Fractional Marketing Director Jobs UK

A fractional Marketing Director is a senior marketing leader who works with mid-market companies part-time — typically 1–3 days a week — providing both strategic direction and hands-on execution.

They bridge the gap between high-level CMO strategy and practical marketing delivery.

Marketing Director vs CMO positioning: Marketing Directors operate at the intersection of strategy and tactics — they set the plan AND roll up their sleeves.

While CMOs focus on board-level strategy and brand vision, Marketing Directors own campaign execution, team management, and day-to-day marketing operations. Perfect for companies needing senior marketing leadership but not yet at CMO scale.

Typical clients: Series A-B startups (£2-20M revenue), mid-market B2B companies, PE portfolio companies pre-exit, businesses replacing agencies with in-house capability.

Core responsibilities: Marketing strategy & annual planning, demand generation & pipeline ownership, content strategy & execution, digital marketing & performance optimization, marketing automation & tech stack, brand development & positioning.

Team & operations: Marketing team hiring & development, agency management & optimization, marketing operations & processes, budget management & ROI tracking, sales & marketing alignment. Typical engagement: 2 days/week for 12-18 months, scaling with growth.

Key difference from CMO: Marketing Directors own the 'doing' as well as the thinking — campaign creation, content production, hands-on HubSpot/Salesforce work, direct performance management.