CIO recruitment agency and IT headhunters
your next CIO, in good hands.
We combine our data, our sector experts and our AI algorithms to identify the headhunter most relevant to your role, from a mid-market CIO to the IT director of a healthcare group.
- no setup fees, pay on hire
- guaranteed replacement
they hire their IT leadership with muzzo
how do you hire a CIO through a recruitment agency?
A good CIO arbitrates a budget and vendors, not just a technical architecture. Muzzo hands your role to IT leadership headhunters: they verify budgets managed and migrations delivered. Fee of 5 to 30%, paid on hire. Leaves within 3 months: search restarted free.
how it works
you only pay if you hire
01
you describe the role
Using the form above: the role, your company, your scope. The rest is scoped in your first conversation with the Muzzo team.
02
our data chooses the headhunters
Our AI picks those who have hired the most CIOs, from more than 2,500 selected headhunters.
03
you meet the best profiles
Approached and qualified by IT leadership experts. You choose who you meet.
04
you hire, then you pay
Not before. If your new hire leaves within 3 months, we restart the search at no cost.
they hired with muzzo
Muzzo's strength is the diversity of its recruiters: there is always someone listening to our needs.
With Muzzo, I get the reactivity of a marketplace and the quality of a search firm.
let's talk about your role
Antoine and the Muzzo team help you scope your role and choose the right headhunters. Describe your role in the form: we'll call you back to discuss it.
Antoine GigomasCEO and co-founder of Muzzo
one last question?
With Muzzo, you set the fee, between 5 and 30%, and you only pay it on hire: no deposit, no fixed fees. An IT manager at an SME and a group CIO who arbitrates a consolidated budget don't ask for the same search. The fee follows that difficulty, and the Muzzo team helps you set it.
You have a double guarantee. If your new hire leaves within 3 months, for example because the real budget scope doesn't match the brief, we restart the search at no cost. If no replacement is found within 4 months, we refund 50% of fees. On average, 94% of Muzzo hires stay on after 3 months.
IT leadership headhunters are ready to start
A hire signed in under 26 days, paid only on hire.
the reality
a CIO is judged by the calls they made, not the architecture they describe
a good CIO defends a budget in the boardroom, not in an interview
They negotiate with vendors, arbitrate between maintenance and overhaul, explain a delay to an executive who doesn't read architecture diagrams. An IT leadership headhunter knows how to approach them without derailing an active project.
the tech roadmap doesn't tell you the rest of the role
The role also means running security, negotiating vendor contracts and managing a team that no longer writes code every day. The headhunter checks that part of the job, not just past technology choices.
a hiring mistake shows up at the first security audit
Poorly framed vendors, delayed migration, unfixed flaw. The headhunter verifies budgets actually managed and migrations delivered end-to-end before introducing anyone.
the roles
the IT leadership profiles our headhunters go after for you
From a mid-market company structuring its IT to a group reorganizing it, each search goes to a headhunter who has already hired this profile.
Chief Information Officer
They own the IT strategy, arbitrate the budget and often sit on the board. The most requested role on this page.
IT director
They manage teams and vendors day-to-day, often under a group CIO or the CEO.
IT manager
In an SME or a standalone site with no dedicated CIO, they combine operations, IT procurement and support to teams.
Group CIO
They harmonize IT systems across subsidiaries or sites, arbitrate consolidated budgets and report to shareholders on security.
CISO
They own IT security: audits, compliance, incident response. Often report to the CIO or the CEO.
the method
an IT leadership headhunter, not an agency that does everything
A CIO is judged by the calls they made. So the method starts from what the role has to arbitrate.
we define what the role has to arbitrate
IT budget, vendor portfolio, security, active transformation: the brief describes what the CIO will arbitrate and before whom.
a headhunter who hires CIOs
Among more than 2,500 selected headhunters, your role goes to those who hire the most in IT leadership.
a budget actually managed, verified before the interview
The headhunter asks the profile to detail a budget they arbitrated, a vendor they changed, a migration they delivered end-to-end. Then they cross-check with references.
the figures
a CIO's salary in figures
source: Apec, private-sector managerial pay in 111 job families, 2025 edition, p. 52 (IT leadership) (opens a new window), 2025 data
source: Apec, private-sector managerial pay in 111 job families, 2025 edition, p. 52 (IT leadership) (opens a new window), 2025 data
source: Apec, private-sector managerial pay in 111 job families, 2025 edition, p. 52 (IT leadership) (opens a new window), 2025 data
source: Apec, forecasts for managerial hiring 2026, p. 9 (IT role) (opens a new window), 2026 data
hiring a CIO: what you need to know
why use a headhunter to hire a CIO?
The CIO turns a budget and a tech roadmap into decisions: they arbitrate between vendors, own security and explain to the boardroom why a migration is delayed. Good profiles are in post, busy with transformation projects, and don't answer job ads.
An IT leadership headhunter knows how to approach them and asks the right questions: what budget, which vendors, which scope of security, which reporting line. This page covers the CIO role itself; for the full range of IT roles, see our IT page.
IT manager, IT director or CIO: which level should you hire?
An IT manager combines operations, procurement and support in an SME with no dedicated CIO. An IT director manages teams and vendors day-to-day. A CIO owns the strategy, arbitrates the budget and often sits on the board or alongside a group CIO in multi-site companies.
This choice sets the role's budget. According to Apec, the median rises from 52 k€ under 35 to 82 k€ over 45 in IT leadership, and owning a budget lifts it from 61 k€ to 82 k€. Decide the level of autonomy in the brief before you talk salary.
how do you assess a CIO at interview?
The CV lists projects and technologies. The interview must show something else: the ability to defend a budget to a CEO who doesn't read architecture diagrams, and to say no to a vendor.
A real case works better than a list of certifications: a budget actually arbitrated, a vendor changed and why, a migration delivered despite delays. The headhunter does this first filter and checks with references the transformations the profile says they led.
CIO of a mid-market manufacturer or a healthcare group: what changes?
In a mid-market manufacturer, the CIO handles legacy production systems and sector-specific security requirements. In a healthcare group, they must also meet regulatory demands on patient data and service continuity. Both terrains need a CIO who has already arbitrated these kinds of constraints, not just managed a standard IT budget.
The headhunter tailors the search to sector: they don't approach the same profile for a manufacturer as for a healthcare provider, even if the job title is the same.
where to hire a CIO: Paris or the regions?
In France Travail's 2026 BMO survey, the broad category of IT project managers and service IT directors counts 480 planned hires in the Paris labour area, 200 in Paris West La Défense, 130 in central Lyon, 120 in Toulouse and 100 in Lille. It doesn't separate CIO from project management, but it shows where IT leadership is most in demand.
A regional search remains credible for a mid-market manufacturer or healthcare group headquartered outside Paris: a pool of experienced CIOs exists beyond Paris too, especially around Lyon and Toulouse.
your questions about hiring a CIO
According to Apec, IT leadership managers earn 77 k€ gross per year median, with 80% between 49 k€ and 130 k€ (2025 edition). The median rises to 82 k€ over 45 or when the role owns a budget, down to 61 k€ without budget to arbitrate.
The CIO owns IT strategy and arbitrates the budget, often at board level. The IT director manages teams and vendors day-to-day under a CIO (if the company has one). In an SME, one role often covers both.
The CIO runs a company's IT systems: budget, vendors, security, infrastructure. The CTO owns the product tech strategy, usually at an editor or startup, and sometimes still codes. For a CTO role, see our dedicated page.
Not always. In large organizations, a dedicated CISO owns security day-to-day and reports to the CIO. In an SME or mid-market company, the CIO often wears both hats. Flag this in the brief: it changes the profile to seek.
Through a real case rather than a list of their projects. Ask them to walk through a budget they arbitrated, a vendor they changed and why, a migration they led despite delays. Our headhunters run this first test and check the transformations they mention with references.