The Chief Communications Officer protects and builds a business's reputation — a hire that matters more the more reputation is at stake. Here is how to approach it.
Define the priority
A Chief Communications Officer role can emphasise reputation and brand communications, media and PR, public affairs, internal communications, or crisis and issues management. Before hiring, define the priority for your business, because these call for different strengths. A business facing significant reputational risk or public scrutiny needs different communications leadership from one focused on building profile. Clarity on the priority shapes the profile to look for.
Craft plus strategic judgement
The strongest communications leaders combine genuine communications craft — messaging, media, storytelling — with strategic judgement and the standing to advise the CEO and leadership on reputation and communications as a business matter, not just a functional one. A skilled communicator without strategic judgement, or a strategist without communications craft, falls short. Assessing for both, and for the standing to be a genuine advisor to leadership, is central to the hire.
Crisis and issues capability
Because communications matters most in crises and contentious issues, genuine crisis and issues capability is often the most important thing to assess — the judgement, steadiness, and skill to protect the business's reputation when it is most at risk. A communications leader untested in high-stakes moments is a real risk for a business exposed to them. Probing a candidate's experience and judgement in crises and difficult issues is essential where these matter.
How the search works
A Chief Communications Officer search should assess for communications craft, strategic judgement, standing, and crisis capability, matched to the business's specific communications needs and risk profile. A retained search can find a communications leader who fits.
Hiring a communications leader?
We recruit Chief Communications Officers and senior communications leaders across consumer businesses.
Explore Executive Search →Frequently asked questions
What should you look for when hiring a Chief Communications Officer?
Communications craft combined with strategic judgement, the standing to advise leadership, and genuine crisis and issues capability — assessed for judgement and steadiness as much as communications skill, and matched to your priority (reputation, media, public affairs, or crisis).
Why is crisis capability important when hiring a Chief Communications Officer?
Because communications matters most when the stakes are highest — in crises and contentious issues, how a business communicates can determine the outcome. A communications leader untested in high-stakes moments is a real risk for a business exposed to them.
Related: What Does a Chief Communications Officer Do? · Leading Through a Crisis · How to Hire a CMO
Ready to talk?
Whether you're planning a leadership search or simply exploring, we'd be glad to have a confidential, no-obligation conversation.
Get in touch
