Roles we recruit
Seven practices, 27 functions. Start at the practice when you cannot yet name the title; go straight to the function when you can.
Browse all 229 roles Brief us on a seatFlat 15% of first-year base · shortlist in 10 working days
A chief commercial officer owns the commercial model: sales, pricing, partnerships and contracts, and answers for the plan and the forecast to the CEO and board. The title means different things in different companies, so we screen for a pricing or channel decision they made, a forecast they defended and leaders they built.
A new CCO is judged on whether pricing, channels and the sales team start working as one commercial model. Each stage below has a signal that predicts it, and we test for that signal before you meet anyone.
The ramp, and the test behind each milestone
Weeks 1 to 3
Revenue by segment, product and channel, discounting and price realization, partner contribution and win and loss reasons, plus one-to-ones with every commercial leader and a sample of customers and partners.
On track looks like a written review of where growth and margin come from and where they leak, shared with the CEO and finance.
How we test for it before you meet them
A case exercise in our screen: anonymized revenue, pricing and channel data from a company at your stage. We score what they notice first and what they would leave alone for now.
Weeks 4 to 6
Who pays what and why, how far discounts run from list, who can approve an exception and what a deal is worth over its life, reviewed with finance rather than argued deal by deal.
On track looks like a pricing review with the discount data behind it and one or two changes agreed with finance.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask for a pricing or packaging decision they made: what the data showed, what changed and what happened to win rate and margin. A former CFO confirms it.
Weeks 7 to 10
Which partnerships and channels earn their cost, on what terms, with a named owner, a target and a review date for each, and standard contract terms the sales team can use.
On track looks like every major channel and partner with an owner and a target, and the weak ones fixed or closed.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask which partner or channel they closed or restructured and why. References from partners and their own leaders tell us more than their account.
Weeks 11 to 13
Targets by segment, the investment behind each, the handoffs between sales, marketing and customer teams, and pay plans that reward the same outcomes.
On track looks like a commercial plan the board has seen, with owners, dates and the assumptions that would change it.
How we test for it before you meet them
A reference call with a CEO or board member about a plan this executive presented and how it held up.
After day 90
Strong CCOs review price, mix, channel results and the forecast every month, move resources early and tell the board when a quarter is at risk.
On track looks like a team that runs the plan without the CCO in every meeting, and a forecast within an agreed range.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask how they told a board about a missed quarter. A plain account that names the cause and the fix predicts an executive the board will trust.
Five responsibilities. If the seat covers the revenue teams only, it is a chief revenue officer; if it also owns product direction and the whole growth model, it is closer to a chief growth officer.
How the company makes money: segments, products, channels and the mix between them, with a view of margin.
List prices, packages and discount limits, with a clear approval path, reviewed against what customers pay.
Resellers, alliances and distribution deals: which earn their cost, on what terms and who owns each.
Standard terms, the exceptions that are allowed and the rules for the ones that are not.
Hiring and developing the leaders of sales and customer-facing teams, and the targets and forecast reported to the board.
Three neighboring seats absorb work people assume belongs here. Drawing the line wrong is how a CCO search ends with a sales leader in a bigger title.
That seat ownsEvery revenue function, usually sales, customer success and revenue operations, and the forecast to the board.
Hire it instead whenthe gap is how the revenue teams execute together, not the commercial model around them.
That seat ownsBrand, demand and product marketing, and the pipeline marketing commits to.
Hire it instead whenthe gap is how the market sees you and how much pipeline arrives.
That seat ownsGrowth across acquisition, monetization and expansion, often spanning marketing, product-led growth and partnerships.
Hire it instead whengrowth depends on product, pricing and marketing working as one system.
The title stays the same; the company does not. Pick the one that matches your market.
Leads pricing, contracts and sales together where deals are negotiated rather than clicked.
Takes sales, partnerships and pricing under one leader as the company adds segments and channels.
Leads commercial strategy where access, contracts and compliance shape every deal.
The questions we ask in our own screen. Use them in yours; the warning signs are as useful as the answers.
Every candidate we put forward is scored on these five, and the scores travel with the shortlist, gaps included. Four out of five with a named weakness beats a clean sweep you cannot verify.
| What we score | Weak evidence | Strong evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing and margin results | Revenue growth with no view of margin. | Pricing or packaging changes with win rate, discounting and margin before and after. |
| Partnership and channel results | Counts partners signed. | Revenue by channel, with the ones they closed and why, confirmed by partners. |
| Forecast accuracy | Cannot say how close forecasts landed. | Quarter-by-quarter accuracy, confirmed by a former CEO or CFO. |
| Building the commercial team | Inherited a team and kept it unchanged. | Leaders hired and removed, with reasons and results, confirmed by those leaders. |
| Fit with your market | Experience in a different market, deal size or buyer. | Has led commercial strategy in a market like yours: your buyers, your channels and your contract terms. |
Public US benchmarks, read October 2026. Salary.com’s chief commercial officer band is narrow and sits well below its chief revenue officer and chief marketing officer bands, and Built In has no page for the title, so the chart sets it beside those seats. Company size, the functions reporting in and equity move the number most.
Each bar runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile, the middle half of reported pay.
Base salaryAverage total pay, base plus variable
Chief Commercial Officer
Salary.com base benchmark
$147,588 to $165,395 base
Chief Revenue Officer
Salary.com base, Built In total, neighboring seat
$313,212 to $373,741 base$416,766 average total
Chief Marketing Officer
Salary.com base, Built In total, neighboring seat
$335,832 to $418,085 base$293,575 average total
VP of Sales
Salary.com base, Built In total, the next seat down
$209,153 to $243,047 base$350,465 average total
Bars: Salary.com base salary, 25th to 75th percentile, United States, as of October 1, 2026. Rings: Built In average total compensation (base plus additional cash, self-reported), reviewed September 29 and October 14, 2026 for Chief Revenue Officer, October 1 and 13, 2026 for Chief Marketing Officer and September 29, 2026 for VP of Sales. Public aggregates, not ZaphyrRecruit placement data.
A chief commercial officer owns the commercial model end to end: how the company sells, prices and contracts, and through which channels and partners. They usually lead sales and the customer-facing teams, set pricing and discount rules, own the major partnerships and report the commercial plan and forecast to the CEO and board. The seat is common where deals are negotiated, in services, industrial and later-stage companies.
Salary.com puts a chief commercial officer at $147,588 to $165,395 base, with a median of $157,403 (October 2026). The same source puts chief revenue officers at $313,212 to $373,741 and chief marketing officers at $335,832 to $418,085, so this band is narrow and low by comparison. Company size, the functions reporting in and equity move the number. Ask for the full package, not base alone.
A chief revenue officer runs the revenue teams, usually sales, customer success and revenue operations, and owns the forecast across them. A chief commercial officer owns the commercial model around those teams as well: pricing, contracts, partnerships and channels. The titles overlap in many companies. If the problem is execution across revenue teams, hire a CRO; if it is how you price, contract and go to market, hire a CCO.
When revenue depends on pricing, contracts and channels as much as on direct selling, and nobody owns the joins between them. Typical signs are discounts decided deal by deal, partners with no owner, contract terms that differ by salesperson, or a CEO still acting as the commercial head. Before that, a strong VP of Sales and a finance partner may be enough.
We start with a brief on the stage, the markets, the channels and what must change. We approach people doing this work now, test each for pricing and channel results, forecast accuracy and leadership, and check references with former CEOs, CFOs and partners. You get a shortlist of three to five in ten working days, with scores. The fee is a flat 15% of first-year base, paid when your hire starts.
Look for someone who has led sales and at least one of pricing, partnerships or contracts at a company in a market like yours, hired and removed leaders, and defended a forecast to a board. A strong VP of Sales promoted into the seat can work if they have owned pricing or channel decisions. We ask for numbers and then check them with former colleagues.
Ten working days from a signed brief to a shortlist of three to five calibrated candidates. The rest of the clock is yours: interviews with the CEO, board and team, references and notice periods. Notice periods at this level are often long, and we flag anything beyond a quarter on the shortlist.
Tell us the markets, how deals are priced and contracted today, and what is broken. We come back within one business day with how we would run the search and what the seat pays.
We build shortlists from people doing this work now, often before a seat is advertised. Set up a job alert for executive roles, or send your CV and we will come to you, in confidence, when a seat opens.
The chief commercial officer is one of fourteen seats in this function. If the gap sits elsewhere, start there.