Head of growth · job description template

Head of growth job description

The short answer · updated 3 October 2026

A head of growth job description sets out the senior role that owns how a company acquires, activates and keeps customers across marketing, product and data. The core responsibilities are the growth strategy and targets, running experiments across the funnel, owning acquisition channels and budget, analytics and attribution, and leading the growth team.

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Job purpose

The purpose line should say what the company needs grown and from where: more sign-ups, better activation, higher conversion from free to paid, lower churn, or a new channel. Then name the problem the next head of growth has to solve: growth that has flattened, paid acquisition that no longer pays back, a product that people try and leave, or a founder who has been running growth alone.

Be clear what the title means in your company. In one business the head of growth is a marketing role focused on acquisition; in another it sits between product and marketing and owns the whole funnel; in a third it is close to a revenue role. Acas publishes an outline job description template whose headings (the main duties and who the post reports to) work for any of these.

Key responsibilities

Order the duties by importance and start each with a verb. A typical head of growth job description covers:

setting the growth strategy and targets from the business plan, by stage of the funnel;
running a programme of experiments across acquisition, activation, retention and referral, and reporting what each one taught;
owning the acquisition channels and their budget: paid, organic search, content, partnerships, lifecycle email and referral;
working with product on onboarding, activation and in-product conversion;
building the analytics, attribution and dashboards the company trusts;
running email, text and other electronic marketing within the PECR rules on direct marketing, and setting cookies and tracking only with the consent the ICO’s guidance on cookies and similar technologies describes;
designing sign-up, pricing and cancellation flows that stay clear of the practices the CMA groups under online choice architecture, including “dark patterns”;
leading, hiring and developing the growth team: marketers, analysts, and often a growth engineer or designer;
reporting growth results and the cost to acquire and keep customers to the leadership team.

Reporting line and scope

The head of growth reports to the chief executive in an early company, or to the CMO or the chief product officer in a larger one. Performance marketers, lifecycle and content marketers and growth analysts usually report in; some roles also lead a small product squad. List what reports to the role, what it borrows from engineering and design, and what stays with brand marketing or sales.

Draw the line with the head of marketing if both seats exist: who owns brand, who owns paid budget, and who owns the numbers on the board pack. Two leaders with the same target and different budgets is the most common reason a growth hire fails.

Skills, experience and qualifications

No qualification is required by law to be a head of growth. Ask for evidence of growth the candidate caused, at a comparable stage, and describe the problem specifically.

a record of growth at a comparable stage and model (self-serve, sales-led or marketplace), with the experiments behind it;
hands-on skill in the channels that matter for your customers;
analytics: setting up tracking, reading cohorts and attribution, and knowing when the data cannot answer the question;
working with product and engineering on onboarding and conversion;
hiring and leading a small team, or building one from scratch;
marketing capability against a recognised standard where it helps, such as the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s Global Professional Marketing Framework, which sets out competency levels from aware to expert;
working knowledge of consent, PECR and consumer law as they apply to marketing and sign-up flows.

Fractional head of growth job description

A fractional head of growth works a set number of days a week or month, so the job description narrows. Name the days, the outcomes expected over the first six to twelve months (tracking the team trusts, a tested channel mix, an activation rate moved, a first growth hire made), what the role owns and who runs the experiments in between.

Where the brief spans marketing, sales and customer success at executive level, it is closer to a fractional chief growth officer.

A fractional head of growth working through their own company may fall within the off-payroll working rules (IR35). Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, not on the wording of the job description, and a medium or large client makes the determination. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.

Interim and permanent versions

Interim. An interim head of growth works full-time for a fixed period, so the job description leads with the situation (a growth leader who has left, a launch, a channel that has collapsed, or cover while the permanent search runs) and the date or event that ends the assignment. Where the gap is the marketing executive, see interim CMO.

Permanent. The permanent version looks further ahead: the channels, the team and the growth model over several years. When the head of growth is hired as an employee, the job title or a description of the work goes into the written statement of employment particulars they must have on the first day, so keep the two consistent. Open roles are on our head of growth jobs page.

Test candidates against the job description. The CIPD’s guidance on selection favours clear, structured processes and skill-based tasks; for a head of growth that might be a review of your funnel data. We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors. For a head of growth brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after our five-stage vetting.

A template you can copy

Copy these headings and write one short block under each. Keep pay out of the job description and state it in the offer.

Job title: head of growth, and whether the role is fractional, interim, part-time or permanent.
Reports to: the CEO, CMO or chief product officer; list the marketers, analysts and any engineers or designers who report to or work with the role.
Purpose: two or three sentences on why the role exists now and the growth result it must deliver.
Responsibilities: eight to twelve duties, each starting with a verb, in order of importance.
Requirements: essential and desirable experience, described specifically, and a qualification only where the job needs one.
Terms: full-time or days a week, location and travel, start date, fixed term or permanent, the budget the role controls, and the pay basis (salary or day rate).

Questions people ask

What should a head of growth job description include?

The job title and type of engagement, who the role reports to and who reports in, the purpose, the stages of the funnel it owns, the key responsibilities, the experience required, the budget and the terms. Put the growth problem the role must solve at the top.

How long should a head of growth job description be?

One to two pages: enough to cover purpose, responsibilities, reporting line, requirements and terms. Funnel data and targets belong in the candidate pack and the interviews.

What is the difference between a head of growth and a head of marketing job description?

A head of marketing job description usually covers brand, campaigns and the marketing team. A head of growth job description centres on measurable growth across the funnel, with experiments, analytics and work with product. See what a head of marketing does.

How is a fractional head of growth job description different?

It names the days a week or month, the outcomes expected over the first six to twelve months and who runs experiments in between. See fractional head of growth jobs.

What does a head of growth earn?

It depends on the size and stage of the company, its sector, the budget the role controls and whether it is permanent, interim or fractional. We set out pay or day rate for every candidate on a shortlist.

How do I hire a head of growth?

Define the growth problem, choose between permanent, interim, part-time and fractional, write the job description around that problem, and test every candidate against it. To hire a head of growth for part of the week, see our hub; we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.