CDO, Head of Data and CIO recruitment

The Clario team recruits Chief Data Officers, Heads of Data and CIOs for UK scale-ups and mid-market companies. The three roles are often treated as interchangeable, and they are quite different. This page explains what each one does, how to tell which you need, and how we run the search.

What a CIO does day to day

A CIO is the senior executive responsible for the company's systems. In many businesses that do not sell software, it is the most senior technology role, and there may be no CTO at all.

A CIO's week typically covers supplier contracts and performance, cyber security and keeping critical systems running. They know what the technology costs, and which major projects are behind schedule and why. The board turns to them when something fails, or when a regulator asks who is responsible.

What a Chief Data Officer does day to day

A Chief Data Officer is responsible for whether the company can trust its data and put it to good use.

They agree company-wide definitions, such as what counts as an active customer. They decide which system holds the official figures, and set the rules on how data can be used. That often means persuading senior colleagues to give up reports they are used to, which takes authority as well as expertise.

Some Chief Data Officer roles lean towards governance and regulation. Others lean towards building data products the business will use. It helps to be clear which you need most, because candidates tend to be stronger in one than the other.

What a Head of Data does day to day

A Head of Data, sometimes called a Director of Data, works closer to the team and the technology. They are responsible for the data platform, the pipelines that feed it, data quality, and the analysts and engineers who produce the reports the business relies on.

They usually report to the CIO, the CTO or the finance director. A Head of Data is the right hire when the direction is agreed and the business needs someone to deliver it. If the executive team still disagrees about basic definitions, that needs settling at a more senior level first, because a Head of Data will not have the authority to resolve it alone.

Some companies combine the CIO and Chief Data Officer roles. That can work well when one person has the range and leads a single team. It works less well when two groups both expect to stay in charge. We check who would be able to overrule the new hire before recommending either approach.

Signs you need each role

• A CIO, when technology risk and a growing number of suppliers have become a board concern, and your most senior technology person sits two levels below the board.
• A Chief Data Officer, when different parts of the company report different numbers, or AI plans keep stalling because the underlying data cannot be relied on.
• A Head of Data, when the direction is set and the data platform is being run by a few contractors with nobody leading them.

These searches often come up together because of AI. An AI leader hired before anyone owns the data will spend much of their first year on data problems. Sometimes the right order is a Head of Data first, then the AI leader. In other cases a CIO can continue to oversee data for a while, with a Head of Data working alongside them. Because we also recruit CTOs and AI leaders, we can help you decide which role to fill first.

Pay for these roles usually starts at £100,000, and is higher for a group CIO or a Chief Data Officer with regulatory responsibilities and a team.

What to look for in a candidate

A strong mid-market CIO has run systems they inherited, managed suppliers firmly, dealt openly with a security incident or near miss, and stopped a programme that was not working. They can disagree with the finance director constructively.

For a Chief Data Officer, decide whether you need someone who builds, or someone who can make new definitions stick across the business. A few people have done both well. Many job descriptions ask for both, and the interviews then favour whoever seems the safer choice, so it is worth deciding in advance.

A Head of Data should be a capable manager who still understands the platform in detail. They will have hired analysts or engineers, and will be able to tell you what they chose not to build and why. Promoting a strong specialist with no management experience into the role is a common mistake.

If your team is in Birmingham or Manchester, we focus on people who can be with that team regularly. London has the largest pool of candidates, and also the most competition for them, so a clear and specific brief makes a real difference there.

How we run the search

1. The brief. We set out the reporting line, the budget for the team, which systems and data are in scope, what is out of scope, and who can overrule the new hire.
2. Your review. You correct the brief. It helps to be candid about difficult areas, such as departments that keep their own figures, because the new hire will find them quickly.
3. Direct approach. We approach people in senior roles. Good CIOs and data leaders move for a broader remit or a board that will back them, and they rarely answer adverts.
4. Shortlist. You receive a short list with a written assessment of each person, including where they fall short of the brief.
5. Interviews and offer. We encourage a short interview process involving the people the hire will work with, and we manage the offer through to the start date.

Timing and confidentiality

Many of these searches are confidential, because the current post holder is still in place or because the new hire will renegotiate supplier contracts. We agree at the start who will know about the search and keep that list short.