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Senior Hire Process
A worked example of a serious senior-hire process — four phases ending in a strategy task presented to the C-level — to strip back for smaller roles.
This is the real process behind a CTO hire at a scaling fintech (company and numbers anonymised). The shape matters more than the specifics: every phase answers a different question, and no single interviewer can green-light the hire alone.
The interview loop
| Phase | Time | Purpose | Who |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 0 | — | Screening | Head of HR |
| Phase 1 | 30 mins | Leadership angle | CEO |
| Phase 2 | 30 mins | Product angle | CPO |
| 30 mins | Engineering angle | VP Engineering | |
| Phase 3 | 1.5 h | Strategy task — presentation + Q&A | C-level |
| Lunch | Cultural evaluation | Team leads | |
| 45 mins | External check | External tech advisor | |
| 30 mins | VC check | Investor |
The task
"Define a strategy to scale our tech over the next two years." The candidate gets real context — team size and structure, growth targets (roughly 80k accounts to 600k in two years), major product launches, known quality debt, and a planned migration off a white-label banking provider — and 45 minutes to present, 45 for questions.
- Asked to cover: organisation structure, engineering culture and best practices, architecture, make vs buy and vendor choices, collaboration with product, in-house vs near-shore vs external scaling, recruiting strategy and employer branding.
- Plus the open invitation that reveals judgment: "and whatever you think is important."
The task is the centrepiece: it tests the actual job — strategy, prioritisation, communication under questioning — not interview trivia. For smaller roles, strip phases, not rigour: keep a work sample, a culture read and one outside check.
Debrief candidates on the Performance × Culture Grid, premortem the hire before day one, and land them with a 30-60-90 plan.
Source / credit
Outstride original
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