How to Hire a Chief Administrative Officer

The Chief Administrative Officer coordinates the internal functions that keep a business running. Hiring one well starts with defining the role, which varies more than most. Here is how.

Define what the role owns

The Chief Administrative Officer role varies more than almost any C-suite title — it may oversee HR, facilities, IT, legal, procurement, operations, or some combination. So the first and most important step is defining exactly which functions this role will own in your business. Without that clarity, the search has no clear target. A Chief Administrative Officer role must be defined by its specific remit, because the title alone signals only broad internal responsibility.

Hire a strong operator and coordinator

The Chief Administrative Officer role is fundamentally about running and coordinating internal functions well, so look for a strong operator and coordinator — a leader who can run diverse functions effectively and bring them together coherently. The ability to manage breadth, coordinate across different areas, and keep the internal machinery running smoothly is central. This is a role for a capable, organised, and effective leader rather than a deep specialist in any one function.

Breadth and the leadership to run diverse functions

Because the role often spans several different functions, a Chief Administrative Officer needs breadth and the leadership to run and get the best from teams in areas as varied as HR, IT, and facilities. They will rarely be an expert in all of them, so the skill is leading and coordinating specialists effectively rather than doing the specialist work. Assessing for this breadth and cross-functional leadership is central to the hire.

How the search works

Define the specific mix of functions and what the business needs from the role — coordination, capability-building, or steady running — and a retained search can find a Chief Administrative Officer with the breadth, coordination, and leadership the role requires.

Frequently asked questions

What should you look for when hiring a Chief Administrative Officer?

A strong operator and coordinator with the breadth and leadership to run and bring together diverse internal functions — freeing other leaders to focus on their specialisms — matched to the specific mix of functions the role will own, which must be defined first.

Why is defining the role so important when hiring a Chief Administrative Officer?

Because the role varies more than almost any C-suite title — it may span HR, facilities, IT, legal, operations, or some combination — so the search has no clear target until you define exactly which functions this role will own.

Related: What Does a Chief Administrative Officer Do? · How to Hire a COO · How to Structure a Leadership Team