SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A study by Christian & Timbers predicts that there will be a 34% rise in demand for high-level tech leaders in 2023, specifically in the software industry and at the CEO and Board levels.
“Anticipation of recession or a turbulent economy has generally significantly slowed demand for leadership talent. However, we’ve seen the opposite dynamic,” says Jeff Christian, C&T’s CEO.
“We have seen CEOs and Boards much faster to the trigger, first in replacing the CRO and CFO, almost a pre-emptive strike to protect their position. Now we are seeing Boards looking at how to accelerate company performance by either augmenting the CEO or replacing the CEO. Another dynamic is looking at governance and securing better leadership at the Board level as a way to rapidly improve the company's strategic and operational strength,” adds Jeff Christian.
A slow-down in new C-Suite search work at the end of 2022 heading into 2023 was expected. However, 2022 saw a 67% increase in new search work over 2021. Jeff Christian states: “December was our second strongest month of the year leading us to believe Q1 2023 will continue strong.”
Jeff continues, “This is very unusual, companies executing reductions in staff while simultaneously upleveling.”
This being said, the 2023 Hottest Tech Leadership jobs are:
- Woman Director: Demand for Women Directors in the tech industry continuously increases each year. #1 for 2nd year in a row.
- Co-CEO: securing a Co-CEO allows a company to retain their Founder or current CEO while still being able to leverage the CEO title to attract stronger candidates.
- President and COO: Underperforming companies will increasingly look to augment and complement the capabilities of their CEO. This is often a move that could lead to replacing the CEO if not successful.
- Switch-out CEO is the cleanest and resolute option. As more Venture and PE-backed companies struggle to achieve profitable growth, investors will increasingly lose patience with their current CEO and look to switch him out for a proven CEO that can take them to exit.
- US President - Increasingly some of the hottest new technology companies like Bolt and UiPath have been started outside the US. There is a huge next wave of successful start-ups that will be looking for someone to head their US Operations.
- AI CTO: With the Success of companies like Open.ai, receiving a $ 29B start-up valuation, 2023 will see a significant increase in investments in new AI companies. AI is for certain the fastest growing segment and the hottest job is the CTO that can drive new innovation and create a great user experience.
- Women Audit Committee Directors are in strong demand and short supply with many of the best unable to take on a new board seat.
- Scale-up Chief Revenue Officer: A scale-up CRO is in top demand as many tech companies missed their numbers in 2022 and anticipate a tougher year in 2023.
- Operating CFO: As opposed to the IPO-ready CFO, a CFO that has already taken a company public and led the efforts for an IPO is no longer paramount. Now companies are looking for CFOs that can streamline operations, cut costs and integrate acquisitions.
- Chief Demand Officer: This is the newest C-Suite title as a result of the significant shortage of VPs of Demand Generation.
Christian & Timbers is considered the world’s best search firm, recognized for completing 2000+ CEO/Board placements, 5000+ C-Suite assignments for companies like HP, Apple, Biogen, Cisco, Upwork, Adobe, and top Unicorns. Christian & Timbers’ recent successes include CEO Recogni, Chairwoman, CelLink, CRO + CMO, Otonomo, President, and SecurityScorecard.
Jeff Christian, author of "The Headhunters Edge" and founder of Christian & Timbers, has been named four years on the Forbes Midas List. He is a frequent guest on CNBC.
