What is the difference between a VP of Engineering and a CTO?

A VP of Engineering owns the engineering organization, hiring, and delivery. A CTO owns technology vision and is an external technical voice. In smaller companies the roles merge; once the engineering team passes ~50 people, both are typically needed.

How long does a CPO or VP Engineering search take?

Our median CPO search closes in 101 days. VP Engineering searches average 122 days. Engineering searches tend to take longer because the technical bar is high and references move slowly.

Product, Data & Engineering Executive Search

Product and engineering leaders for what gets built next

Q: What does a great AI product leader look like?

Translates research capability into shippable product. The best AI product leaders have technical fluency without being engineers and commercial instincts without being salespeople, and have shipped at production scale recently.

Attract top-tier CPOs, VPs of Engineering, and Heads of Data capable of rapid deployment inside compressed development cycles.

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The Function

Product, Data & Engineering
executive search

These are the leaders who turn capability into shipped software, and AI compressed the build cycle while raising the bar on the people running it. MIT Sloan reports that 78% of enterprise product organizations have launched or planned AI-native features in the past year, which forces the CPO to decide not only what to build but what to deprecate and what to stop defending.

Engineering leadership has split along the way: platform, ML infrastructure, and applied AI now need dedicated owners where one VP of Engineering used to be enough, and the open question on most teams is who orchestrates the layers.

Source: MIT Sloan Management Review 2025 AI Adoption Index

Roles in this function

Building product is a team sport.

Three samples of roles that ship software when they work together, and stall the company when they don’t. We staff each one to the company stage and the brief.

The Role

Chief Product Officer

Operating at true enterprise scope, a premier CPO steers complex multi-line portfolios, high-stakes platform decisions, and forward-looking market category creation. We secure elite C-suite product peers who confidently translate overarching business strategy into a cohesive, global product vision.

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A sample of our work in this area

The Role

VP of Engineering

Securing a forward-looking VP of Engineering ensures your development team scales efficiently alongside complex, modern platform demands. Our executive search practice centers on aligning leaders who establish an enduring, compounding culture of engineering excellence.

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A sample of our work in this area

The Role

Vice President Roles

Whether orchestrating a comprehensive corporate portfolio or driving end-to-end strategy for a dedicated high-growth line, our practice secures the precise head of or VP of product executive built for your operational scale. We align data-fluent operators who transform complex product roadmaps into high-velocity engines for market expansion and AI-driven growth

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Our clients

Companies trust ON Partners

In their words

What clients say after the placement.

1 / 4

“

I couldn't speak more highly of the entire team. Congratulations on creating something very special that is a credit to you all!

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Common Questions

What leaders may ask before a search

What's the difference between a Head of Product and a CPO?

Head of Product is typically a delivery-focused leader running one product line. A CPO is a C-suite peer who owns product strategy across the portfolio, sits on the executive team, and reports directly to the CEO.

When does a SaaS company hire its first CPO?

Most commonly when the product organization grows past 20 people, when multiple product lines need coordination, or when the company shifts from a single-product to a platform strategy.

How long does a CPO executive search take?

Our median CPO search closes in 101 days. The industry average takes 12 to 24 weeks. These searches can take longer because the technical bar is high.

What does a great AI product leader look like?

A great AI product leader bridges the gap between advanced machine learning research and commercial market execution. They possess the deep technical fluency required to collaborate with data science teams, the strategic commercial instinct to drive scalable revenue, and a proven track record of shipping AI applications at production scale.

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Build the product team who ships what's next.

A conversation is all it takes to know if we're the right fit. Tell us about the role, and we'll tell you what the market looks like. You'll speak directly with the partner who would lead your search.

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Product and engineering leaders for what gets built next

Product, Data & Engineering
executive search