As businesses compete on how customers experience them, the Chief Experience Officer is an increasingly valuable hire. Here is how to approach it.
Define what the role owns
A Chief Experience Officer owns the whole experience a customer has with the business, across every touchpoint and channel. Because that spans marketing, product, digital, and service, the first step is defining what this role genuinely owns and how it works with those functions. A Chief Experience Officer role without clear scope becomes a title layered over existing owners; one with a clear mandate to own experience as a coherent whole can be transformative.
A cross-functional, influence-led leader
Experience cuts across the organisation, so a Chief Experience Officer leads largely through influence and alignment rather than direct authority over every team. The most important quality is the ability to connect marketing, product, digital, operations, and service around a shared view of the customer, and to hold the organisation to a consistent standard. Assessing for this cross-functional leadership and influence is central, because it is the hardest and most important part of the role.
Customer insight and change leadership
Beyond influence, a strong Chief Experience Officer brings genuine customer insight — a deep understanding of the customer and what a great experience means for them — and the ability to drive change across the business. Improving experience usually requires changing how the organisation works, so change-leadership capability matters. Look for a leader who combines customer understanding with the ability to make the organisation act on it.
How the search works
Define whether experience is a genuine competitive priority for the business and what the role must achieve, and a retained search can match a cross-functional leader who can own and elevate the customer experience.
Hiring experience leadership?
We recruit Chief Experience Officers and customer leaders across consumer, hospitality, and premium businesses.
Explore Executive Search →Frequently asked questions
What should you look for when hiring a Chief Experience Officer?
A cross-functional leader who can align the whole organisation around the customer through influence, with genuine customer insight and the ability to drive change — plus a clearly defined remit relative to marketing, product, and service.
When does a business need a Chief Experience Officer?
When customer experience is a genuine competitive differentiator and is too important to leave split across separate functions — common in hospitality, consumer services, retail, and premium brands.
Related: What Does a Chief Experience Officer Do? · How to Hire a Chief Customer Officer · What Does a Chief Customer Officer Do?
