Role / Chief Revenue Officer
Chief Revenue Officer search.
When sales, marketing and success each hit their own number but the company misses its plan.
A Chief Revenue Officer search finds the executive who owns the whole revenue engine at a software company, from first lead to renewal. Steward Well runs CRO searches for companies from $50M to $500M in revenue, partner-led, with a calibrated shortlist in 21 days and a written 12-month guarantee.
What does a Chief Revenue Officer own?
- The revenue forecast, and its accuracy
- Sales, marketing and customer success, under one plan
- Pricing and packaging, with finance
- Renewals and expansion, which drive most growth past $50M
- The go-to-market story for the board and buyers
When does a software company need a CRO?
You likely need a CRO when the teams blame each other for a missed quarter. Marketing says leads were fine. Sales says leads were bad. Success says the product was sold wrong.
One owner ends that. The CRO sets one number and one plan for all three teams.
What separates a strong CRO?
Strong CROs know their numbers cold: win rates, sales cycle, net revenue retention. They've built a forecast that held. They've grown a team without burning it out.
Revenue leaders interview well, so we lean on data and references. We ask for the forecast versus actual from their last role, and we check it. A SaaS CFO is often the CRO's closest partner.
How does a Steward Well search run?
- Discovery. A partner meets the owner, the board or sponsor, and the team the leader will inherit.
- A written success profile. What this person must have done by month twelve, agreed before we call anyone.
- An original market map. Built for your seat, not pulled from a stack of resumes.
- A calibrated shortlist in 21 days. Qualified, interested and assessed against the profile.
- Scored interviews, deep references and offer support. The search closes in 45 to 90 days.
- Twelve months of check-ins, backed by a written 12-month guarantee.
A partner runs every step. You never get handed to a junior team after the pitch. See the full approach.
Questions buyers ask first
Is a CRO the same as a VP Sales?
No. A VP Sales owns new business. A CRO owns the full revenue engine, including marketing and renewals.
Do you search for CROs outside software?
Our CRO searches focus on software and technology companies.
How long does a CRO search take?
We commit in writing to a calibrated shortlist in 21 days and a completed search in 45 to 90 days.
Can the search stay confidential?
Yes. We agree the outreach story before any calls.
See where your search stands before it starts.
The readiness diagnostic takes two minutes. It shows the gaps that slow a search down. When you're ready, a partner takes the first call.