Role / Chief Technology Officer
CTO search for software companies.
A CTO sets the technical direction. The right one at $50M is rarely the right one at $5M.
A CTO search finds the executive who owns technical strategy, architecture and the long-term health of the product at a software company. Steward Well runs CTO 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 CTO own at this stage?
- Technical direction: what to build, buy or retire
- Architecture that can carry the next round of growth
- Security and data protection, often with customer audits
- The technical story for buyers, investors and big customers
- Hiring and keeping senior engineers
CTO or VP Engineering: which one do you need?
A CTO answers what and why. A VP Engineering answers how and when. If your product direction is unclear, hire a CTO. If you know what to build but can't ship it on time, hire a VP Engineering.
We wrote a full guide on choosing between them.
What separates a strong CTO candidate?
Strong CTOs can explain a hard technical choice in plain words to a board. They've made a big bet that worked, and one that didn't, and can tell you why. They know the cost of what they build.
We check their claims with the engineers who worked for them. Those calls tell us more than any interview.
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
Should our founding CTO stay in the role?
Sometimes yes, sometimes as a chief architect or product lead. We help you decide based on the job ahead, not the history.
Do CTOs need to code?
At $50M and up, rarely day to day. They need enough depth to judge the work and earn the team's trust.
How long does a CTO search take?
We commit in writing to a calibrated shortlist in 21 days and a completed search in 45 to 90 days.
What do CTOs earn?
It varies widely by stage and equity. The BLS 2025 median for computer and information systems managers is $175,140, and CTOs at growth companies usually earn well above it.
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.