| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Leadership and Senior Management |
| Level | Leadership |
| Reports to | Board of Directors |
| Direct reports | Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Human Resources Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Technology Officer |
| Experience | 20+ years across functions, with several years in a general management or P and L role |
Chief Executive Officer job description template
Copy this job description, replace the text in square brackets and post it on your careers page or a job portal.
Job title: Chief Executive Officer
Department: Leadership and Senior Management
Reports to: Board of Directors
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
A Chief Executive Officer runs the whole company and answers to the board for its results. They set the strategy, build the leadership team, own the profit and loss, and decide how the company spends its money and its time. The role balances growth, cash and culture, and makes the hard calls that no one else can. A good CEO sets a clear direction, hires and holds a strong leadership team, delivers the numbers the board approved, and keeps the company financially sound.
Key responsibilities
- Set the company's strategy and annual plan with the leadership team, and get them approved by the board.
- Own the profit and loss, and hold each function to its revenue, cost and cash targets through the year.
- Build the leadership team, decide who leads each function, and replace leaders who do not deliver.
- Allocate capital and headcount across businesses, weighing growth, risk and the return on each rupee.
- Represent the company to the board, investors, large customers, regulators and the press.
- Set the culture and values, and make sure the company hires, promotes and rewards in line with them.
- Approve major decisions on pricing, fundraising, acquisitions, new markets and large contracts.
- Monitor the numbers monthly, and step in early where a function is drifting off plan.
- Manage risk across the business, and keep the company compliant with law and its own governance rules.
- Report progress, wins, misses and the outlook to the board at every meeting.
Requirements
- MBA or a strong record of running a business
- Graduate degree in any discipline
- Deep experience in the company's own industry is an advantage
- 20+ years across functions, with several years in a general management or P and L role
KRAs and KPIs for a Chief Executive Officer
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Business performance | Revenue and profit meet or beat the board-approved annual plan |
| Cash and funding | Cash runway and funding kept above the level agreed with the board |
| Strategy delivery | Agreed strategic milestones for the year completed on time |
| Leadership strength | Key leadership roles filled and retained above the target |
| Governance and risk | No major compliance or governance failures during the year |
| Culture | Employee engagement and senior attrition within the agreed limits |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: Board reporting packs, BI dashboards, MS Excel, PowerPoint, Financial models.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: Managing Director, Board of Directors
Interview questions for a Chief Executive Officer
- How would you set the three-year strategy for this company in your first hundred days?
- The business is growing but burning cash faster than planned. What do you change first?
- How do you decide which businesses or products to invest in and which to shut down?
- Tell me about a leadership team you built and how you handled a leader who was not delivering.
- How do you keep the board informed without letting it run the company day to day?
- Describe the hardest decision you made as a chief executive and how it turned out.
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What does a Chief Executive Officer do?
A Chief Executive Officer runs the whole company and reports to the board. They set the strategy, build the leadership team, own the profit and loss, allocate capital, manage risk and represent the company to investors and customers. The CEO makes the final call on the biggest decisions and is judged on the company's results.
What is the difference between a CEO and a Managing Director?
In India a Managing Director is a statutory role under the Companies Act, a director entrusted with substantial management powers. A Chief Executive Officer is the top executive title. Often one person holds both. Where they differ, the Managing Director carries the legal responsibility while the CEO title describes the executive job.
Who does a Chief Executive Officer report to?
A Chief Executive Officer reports to the board of directors, usually through the chairman. The board sets targets, approves major decisions and evaluates the CEO each year. In a founder-led company the founder may hold the CEO role and still answer to the board and investors for results.