Modern · Two columns · ATS 3/5
Modern Executive CV template
A full-height dark sidebar keeps contact details out of the way of your story.
The design work here is in the spacing and the hierarchy rather than in ornament, which is why it reads as contemporary without dating the way a heavily styled CV does. A two-column page with a portrait: more information density and more visual anchoring than a single column, at the usual cost in machine readability.
Live preview of the Modern Executive template, rendered at full page size with an example CV. The preview is the same code that generates your PDF.
The design
About the Modern Executive layout
Who it’s for
The readers and situations this layout was drawn for.
- Senior managers and directors
- Department heads presenting a long career
- Roles where the CV is read by a person, not only a parser
Key features
What is actually different about this template on the page.
- Full-height coloured sidebar that continues across pages
- Timeline experience layout
- Skill and language level bars
- Centred photo with accent ring
ATS score 3/5 · Moderate
How this layout behaves in an applicant tracking system
It scores 3 out of 5: expect the content to survive and the structure to be approximated. Where the sidebar text lands in the extracted version is genuinely unpredictable between systems.
Two columns mean two reading orders, and the parser picks one. Modern systems handle it well, older ones read straight across the page and mix the side column into your experience.
A photograph is invisible to a parser and occasionally counts against you in US and UK screening. Turn it off for portal applications and keep it for the version you email directly.
A single column parses more reliably than two, in every system we have tested against. If the application goes through a portal you do not recognise, or the employer is large enough to screen automatically, send a one-column version instead — the ATS CV templates are built for that job, and your content moves across without being retyped.
- Reading order
- Two blocks
- Headings
- Real text
- Tables
- None
- Images
- Photo only, optional
- Selectable text
- Yes
Scores are our own assessment of how a parser handles the layout — never a guarantee about one specific employer’s system.
In practice
Three situations Modern Executive is the right answer to
A pitch to a client or an agency
Attached to a proposal or an introduction rather than an application form. Density and hierarchy matter more than machine readability, because the file is going straight to a human. A typical example: Senior managers and directors.
Three roles, one argument
Moving skills, tools and languages into the side column keeps the main narrative about outcomes, which is what you want when your experience is strong but your skills list is long enough to crowd it out.
A brand-led or public-facing role
When the job involves being seen — presenting, hosting, teaching, selling — a portrait is content rather than decoration, and this layout treats it that way. If the employer asks for a document without one, the photo toggle in the editor removes it and Modern Executive re-balances the header on its own.
Make it yours
Customising Modern Executive
Accent colour
Modern Executive ships with #1f3af5 as its accent. The accent drives headings, rules and any highlighted detail. A deep navy, a slate or a saturated brand colour all hold up — the hierarchy does not depend on the hue, so choosing is a taste decision rather than a legibility one.
Fonts and heading style
A humanist or geometric sans throughout gives the intended look. Setting a serif for headings only is the one substitution that changes the personality without breaking the spacing. Heading case — uppercase, capitalised or as typed — is a separate switch, and it changes the character of the page more than most people expect.
Spacing and density
The column split is fixed, but everything inside it is not: type size, line height, section spacing and page margins all adjust, and on a divided page the margins are the setting that buys you the most room without crowding the rule between the columns.
Sections and order
Summary, experience, education and skills carry the weight. Projects and certifications drop in without upsetting the rhythm, and anything you are not using can be hidden rather than left empty. Every section can be renamed, reordered or hidden, and Pro adds custom sections for anything the standard set does not cover.
Photo
The portrait can be circular, rounded or square, and it can be switched off entirely — the header reflows rather than leaving a hole, so one CV serves both a market that expects a photograph and one that does not.
Paper size and export
Switch between A4 and US Letter and the document re-flows to the new page instead of being scaled into it. The exported PDF is rendered from the same component as the preview, so nothing shifts between the screen and the file.
Modern Executive: common questions
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Keep exploring
- All modern templatesEvery design in the Modern family, side by side.
- Two-column templatesEvery split-page layout, for CVs with a lot to fit in.
- CV templatesFormats, page counts and conventions by country and career stage.
- ATS CV templatesWhat a parser does with your file, and the layouts built to survive it.
- CV examplesWorked examples by role, with the wording and structure explained.
- Pricing and plansWhat Pro unlocks, and how the one-off Lifetime plan compares.
Start your CV with Modern Executive
Open it with the example content already in place, replace it with your own, and download a PDF when it reads the way you want. Switching to another template later keeps every word you have written.
Free to start. A Pro or Lifetime plan unlocks this design and every other one.