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Strategy and innovation
From CFO to CISO to CXO: new corporate titles.
"Hello, I'm the new CISO", "we are looking for a CXO with five years' experience". These acronyms will soon start sounding more and more familiar and will be commonly used within companies. In this article, we explain job titles for the most senior company roles.
Although C-Level roles are critical to running a business, not all managerial positions are always filled. Each organisation has its own requirements and its own degree of technological maturity. Some of the new digital profiles either do not exist, or are combined in the same person. In any case, all the roles we discuss here are senior management positions that form part of the hard core of companies and are trusted implicitly by the CEO.
Corporate roles infographic.
The most traditional senior positions: from CFO to CMO
Let's discuss the first level of managerial positions, which we are already familiar with, both in English and Spanish. The Fundación del Español Urgente (Fundéu-RAE), an advisory body on the use of the Spanish language, recommends not adding an “s” when referring to these managerial positions in the plural. In other words, it is better to say and write “los CFO”, rather than “los CFOs”.
CEO: Chief Executive Officer
This is the Chief Executive Office (Consejero Delegado), Executive Director (Director Ejecutivo) or Managing Director (Director General), depending on the title used by each organisation. The top person in the company, who is the individual ultimately responsible for management and administration. They have the last word and answer to the Board of Directors. Their mission is to successfully execute the business plan and generate maximum value for shareholders. They are sometimes the founder of the company or the heir to the family business. They may work alongside a Chairman, but in some companies the CEO and the Chairman are the same person.
COO: Chief Operating Officer
The Chief Operating Officer (Director de Operaciones) is like the production manager: they are responsible for all the machinery for the creation and distribution of products and services. They are the right-hand man or woman to the CEO, overseeing the day-to-day and, therefore, together with the CFO, they are the natural successor of the Chief Executive Officer. One will be the right-hand man or woman (production) and the other will be the left-hand man or woman (finance and strategy).
CFO: Chief Financial Officer
The Chief Financial Officer (Director Financiero) is in charge of the company's financial planning and its good financial health. Increasingly, they are taking on more of a strategic role across the whole organisation. They are responsible for investments, financing and controlling any risks that could threaten the survival of the company. Their role is key to the growth of the company and to adding value for partners or shareholders. Their role within companies has grown so much that they are considered number 2 and work alongside the CEO.
CMO: Chief Marketing Officer
Sales and market research, the launch of new products and services, customer service and advertising all go through the Chief Marketing Officer (Director de Marketing) . Sometimes they are also in charge of communication, so in many companies they are called Chief Communications and Marketing Officer. Due to the high degree of digitisation and customer focus of their department, many of the new generation management positions discussed below stem from here.
CIO: Chief Information Officer
This is the Chief Information Office (Director de Información) or Director de Informática, a term more commonly used in Spain. This is the person responsible for the company's information technologies and systems. Their role is hugely significant in the current digital transformation process. They are the main internal technology planner seeking to optimise processes at all levels.
CTO: Chief Technology Officer
The Chief Technology Office is known as the Director de Tecnología in Spanish and the role may seem similar to the CIO, but their responsibility is not so much internal - how information flows operate within the organisation - as external: their role is to guarantee that the product or service with the best technology enters the market. A key role in the digital revolution that companies are experiencing, increasingly focused on online sales channels.
CCO: Chief Communications Officer
The Chief Communications Officer (Director de Comunicación) is both the head of external and internal communications for the company. They manage the way in which information flows within the company (announcements, intranet, etc.) in coordination with the Human Resources area. They also manage the corporate image before the various external stakeholders, from shareholders to customers, the media and public opinion. Their role is key to managing critical factors such as business reputation and brand image.
New roles resulting from digitisation and customer experience
Not all these new managerial levels are filled within companies, but large technology corporations and the most digitised sectors are using them to mark a new era in terms of management structures. Professionals related to technology, Big Data and customer experience are becoming more and more important.
CDO: Chief Digital Officer
The Chief Digital Office is known as the Director Digital in Spanish. Although in many companies this role is performed by the CTO, it is necessary to have a specific manager to direct a company's online strategy. They are the head of the digitisation of products and services, which was key during the pandemic. Closely linked with the CMO, by helping to implement the best digital marketing tools, but also with the CEO and the Director of Human Resources to extend the digital culture to all levels of the company and train all employees in this area.
CDO: Chief Data Officer
This role could be called Director de Big Data in Spanish. The huge amount of information that companies handle, both internally and in terms of customer relations, requires the existence of specific departments with a transversal vision and with technical knowledge, but also legal and digital marketing. The Chief Data Officer is currently one of the most sought after roles and also the most difficult to find.
CDO: Chief Diversity Officer
The Chief Diversity Officer is the Director de Diversidad in Spanish. Organisations have internalised ESG criteria (environmental, social and good governance) and, in this new pyramid of values, inclusion, equality and diversity are at the top. This is demanded by shareholders, customers and society. The CDO's mission is to create more diverse workforces, where minority groups are represented, and guarantee that the principle of a work-life balance is respected.
CDO: Chief Design Officer
The Chief Design Officer is called the Director de Diseño in Spanish. They are responsible for how products and services are presented to customers so they leave feeling their purchase was a unique experience that changed their lives. The search for beauty and usability have led leading technology companies to even place their design managers at Vice President level. Let's not forget Apple presentations, where product launches seek to surprise and wow. The Chief Design Officer position is directly related to innovation and customer experience.
CISO: Chief Information Security Officer
The Chief Information Security Officer is responsible for the custody of the organisation's data and for preventing external attacks. Cybersecurity is already a top priority for most organisations given that digitisation, with its obvious benefits, also involves more external risk, a risk which has increased thanks to teleworking.
CGO: Chief Growth Officer
The Chief Growth Officer is an individual with a strategic and transversal vision throughout the organisation who moves between the areas of Marketing, Sales and Technology and who seeks to ensure that the value proposition remains unique and stands out from the competition, thereby promoting rapid growth. This position has replaced the role of CMO in some organisations. They could be thought of as a new CMO who has broken down the silos of the company and has a multidisciplinary vision focused on growth.
CRO: Chief Remote Officer
The Chief Remote Office is known as the Director de Teletrabajo or Diretor de Trabajo en Remoto in Spanish. This CRO position didn't exist three years ago, but now marks a real paradigm shift in talent management. We are not talking about someone in charge of organising teams and calendars, but a strategist who seeks to make the most of this new hybrid work modality increasing productivity and providing the necessary tools and methodologies.
CXO: Chief Customer Experience Officer
The Chief Customer Experience Officer (Director de Experiencia de Cliente) has become a fundamental cog in the structures of highly digitised companies. They are like the "customer advocate" who builds bridges between the consumer and your brand and who launches processes to retain and build loyalty.
As well as having technical skills, they must know how to listen and empathise with a user whose only contact with the company is probably through a screen. They are tasked with making every customer feel like they are unique and with ensuring someone is looking out for them. They are also tasked with ensuring customers are duly profiled as buyer personas.
Corporate roles infographic.
