Chief Innovation Officer Job Description and Hiring Kit
Three job descriptions by maturity, a ten-competency scorecard, fourteen interview questions and a first-90-days plan, built on Innovation Mode.
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Roles, models and teams
Innovation leadership
Innovation leadership is the accountability for a company’s ability to innovate: deciding who owns innovation, how it is organised and measured, and how the whole organisation is equipped to discover, validate and pursue new opportunities.
In Innovation Mode, the innovation leader is “the Enabler and the Orchestrator of the overall corporate innovation function” (p. 48). The job is to make the company innovate, with a small team that opens innovation up to everyone, not to produce the innovation themselves.
From Innovation Mode (Author’s Edition, 2026), Chapter 3.
The guides
- The roleThe Chief Innovation OfficerThe mission, the ten responsibilities, the reporting line, what to hire for, how to measure the role, and the CINO in the AI era.Read the guide →
- The modelsWho should lead innovation?Five common leadership models and the hidden risk in each, the Federated model that works, who the leader should report to, and how to choose by maturity.Read the guide →
- The teamInnovation team structureThe Dream Team: its six core roles, the extended team, how it grows, and how it avoids the innovation bubble.Read the guide →
- The hireCINO job description and hiring kitThe job description in three versions by maturity, a ten-competency scorecard, fourteen interview questions and the first 90 days.Open the kit →
- The AI eraChief AI Officer vs Chief Innovation OfficerWhat each role owns, four ways to set them up, how to choose, and how both compare with the CTO, CIO and CDO.Read the guide →
- The serviceFractional Chief Innovation OfficerC-level innovation leadership on a retainer agreed quarter by quarter, to set up the innovation function and hand it to a permanent leader.See how it works →
Where to start
Boards and CEOs, HR leaders, new innovation leaders and those who want the job each have a different question. Each starts in a different place.
- Decide who should lead innovation
- Who Should Lead Innovation? compares five common leadership models and the hidden risk in each with the Federated model that works, and says who the leader should report to.
- Appoint a Chief Innovation Officer
- The Chief Innovation Officer sets out the mission, the ten responsibilities and the ten competencies to hire for. The CINO Job Description and Hiring Kit gives the job description in three versions, the scorecard, the interview questions and the first 90 days.
- Build the innovation team
- Innovation Team Structure describes the six core roles, the extended team and how to avoid the innovation bubble.
- Become an innovation leader
- How to Become a Chief Innovation Officer: the career paths and the skills.
- Decide who owns AI and innovation
- Chief AI Officer vs Chief Innovation Officer sets out who owns what, four ways to set up the two roles and how to choose between them.
- Take opportunities to market
- The product arc the innovation function feeds: What Is a Prototype?, What Is an MVP? and How to Write a PRD.
- Work with us
- Corporate Innovation Advisory designs the innovation function and its leadership with your executive team, and a fractional Chief Innovation Officer can hold the role until you hire. For the AI mandate, a fractional Chief AI Officer works the same way.
Innovation leadership at a glance
| Aspect | In brief |
|---|---|
| The senior role | The Chief Innovation Officer (CINO), the most senior formal role dedicated to innovation, usually reporting to the CEO. |
| The mission | To empower the company to thrive through the discovery and pursuit of new business opportunities. |
| Responsibilities | Ten, from setting the innovation agenda to measuring performance and providing talent and resources. |
| Leadership models | Six: embedded in an executive role, VP or head of innovation, CINO, shared leadership, decentralised, and the Federated model that works. |
| The team | A flat core of six roles, an extended team that grows with the programme, and a community of innovators. |
| Measurement | Output, impact, culture and image, combined into an innovation performance scorecard. |
| How common | By 2017, 29% of Fortune 500 companies had a senior innovation executive (Egon Zehnder, cited in Harvard Business Review, 2019). |
| The AI era | 76% of organisations had a Chief AI Officer in 2026, up from 26% a year earlier (IBM CEO study); some companies now combine AI and innovation in one role. |
Articles on innovation leadership
- How to Become a Chief Innovation Officer: Career Paths, Skills, and Experiences: How to become a Chief Innovation Officer (CINO): the career paths, essential skills and experiences needed to lead innovation in today’s business world.
- The Evolving Importance of the Chief Innovation Officer: In a world of Artificial Intelligence, the role of Chief Innovation Officer is becoming even more important.
Further reading
- Innovation Mode, Author’s Edition (2026): Chapter 3, People and Culture, sets out the innovation executive, the hiring profile and the innovation team.
- 60 Leaders on Innovation: the free eBook whose chapter “Do companies need a Chief Innovation Officer?” gathers nine leaders’ answers.
- The Innovation Maturity Index: the seven levels innovation leadership takes a company through.
- What is corporate innovation?: the innovation function the leader runs.
- Why corporate innovation fails: the six innovation deficits, from leadership to venture building.
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From the members' library.
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Who Should Lead Innovation in Your Company?
Five common ways companies lead innovation, the risks each one hides, and the Federated model that works. Eight slides.
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60 Leaders on Innovation (2021 Edition)
Sixty innovation leaders on culture, leadership and corporate innovation, in 22 chapters. The free eBook edited by George Krasadakis and Robin Nessensohn.
Download the PDF