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Chief Transformation Officer

United States · Hybrid · Permanent

Professional ServicesDigital Transformation$300k – $800k
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Heads up: this posting is for future opportunities rather than one specific open role. If you apply, we’ll add you to our candidate network and may reach out when relevant roles come up.

Axial Search is a specialist executive search firm built for one kind of hire: leaders who help organizations navigate AI transformation. Apply today to express your interest in roles like this one.

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What the market looks like

Chief Transformation Officer is one of the most consequential and high-risk roles in senior executive hiring — only a few dozen dedicated postings per year in the US, almost always tied to a specific board mandate and a defined window to deliver measurable change. The role sits directly alongside the CEO and is often the most visible appointment of the decade for the organization. Compensation is packaged on a confidential total-comp basis, with heavy variable and long-term incentive components; the strongest candidates we place have delivered multi-year enterprise-wide transformation before, not just component programs.

Job responsibilities

  • Own the enterprise transformation agenda — strategy, delivery, value capture, and change

  • Partner with the CEO and board on the high-stakes initiatives that define the next era of the business

  • Build and lead the transformation organization across program management, change, and enabling functions

  • Integrate technology (AI, digital, data), operating model, and talent decisions under a single program

  • Drive hard trade-offs — killing initiatives that don't move the needle, doubling down on those that do

  • Own value delivery against the board-level mandate, with clear metrics and accountability

  • Represent transformation externally when appropriate — investors, analysts, press, and key customers

  • Develop and retain the senior leadership team that will outlast the transformation itself

Candidate requirements

  • 15+ years across consulting, corporate transformation leadership, or COO-adjacent roles

  • Track record delivering multi-year, enterprise-wide transformation at scale

  • Mastery of modern transformation levers — AI, digital, data, operating model, and organizational change

  • Proven executive presence and ability to influence peer C-suite and board

  • Strong financial discipline and business judgment

  • Willingness to own both the upside and the hard calls

Chief Transformation Officer | United States | Axial Search