Retained executive search for Chief Information Officers across Sydney and Australia.
Executive Search
CIO executive search.
We work with boards, investors and CEOs in PE-backed, ASX-listed and growing businesses, and we scope every CIO search around what the business needs technology to do next, whether that is running the estate at a predictable cost, driving growth or leading a transformation.
The role
Which CIO the business needs
The same title covers the leader who keeps a large estate running at a predictable cost, the one who puts technology on the growth plan, and the one brought in to change how the business operates. A fourth version is common in mid-market and PE-backed businesses, where one leader carries data and digital alongside core technology because the business cannot fund a separate leader for each. Each of the four below is the right hire in the situation it suits and a costly one outside it.
The Operating CIO
For a stable enterprise or a cost-focused mandate. Judged on reliability, service delivery and a run cost that does not surprise anyone, and improves the estate the business already has rather than reinventing it. The wrong hire where technology has to drive growth or lead a transformation.
The Growth CIO
For scaleups and PE-backed businesses where technology has to move the top line. Sits with the rest of the executive team, is measured on commercial outcomes rather than uptime, and is as comfortable with a sales leader as with an architect.
The Transformation CIO
For ASX-listed and enterprise transformation, and turnarounds where the operating model itself has to change. Leads change to how the business works as well as to its systems, and is the wrong hire for a steady-state business that needs reliable operations.
The Broad-remit CIO
For mid-market and PE-backed businesses that want one accountable owner of technology, data and digital. Measured on the breadth of what they own, and stretched too thin in a large enterprise where each domain needs its own depth.
Our approach
What we agree before the search goes to market
A CIO brief written after the business has outgrown its systems often focuses on the weaknesses of the last CIO and the state of the systems, when the role needs the commercial acumen to keep technology in step with where the business is going. It can run the other way as well, with the attention on AI and what is new while the core systems have already fallen behind. Five things get pinned down before we approach anyone:
- The actual pain. What is broken, whether that is platforms left unsupported or a market that has moved faster than the business could.
- What technology is for. Whether the job is to run the estate, drive growth or change the operating model.
- The remit. Whether data and digital sit with the CIO or alongside, and who the CIO reports to.
- Board expectation. What the board or investors expect the role to deliver, and how they will judge it.
- Time to outcome. The timeline the board or investors are working to.
Systems pain sits with the leadership team as much as with the CIO, the CFO included, so we look at the team the new CIO is joining as well as the role itself.
Assessment
How we assess CIO candidates
Running a large estate reliably is the baseline for a CIO. What we test is the commercial acumen behind it: whether a candidate kept the systems in step with how the business grew, and what the function delivered in cost taken out, risk reduced or growth enabled. We look just as closely at the environment they did it in, because a CIO who has only run a large enterprise estate and one who has only worked in a smaller business have faced very different problems.
Track record
CIO appointments
Our CIO appointments span ASX-listed, PE-backed and newly merged businesses, including:
- A CIO for an ASX-listed wholesale distributor, as part of six senior hires across its technology function
- The CIO for a newly merged retail group formed under an ASX-listed owner
- A CIO for an ASX-listed equipment hire business
- A CIO for a PE-backed national retailer
- A CIO for a PE-owned healthcare group, as the first of a complete technology leadership build-out
Support
Frequently asked questions
How long does a CIO search take?
A well-scoped search typically takes 8 to 12 weeks from brief to accepted offer. The biggest variable is the quality of the brief and how quickly decisions are made once candidates are in front of you, and we run a weekly cadence call with you through the search to keep it moving.
Do we need a CIO or a CTO?
If the pain sits in the enterprise systems the business runs on, aligning technology with a transformation and carrying a complex group of stakeholders, that is usually a CIO. If it sits in the product and platform the business sells, that is usually a CTO, and we run CTO searches as well. In private equity the title carries its own message, because sponsors increasingly use CTO where the thesis is product and platform value and CIO where the job is to run and modernise the enterprise.
Should the CIO own data and digital as well?
In a mid-market or PE-backed business it often makes sense, because one accountable owner of technology, data and digital is easier to fund and to hold to account. In a large enterprise where each domain needs real depth, a separate data leader is usually the better structure.
Do CIO candidates need to come from a big brand?
No. What transfers is the size and scale of the estate someone has run and the change they have led, and Sydney is full of mid-sized enterprises whose CIOs have done that without a well-known name on the CV.
Can you place an interim CIO?
Yes, through our interim and contract practice. When a CIO leaves unexpectedly, an experienced interim can hold the function and make credible decisions from day one while the permanent search runs.
