My experience included 5 phases despite discussions of a "3 phase" process. My experience began with an HR manager who was leaving the company. Next was follow-up with new HR person who requested similar information and completion of a personality test, which took approx 45 minutes. "Phase 1" was a phone interview mostly high level. "Phase 2" was in person with CEO + HR + Others wherein we reviewed resume and discussed professional experience. Next was invited to dinner with CEO and his wife. "Phase 3" was a presentation to board of directors, which required 3 reverse interviews with current managers in order to adequately prepare. Having said that, I personally had very limited time to prepare this presentation due to the request coming in middle of a work week and I was leaving the country for two weeks.
My opinion: This was extremely time consuming process . Additionally, despite numerous attempts, I had difficulty understanding what the role would actually entail and had concerns of scope creep, very long hours, and limited authority to execute the role effectively.