Chief Information Officers & Chief Digital Officers

The roles of chief information officer and chief digital officer have evolved radically over the past two decades as the influence of technology has expanded throughout every department in every organisation. More than just technology experts, today’s CIOs and CDOs must possess the attributes of a true business leader, combining technical insight with commercial acumen and the foresight to lead through a rapidly changing commercial and technological landscape. Competition to secure successful technology executives is intense, as leaders of this calibre are a rare and hugely valuable commodity. Stone Executive has an outstanding track-record in CIO executive search, and our specialist CIO headhunters are closely connected to many of the most respected and in-demand senior technology leaders in the UK and across the globe.

The role of a CIO and a CDO

The chief information officer is the senior executive responsible for the technology that runs the organisation. The CIO owns corporate systems, data, cybersecurity, and operational resilience, advises the board on technology risk and investment, and partners with the chief executive on how technology supports the operating model. The chief digital officer, by contrast, owns the digital and customer-facing agenda.

The shape of both roles varies significantly with the type of organisation. In a large enterprise the CIO typically leads internal IT, infrastructure, and information security, while the CDO drives digital products, data monetisation, and transformation. In a PE-backed business the brief is usually weighted toward systems consolidation, cyber resilience, and the technology elements of the value-creation plan. In a founder-led or scaling organisation a single technology leader frequently carries the combined CIO and CDO remit, and the appointment is as much about building the function as directing it.

Types of CIO and CDO appointment we recruit

Stone Executive’s CDO recruitment and CIO search practice covers the full range of senior technology leadership appointments. Each engagement is run as a bespoke, retained search led by a named consultant, with the brief shaped by the ownership, sector, and technology context of the appointment.

• Enterprise CIO appointments, where the role leads corporate systems, infrastructure, information security, and operational resilience across a large and often complex estate.
• Chief Digital Officer appointments, where the mandate is digital products, customer experience, data monetisation, and the transformation agenda.
• Combined CIO and CDO appointments, common in mid-market and founder-led organisations where a single technology leader carries both the run-the-business and change-the-business remits.
• PE-backed CIO appointments at portfolio companies, calibrated to the sponsor’s value-creation plan, systems consolidation, and cyber-resilience priorities.
• Transformation CIO and CDO appointments, where the brief is to lead a legacy estate through modernisation, cloud migration, and a change of operating model at pace.
• Information security and resilience-led appointments, where the regulatory and cyber-risk profile of the organisation places security at the centre of the brief.
• Interim CIO appointments, where an experienced technology leader is required at short notice to stabilise delivery, lead a transition, or bridge a permanent succession.
• Public sector and not-for-profit CIO appointments, where governance expectations are layered with public accountability and the scrutiny of trustees, members, or the public.

A meaningful proportion of our CIO recruitment work sits below the very top of the FTSE: mid-market businesses, PE-backed portfolio companies, founder-led scale-ups, and the most significant public sector and not-for-profit organisations. From SMEs to blue-chip corporations, the discipline of the search is the same. The candidates capable of doing the job well at this level are almost always already in post elsewhere, and the right approach is what produces a credible shortlist rather than a generic one.

When boards appoint a new CIO or CDO

Chief information officer and chief digital officer appointments arrive at a small number of recognisable moments, and CIO recruitment is usually triggered by one of them: planned succession, the period after a transaction when new owners want a technology leader aligned to the plan, the launch of a major transformation or digital programme, or an incumbent stepping down.

Each context shapes the search differently. A planned succession at a listed board typically prioritises continuity, scale, and a record of leading technology at comparable complexity. A PE-backed appointment looks for systems consolidation and cyber-resilience experience alongside the bandwidth to partner with the sponsor through the hold period. A transformation mandate requires a leader with the standing to modernise a legacy estate while keeping the business running, and a digital mandate calls for a CDO who can build new revenue and customer capability rather than simply run existing systems.

Our CIO and CDO search process

Every Stone Executive CIO and CDO search follows the same disciplined sequence, adapted to the seniority of the role and the ownership structure of the organisation. Each engagement is retained throughout, run by a named consultant from briefing to offer, and supported by our in-house research team. The four stages below run sequentially, with timing shaped by stakeholder availability and any governance approvals required.

Brief development. We work consultatively with the chief executive, the principal shareholders, or the nominations committee responsible for the appointment, to understand the strategic context, the state of the technology estate and the function the leader will inherit, the transformation or digital agenda, and the kind of technology leader who will succeed. The brief covers sector experience, technical depth, scale, the balance between the run-the-business and change-the-business remit, the relationship the leader will need to build with the chief executive and the board, and the cultural reality the new leader will step into. For PE-backed and shareholder-led appointments, the brief explicitly addresses the value-creation plan and the timetable to the next capital event.

Market mapping. We identify candidates across the relevant sub-sector, comparable peer group, and adjacent industries, drawing on Stone Executive’s network of senior technology executives and structured public-domain research. Long lists for CIO and CDO appointments routinely extend across the UK and into Europe, particularly where specific platform, security, or transformation experience is part of the brief.

Direct, discreet candidate approach. Senior CIO and CDO candidates are almost always in post elsewhere and not visibly available, which means recruitment at this level is fundamentally about engaging passive candidates with discretion. Reaching them well requires the credibility to make a discreet first call land, and the substance to make the conversation worth their time. Our consultants are known within the UK technology leadership community, and the depth of those relationships is what makes the difference between a polite decline and a serious conversation. This is the same retained, research-led discipline that underpins our wider executive search work.

Shortlist, interview, and appointment. We present a shortlist of typically four to six candidates with detailed written profiles covering career history, technical and leadership track record, motivations, fit against the brief, and our independent assessment. We manage the formal interview rounds, support any technical or security assessment the engagement requires, handle candidate communication, and run any additional due diligence the appointment calls for through to offer and acceptance.

Sectors we cover for CIO and CDO appointments

CIO and CDO searches at Stone Executive draw on the same sector specialism as our wider board-level practice. The consultant leading the search brings sector knowledge to the brief, the long list, and the candidate conversations, ensuring relevant operating experience, technology context, and an existing network in the sector at hand.

• Business and Professional Services
• Consumer Goods and Services
• Education
• Financial Services
• Health and Social Care
• Life Sciences
• Public Sector and Not-for-Profit
• Technology

FAQs

To discuss a CIO, CDO or senior digital appointment, please contact our team on 0333 800 1560.