5 Trending C-Suite Jobs
Riding the tsunami wave of billion-dollar companies that have emerged in past few years, the C-suite has been disrupted to reflect the current way that ‘work works’. Move over CEOs, CFOs, CMOs…there’s a new class of executives in the C-suite being tapped to help tackle the challenges wrought by technology, growth and expectations. As Chief Culture Officer at EF Education First, a company that has experienced supersonic growth and adapted our C-suite accordingly, I’ve seen how vital these roles are in today’s rapidly changing business landscape. Here’s a quick look at 5 trending C-suite jobs:
Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)
Trending: over the past 5 years | # LinkedIn profiles with CRO title: 6,000
Sales has always been sexy but in the era of hyper-growth, it’s about scalable, sustainable revenue generation. As Chief Revenue Officer, you’re monetizing leads, targeting new sources of revenue, acquiring customers, and leading strategic acquisitions and partnerships. Talk about trendy—Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle site GOOP and TED Talks have even hired CROs. Korn Ferry named CRO as one of the top five most in-demand roles spanning all industries in 2015. This need will only continue to grow as businesses realize that it’s not just ‘what they sell’ but ‘how they sell’ and that a profitable revenue generation process must be well-designed, executed, and managed.
Chief Data Officer (CDO)
Trending: since 2001 when Visa appointed a CDO | # LinkedIn profiles with CDO title: 1,800
You bridge the gap between IT, operations, and analysis and take overall responsibility for data management. As Chief Data Officer, you need to harness the exponential amount of data and information generated by your enterprise and use it to spot trends, analyze opportunities, predict demand, and fix blind spots. This position requires you to be fluent in numbers and possess a canning ability to craft smart strategies while being a champion for change. With machine learning, big data and artificial intelligence, firms recognize the imperative to employ a CDO to capture future innovation. Financial, retail, medical institutions and even the State of California have appointed CDOs. As companies grapple with being ‘data rich, knowledge poor’, the demand for C-suite data positions will grow. Indeed, Garner reports that 90% of large organizations will have a Chief Data Officer by 2019.
Chief Culture Officer (CCO)
Trending: since 2006 when CCO appointed at Google | # LinkedIn profiles with CCO title: 300
Culture is the invisible force that can make or break your company’s ability to grow, thrive and adapt to change. It’s also key for attracting and retaining talent. By far the most esoteric of C-suites, the Chief Culture Officer is usually an insider who ‘gets’ the organization’s DNA. A CCO is usually someone who has a cross-functional role and is a champion of the company’s mission and core values. Back in 2006, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin identified a CCO to help protect its scrappy culture as their quirky company grew like crazy. Today, the CEOS of Netflix and Southwest Airlines trumpet the value of culture carrriers. Because if it’s good enough for Google…
Chief Privacy Officer (CPO)
Trending: since 1991 when Acxiom appointed a CPO | # LinkedIn profiles with CPO title: 1,600
In the unregulated world of social media and the clawing tentacles of the world wide web, Chief Privacy Officers need to be on top of customer data. First appointed in the early 1990s, CPOs (not to be confused with Chief Procurement Officers) are lodged in a significant number of Fortune 500 companies and reassuringly, one exists at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Unsurprisingly, about a third of CPOs are lawyers. There is even an International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) that certifies people in privacy laws, regulations and protection. This may sound like a snore, but as recent news has shown, identity theft, data breaches, and hacking disasters are rude wake-up calls that no executive wants to receive. As companies scramble to catch up with the way business is done in the digital age, they’ll need a C-suite level pro to help navigate the high seas of high connectivity.
Chief Experience Officer (CXO)
Trending: since early 2000s | # LinkedIn profiles with CXO title: 1,800
In the Digital Age, every customer has a megaphone in the form of reviews, and this has put every industry on its toes. As Chief Experience Officer, you live and die for your customer, your end user, and your market. It’s painfully well known how bad customer reviews can be fatal to retail, hospitality, airline, or consumer businesses. As CXO, you need to be able to recognize that the lifetime value of a customer starts even before they know they are looking for something. You’re keeping the big picture on usability, customer service, advertising, product and service features, and integrating feedback on the full-spectrum experience of a customer’s journey and interaction with your product, brand, or service.
Good luck in the search for your suite-spot!