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Chief Technology Officer search.

Founders and CEOs at Series A to C, and boards at mid-size and enterprise companies replacing a CTO who built the product but never built the org.

CTOReports to
CEO
The seat

What breaks when it is empty.

The board wants a builder and the company needs an operator, or the reverse. Nobody says which. We settle that on day zero, in writing.

Reports toCEO
ShortlistWeeks 4 to 6
Comp bandStated in writing on day zero
VerifiedEvery finalist Syfter Certified
FeeIn thirds. Final third at day 90
Your lineOur advice

CEO. If the board proposes CTO under COO, we will tell you what that does to the pool.

How longTypical

Shortlist in 4 to 6 weeks. Offer typically week 6 to 8.

Why us for this seat

The most common reason a technology search fails is that the CTO and VP Engineering seats were never separated. We separate them before we open the search.

The chart

What one hire does to the org.

A CTO hire lights the seats under it: SVP Engineering, Head of Architecture, and the VP Engineering search that usually follows in week two. The VP Infrastructure seat under the CIO starts to fade the moment the CTO mandate includes platform.

Seats this hire opens or changes
SVP EngineeringVP EngineeringHead of ArchitectureDirector of PlatformVP Infrastructure & Cloud
See it drawn on the chart
The engagement

Where retained meets contingent.

A third when the search opens, a third when your CTO signs, a third once they have been in the seat for ninety days.

01
ChooseScope
Retained search
Retained, interim or fractional. You tell us the seat, the reporting line, and the mandate. We tell you what the market will and will not give you for it.
02
SignFirst third
The search opens
Both founders on the kickoff. Reporting line, comp band, and the three ways this hire could fail, in writing.
03
Weeks 1 to 6What you get
Market map, then the shortlist
Every finalist Syfter Certified, one-pager and stamp attached. Weekly, from the people running it.
04
OfferSecond third
Your executive signs
Not when we present a shortlist. When the person you chose says yes.
05
Day 90Final third
In the seat, working
The executive is in place and the team under them is better for it. That is where we want to be paid.
Syfter Certified

Verified before the seat is offered.

Five points, run on every executive we present, before you see the file. The stamp goes on the one-pager and travels with the candidate.

The protocol
  1. 01

    Human Verified Presence

    A live video conversation with a US-based Syfter recruiter. No recorded responses, no proxies. A real person, confirmed before the file reaches you.

  2. 02

    Geo-Location Verification

    The candidate is physically where they say they are. Location fraud creates tax and employment compliance risk for the hiring company. This point removes it.

  3. 03

    AI Interview Prevention

    Camera on, no virtual backgrounds. The recruiter sees the actual environment and a person speaking for themselves. No coaching tools, no interview bots, no scripted playback.

  4. 04

    Multi-Channel Identity Validation

    LinkedIn, resume, and everything said in the interview, cross-referenced in real time. The primary defense against fabricated profiles and bait-and-switch submissions.

  5. 05

    Syfter Trust Guarantee

    Every candidate signs the Trust Guarantee before submission. Every submission carries a timestamped Certificate of Completion and the Syfter Certified stamp.

Other seats

The rest of the chart.

CIOCISOCHROCAIOCPOAll seats
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Tell us about the CTO seat.

The reporting line, the mandate, and the date it needs to be filled. A written point of view from Steven within 48 hours.

Point to the seatConfidential inquiry