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This means, even with a fixed job description within a specific organisation, the key priorities of the role can be constantly changing. Harvey Nash reports that 60% of digital leaders say good pay is the most important factor when looking for a new job. PayScale https://globalcloudteam.com/ says an early career CTO with up to four years’ experience can expect an average salary of £82,723. A mid-career CTO with up to nine years’ experience averages £80,000. The increased prevalence of technology is good news for those who hold the position.
With more complicated technologies and/or high-value sales, there could be close liaison with the sales team and you might even be brought into the sales process itself. You want a close relationship with the CEO, it will make your life a lot easier. Most days will feature some contact with the CEO and being pulled into occasional meetings where your technology insight is needed.
What is a CTO Position? Roles and Responsibilities of a Technical Director
Moreover, keep in mind that there is no single standard for what is a CTO and what this person should actually do. While most organizations stick to the term CTO, some companies use alternative titles (such as Head of Development / Technical Lead, etc.) for this position. You lack tech knowledge for your startup and need a technical co-founder. Chesky and Gebbia invited Nathan Blecharczyk, who coded the company’s early website, to be Airbnb’s first CTO. The CTO implements the coding standards and introduces the development protocols to adhere to. This will ensure that the source tech strategy will stay safe.
Unlike a CIO, whose purpose is generally to solve problems through researching and implementing existing technologies, a CTO more commonly works on new technologies. CTOs also have more of an external focus, in the sense that they work on products for other clients, while cto roles and responsibilities CIOs are more focused on internal issues. Like with all job descriptions however, these are general rules and responsibilities can differ company to company. In this case, the CTO is primarily an operations manager who is responsible for leading the engineering team.
How Much Does a CTO Make?
During the 2010s, Erdem Yasar shifted his focus to cloud computing, hosting, and data centers as they were becoming more popular topics in the tech industry. Erdem Yasar also worked with various industry-leading tech companies as a content creator by writing blog posts and other articles. Prior to his role at Cloud7, Erdem was the managing editor of T3 Magazine. The CTO also manages customer relationships to ensure service target expectations are developed and managed across operational areas.
Thus, the R&D projects are specifically created to advance the company’s overall innovation goals. CTOs must anticipate what kind of technology the company may need in the future, both in terms of hardware and software. These tasks include overseeing the current IT configuration to check if it has enough potential to achieve the organization’s goals.
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The CIO advises on enterprise software, anticipates security and integration problems, and studies the advantages of trending technologies. Hands on experience with latest tools and technologies is not a must have but a CTO must know detailed of a new technology before making a decision to adopt it. For example, if a CTO plans to migrate its on-premises IT infrastructure to AWS cloud, the CTO must have good understanding of AWS cloud.
Experience designing and enforcing team- or company-wide strategies. Moneypenny handles outsourced phone calls, live chat and digital comms for thousands of companies globally. The best CTOs have the confidence to lead multiple teams and motivate them toward a shared goal. Successful CTOs also know how to delegate responsibilities and serve as a mentor when needed.
Most Common Skills for Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
Bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science or a related field. Prior success raising product performance and sales through technology. Design and implement technology strategies, practices and processes.
The role may even stray outside further, reaching Research and Development, data science, or even sales. Although, despite its prevalence and importance, a lot of businesses fail to understand the CTO role. It doesn’t help that it is often the least defined role in the C-Suite. Harvey Nash says the global average wage for CTOs touches £120,000. The average CTO salary in the United States is $244,907, according to Salary.com.
CTO Career Guide
A CTO is an executive, but their responsibilities within an organization or corporation vary depending on the company’s industry. As a CTO, you make high-level decisions about deploying technology to aid or enhance business operations. You focus on the strategy behind choosing and using technology, and you may be responsible for establishing tech-related policies for the company. A CTO reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer or Chief Information Officer. After completing their education, many aspiring chief technology officers begin their careers as IT specialists, software developers and other entry-level IT professionals. Those who excel in these positions can earn promotions to managerial roles and establish themselves as attractive candidates for CTO positions.
- The CTO is also responsible for recognizing any skill deficiencies within their organization and procuring highly-skilled personnel to fill those roles.
- The continued growth of business conducted over information systems is the main cause of employment growth in this role.
- This includes developing marketable technology, suggesting new technologies to implement, interacting with external buyers and budgeting.
- Often, the CTO provides technical review and oversight within a company on emerging technologies, system engineering techniques and technical strategies.
- The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that most CTOs possess around 15 years of experience in the IT field before even being considered for the job.