EXZEV

120+ Companies Hired

HireCEO
Chief Executive Officers

Pre-vetted talent · First shortlist within 48 hours

Updated · Reviewed by the Exzev recruitment team

Executive search for Gamedev, modernized. Find a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with the specific industry expertise and leadership DNA required to take your company to the next level.

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20× faster than traditional recruiting/
5.0

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120+

Companies hired through EXZEV

48h

To receive a matched shortlist

2,847

Pre-vetted profiles across roles

31

Countries covered across the talent pool

Hiring Guide + Shortlist

Use this page as both your hiring playbook and your shortcut to vetted Chief Executive Officer talent.

The guide below walks through role definition, sourcing, screening, compensation, and onboarding. If you already know what you need, use the shortlist form and we'll match against candidates we've already assessed.

Best For

Founders hiring their first senior Chief Executive Officer

CTOs or executives building a stronger team around this function

Hiring managers who need a shortlist and a rigorous interview framework

In This Guide

How to define the scope and accountability for a Chief Executive Officer at your stage

What a strong Chief Executive Officer brief looks like — and what to cut

How to structure executive assessment and final-stage conversations

What compensation packages and equity structures look like for Chief Executive Officers in 2026

What You'll Get

How to define the scope and accountability for a Chief Executive Officer at your stage

What a strong Chief Executive Officer brief looks like — and what to cut

How to structure executive assessment and final-stage conversations

Chief Executive Officer Hiring Guide — Coming Soon

Our team is writing a complete hiring guide for Chief Executive Officers. In the meantime, use the shortlist form to get pre-vetted candidates in 48h.

Talent Pool Snapshot

120+ Chief Executive Officers.
Scored. Filtered. Ready.

42

Open to offers

9.4

Avg EXZEV score

25

Countries covered

Actively seeking
Employed · Open to offers
Not available
Blacklisted
Full access for clients only

J. ******

Senior

Senior Chief Executive Officer

·

Poland

Employed · Open
Soft 8.4Hard 8.7

S. *******

Senior

Senior Chief Executive Officer

·

Remote

Actively seeking
Soft 8.2Hard 8.4

I. ******

Mid

Chief Executive Officer

·

Czech R.

Actively seeking
Soft 9.4Hard 9.4

K. ****

Senior

Senior Chief Executive Officer

·

Portugal

Employed · Open
Soft 7.5Hard 8

T. ****

Mid

Chief Executive Officer

·

Remote

Blacklisted

D. ********

Mid

Chief Executive Officer

·

Remote

Actively seeking
Soft 9.7Hard 9.9

O. *******

Lead

Lead Chief Executive Officer

·

Cyprus

Actively seeking
Soft 9.4Hard 9.8

E. ********

Mid

Chief Executive Officer

·

USA

Actively seeking
Soft 7.5Hard 8.1

D. *******

Mid

Chief Executive Officer

·

Czech R.

Not available
Soft 7.6Hard 7.7

J. ****

Mid

Chief Executive Officer

·

UAE

Blacklisted

R. ******

Senior

Senior Chief Executive Officer

·

UAE

Actively seeking
Soft 9.8Hard 9.9

V. *******

Senior

Senior Chief Executive Officer

·

Poland

Employed · Open
Soft 8.4Hard 8.9

L. ****

Senior

Senior Chief Executive Officer

·

Germany

Employed · Open
Soft 8.5Hard 9

E. ******

Mid

Chief Executive Officer

·

Germany

Blacklisted

I. ********

Senior

Senior Chief Executive Officer

·

Singapore

Employed · Open
Soft 8.4Hard 8.8

I. ********

Lead

Lead Chief Executive Officer

·

Germany

Not available
Soft 8.8Hard 9.2

I. *******

Lead

Lead Chief Executive Officer

·

UAE

Actively seeking
Soft 9.2Hard 9.8

I. *****

Mid

Chief Executive Officer

·

Poland

Actively seeking
Soft 7.8Hard 7.8
120 profiles — available to clients only
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Client Reviews

What clients say

5.0 · 6 verified clients

Exzev delivered a shortlist of senior backend engineers in under 40 hours. We hired two from the first batch — no back-and-forth, no wasted interviews.

CTO

Series B Fintech

We'd been trying to hire a Staff Engineer for three months. Exzev closed the search in two weeks. Their vetting is genuinely rigorous — not just resume screening.

VP Engineering

Enterprise SaaS

Finding a Solidity engineer who also understands protocol security is nearly impossible. Exzev found us exactly that in under a week. Still can't believe it.

Founder & CEO

Web3 Infrastructure

The flat-fee model is a breath of fresh air. No surprises, no upselling. Just fast, quality hiring for technical roles. We've used them three times now.

Head of Talent

Healthtech Scale-up

We refer Exzev to every portfolio company that needs senior engineers. Consistent quality across very different tech stacks and geographies.

Managing Partner

Early-stage VC

Hired an AI Engineer and a Data Engineer through Exzev. Both are still here 18 months later. That's the real metric — not time-to-hire, retention.

Engineering Manager

AI/ML Platform

Frequently Asked

Hiring a Chief Executive Officer: common questions

How much does it cost to hire a Chief Executive Officer in 2026?

A Chief Executive Officer typically costs $20,025/mo – $27,075/mo in total monthly compensation for a senior hire working remotely, with an upward skew for US-based and executive roles. On top of base, budget 10–25% for equity or bonus and roughly 15–20% fully-loaded overhead. Exzev charges a flat placement fee, not a percentage — pricing is transparent and shared upfront.

How long does it take to hire a Chief Executive Officer through Exzev?

First shortlist lands in 48 hours. Most Chief Executive Officer searches close between two and six weeks end-to-end, versus a market average of roughly 80 days for this role and location. The main drivers are interview throughput on your side and how tightly scoped the brief is — we guide both before sourcing starts.

What is the difference between a senior and mid-level Chief Executive Officer?

A senior Chief Executive Officer owns outcomes across ambiguity; a mid-level one executes a defined scope. For a first Chief Executive Officer hire or a seat that reports to a C-level, always prefer senior — the cost of a bad leadership-adjacent hire typically exceeds two years of fully-loaded salary.

Should I hire a Chief Executive Officer full-time or fractional?

A full-time Chief Executive Officer makes sense once the work is continuous and headcount-justified. For early-stage or one-off builds (a single product, a migration, an audit), a fractional or contract Chief Executive Officer is usually more efficient. Ask one question: will this person be fully utilized inside six months?

Can I hire a Chief Executive Officer remotely or fully distributed?

Yes. Our active talent pool for this role spans roughly 120 pre-vetted candidates across 30+ countries, most of them comfortable with async-first or overlap-based remote setups. We match candidates to your working hours, location preferences (EU, US, UAE) and compliance constraints (EoR, contractor, local entity) before they reach your shortlist.

How does Exzev screen Chief Executive Officer candidates?

Every Chief Executive Officer we send you has passed a three-stage screen: structured scoping interview, a live working session on a problem drawn from your brief, and two reference checks with named peers. We reject the majority of sourced candidates — you only meet the top of the funnel.

Find your Chief Executive Officer — shortlist in 48h

5.0· 120+ companies

Role

Seniority

Location

Your Name

Work email

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