A fractional or interim chief strategy officer working through their own company may fall within the off-payroll working rules (IR35).
Status turns on how the engagement runs in practice, and a medium or large client makes the determination.
Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.
How to hire a chief strategy officer
Agree with the chief executive and the chair which decisions the role prepares, which it owns, and whether it carries delivery of the plan or only its design.
Then define the first year: a strategy agreed by the board, priorities set, and a way of tracking them in place.
Test candidates on a strategy they set that the business carried out, not only on analysis, and take references from the operating leaders who had to deliver it.
We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors.
For a strategy 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.
To hire a chief strategy officer, book a call and we will scope the seat with you.
Questions people ask
What does a chief strategy officer do?
Helps the chief executive and board decide where the company competes and what it stops doing, runs the strategy process and the analysis behind it, and tracks the priorities that follow.
Who does a chief strategy officer report to?
Usually the chief executive, with regular access to the board for strategy discussions.
Is a chief strategy officer the same as a CSO?
Sometimes.
CSO also stands for chief sales officer and chief security officer, so check the full title.
Our fractional CSO page covers the chief sales officer.
What is the difference between a chief strategy officer and a COO?
A chief strategy officer works on where the company is going; a COO runs how it delivers today.
See what a COO does.
Can a chief strategy officer work part-time?
Yes.
A fractional chief strategy officer is usually engaged around a strategy cycle, a fundraising or exit plan, or a new-market decision.
How do I hire a chief strategy officer?
Agree which decisions the role prepares and owns, whether it carries delivery, and what the first year should produce; test candidates on strategies they saw carried out.
We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
