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CIO resume example & writing guide

Most organizations have a senior IT leader at the helm to oversee all information systems and governance operations. This designation is known as Chief Information Officer (CIO). If you’re an experienced C-suite executive with a passion for all things IT, then let our resume help you advance in your career.

What is a CIO?

CIOs are primarily responsible for managing and overseeing the complete information infrastructure of an organization. Depending on the size of the company and its requirements, CIOs are hired as either full-time employees or independent contractors. The role requires a college education, familiarity with information systems management, and extensive experience in the field of IT and information systems.

Why use this CIO resume?

Our CIO resume is designed to showcase an applicant’s leadership skills and technical acumen. The template starts with the applicant’s name and contact details and then includes a proper title: Chief Information Officer. 

Unlike traditional resumes, a CIO resume focuses on the applicant’s strategic planning and business leadership capabilities, as well as technical proficiencies. The area just beneath the resume title includes some of the applicant’s core competencies that are relevant to a CIO's job. These are also some of the keywords that are common in most CIO job descriptions. 

After the resume title, the next section is the resume summary. This section provides an overview of the applicant’s professional experience and value proposition. Since this resume is designed for a C-suite executive, a lot of emphasis is placed on the applicant’s ability to lead IT functions at a strategic level, ensure compliance with different IT regulations, and champion business transformation initiatives.

The area of expertise section lists some of the job-related skills the applicant must possess. These include risk management, governance, compliance, change management, stakeholder relationship building, and process optimization.

The applicant’s professional experience is listed in a reverse chronological sequence, with the most recent experience mentioned first. Each job detail includes the impact the applicant made on the company - whether it includes implementing a new and improved system or setting up an entire IT department from scratch. These accomplishments are accompanied by facts, figures, and statistics. 

Since CIOs are expected to have a college education, it’s important to mention this in the final section of the resume. CIOs are also expected to stay up to date on all the latest IT trends, which is why it’s imperative to possess multiple licenses and certifications in the field. This should be clearly mentioned in the resume. 

Which key skills are relevant for a CIO resume?

CIOs are expected to lead a crucial department in an organization, which is why it’s important for them to possess the following skills:

  • In-depth knowledge of information technology and systems

  • Excellent interpersonal, communication, and leadership skills

  • Strategic planning and IT governance

  • IT project management

  • Vendor and stakeholder relationship management

  • Familiarity with IT sourcing strategies and enterprise resource planning systems 

Example

Summary example

Seasoned, versatile, and highly accomplished IT executive with career success directing complex, global, enterprise-scale information technology operations and initiatives to achieve major business objectives in a wide range of industries. Consultative business partner, committed to enabling business growth through IT modernization, solution development, and transformation efforts. Adept in establishing or revamping existing program / project management and software development life cycle (SDLC) frameworks to leverage best-practice methodologies, delivering measurable cost savings, quality improvements, and service levels.

Employment history example

Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Ingenuity Advisory Partners, Nashville, Tennessee 2016 - Present

Serve as CIO for international consultancy delivering functional and strategic IT consulting services.

Engage with medium-scale, international enterprise organizations to consult on and implement IT organizational assessments, staff augmentation solutions, and recommendations, including development of organizational structures, budgeting processes, and vendor consolidation /management strategies.

Selected Contributions:

  • Forged partnerships with industry-leading solution providers—including Salesforce, HP, and Cisco—to provide expanded infrastructure and business solution delivery capabilities.

Chief Information Officer (CIO) at ComplexCare Solutions, Inc., Manhattan, New York 2014 - 2016

Built IT organization from the ground up within PE/VC Warburg Pincus-backed company with 1.2K employees.

Oversaw diverse IT operations, including Development, Help Desk, Support, Data / Database, Infrastructure, IT Security, and Desktop Support functions and staff. Selected, negotiated with, on-boarded, and managed relationships with major vendors, such as CDW, Microsoft, ShoreTel, HP, and Symantec.

Selected Contributions:

  • Led design, development, and launch of custom Salesforce solution suite to support the scheduling, assessment, and care management life cycle.

  • Delivered secure, scalable, multi-site / co-located VMware virtualization platform.

  • Overhauled and consolidated data centers to propel operational excellence and drive performance against service level agreements to 99.999%.

  • Evaluated current service / product vendor portfolio, cutting unnecessary vendors for a 64% cost savings, and renegotiated outsourced service contracts to save 40% year-over-year.

  • Pioneered an online university corporate training program which delivered $500K in annual savings.

Chief Information Officer (CIO) at MagnaCare, LLC, Manhattan, New York 2010 - 2014

Transformed IT service organization and delivered core business solutions within self-insured management corporation acquired by Goldman Sachs.

Directed enterprise infrastructure operations, IT service management, business solution development and delivery, and program / project management portfolio governance. Selected, negotiated with, and managed vendors / partners, including Microsoft, Emdeon, Dell, and Symantec.

Selected Contributions:

  • Led design, development, and launch of enterprise-scale human capital management, financial accounting, and ecommerce systems / platforms, as well as both employee-facing and client-facing SharePoint ePortals.

  • Revamped IT service management for improved delivery to 3 geographically distributed business sites.

  • Eliminated 60+ discreet environments by introducing VMware virtualization platform; slashed costs by 42%.

Vice President of IT, Quality & Training at Advanced Patient Advocacy, Richmond, Virginia 2009 - 2010

Delivered innovative IT infrastructure and business solutions within high-growth healthcare services organization.

Managed IT operations, infrastructure, program / project portfolio, teams, and budget.

Selected Contributions:

  • Defined and implemented virtualization strategy and rearchitected data center to achieve SLAs.

  • Developed and introduced formal project management and SDLC framework.

  • Rolled out Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

  • Launched an online university for corporate training, achieving substantial annual cost savings.

  • Cut outsourced services for a 62% annual savings.

Education example

Master of Arts & Sciences in Computer Science at Boston University

Skills example

  • Enterprise Program & Project Portfolios

  • Regulatory Compliance & Audits

  • Change & Risk Management

  • Vendor Selection & Contract Negotiation

  • Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)

  • Recruiting & Talent Management

  • Capability Analysis / Capacity Planning

  • Big Data, BI / DW & Analytics

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