What to Pay a CTO

What to Pay a Chief Technology Officer

Once you’ve decided when to hire a CTO, what to look for in a CTO, and how to hire a CTO, you hopefully have a good idea of what your company is looking for in a chief technology officer. After you’ve asked some high-level interview questions and selected a few possible candidates for the position, it’s time to determine potential salary. But how do you know what to pay a CTO?

The position of chief technology officer does not have one set salary for each candidate. Multiple variables can affect a person’s pay. Here are four factors to consider when you are deciding what to pay a CTO.

1. The candidate’s skill set
The skills a candidate brings to the company affect the candidate’s value. Someone with experience in technology and development will be a more confident, understanding chief technology officer than someone without experience in the field. Therefore, a tech-savvy leader tends to earn a hire salary as a CTO.

2. Other compensations
When hiring someone for an executive position, it is important to consider other forms of compensation when determining salary. A chief technology officer often receives bonus pay in addition to their traditional salary.

If your company is publicly traded, you may consider offering stock options to a CTO. If your company has just started, you may consider giving the CTO equity in your company as a selling point. If you plan to include equity, stock options or bonuses in compensation, it is important to consider the value of these benefits when negotiating salary.

3. CTO Salaries in your area and industry
If you’re struggling to figure out what to pay a CTO, consider asking around within your professional network. Your professional contacts in other companies may be willing to share their tips, and you’ll get a better understanding of what to pay CTO in your industry or geographic area. Once you have an idea of what chief technology officers in your area earn, it will be easier to set a salary for your new CTO.

4. What the potential CTO expects to earn
Once your company has picked a potential CTO, openly discussing compensation could save your organization a lot of time. Start by analyzing what your company can afford to pay – including the value of bonuses and other compensation. Once you’ve determined a limit regarding how much your company can offer, discussing salary expectations with the potential chief technology officer will be much easier. By engaging the candidate in the negotiation process, both the candidateyou’re your company should be able to come up with a satisfying plan for what to pay a CTO.

You might be interested in these other posts about hiring a CTO:
When to Hire a CTO
What to Look For in a CTO
How to Hire a CTO
15 High-Level CTO Interview Questions

How did you determine what to pay a CTO? Let us know in the comments.

 

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Tips on What to Pay a CTO

What to Pay a CTO

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