Skip to main content
Business Management and Operations - Careers

Business Management and Operations

Business Management and Operations | Chief Executive Officer

Chief Executive Officer

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

A Chief Executive Officer provides overall direction for companies and private and public sector organizations. Develops and defines company policies. Plans and directs operational activities, with the help of management executives and staff managers.

Job Outlook

There were 320 Chief Executive Officer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 14703 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Chief Executive Officer industry, which includes the Chief Executive Officer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:

Salary

Many new Chief Executive Officer jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.

National

The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $217,308.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $214,546.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Chief Executive Officer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $164,692.

Education and Experience

Posted Chief Executive Officer jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.

Education LevelPercentage
Associate's Degree0%
Bachelor's Degree44.08%
Master's Degree31.33%
Doctoral Degree5.8%
Other5.31%

Posted Chief Executive Officer jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Years of ExperiencePercentage
0 to 2 years13.4%
3 to 5 years39.49%
6 to 8 years14.03%
9+ years33.08%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Chief Executive Officer positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.

Baseline Skills

A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.

  • Leadership (53.34%)
  • Communication (46.45%)
  • Management (46.42%)
  • Operations (37.71%)
  • Strategic Planning (26.64%)
  • Planning (20.95%)
  • Budgeting (16.96%)
  • Writing (15.26%)
  • Sales (15.01%)
  • Innovation (13.96%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

  • Fundraising (31.41%)
  • Marketing (33.57%)
  • Risk Management (8.31%)
  • Financial Management (15.62%)
  • Business Development (16.58%)
  • Strategic Leadership (10.06%)
  • Nursing (4.36%)
  • Finance (28.33%)
  • Project Management (18.89%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Chief Executive Officer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

  • President
  • President/Chief Executive Officer
  • Executive Director
  • Chief Development Officer
  • Commercial Strategy Analyst
  • Chief Administrative Officer
  • Management Intern
  • Chief Advancement Officer
  • Executive Officer

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Chief Executive Officer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

  • Workiva (256)
  • Dayton Freight Lines (181)
  • YMCA (98)
  • GPAC (87)
  • Adaptive Medical Partners (83)
  • American Red Cross (62)
  • Ford (52)
  • Encompass Health (50)
  • Intersolutions (46)
  • University of California (46)

North Carolina

  • Adaptive Medical Partners (9)
  • Wells Fargo (7)
  • Workiva (7)
  • Bank of America (5)
  • Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools (5)
  • Eurofins (4)
  • Lüla (4)
  • YMCA (4)
  • Crawl Space Brothers (3)
  • Novant Health (3)

NC State Programs Relevant to this Career

If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!