How to hire a CMO · permanent, fractional or interim · B2B tech

Hire a CMO · permanent, fractional or interim

To hire a CMO, first write down the growth problem the seat must solve in the next year: a new market, a stalled pipeline, a rebrand, or a board that cannot see what marketing returns.

Then choose the route (permanent, fractional or interim), search beyond the people already looking, and test each candidate on a real brief from your business.

We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors.

On every brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.

Brief us on a CMO hire →See the roles

How a brief runswhat we undertake

01Brief30-MINUTE SCOPING CALLDay 0
02Shortlist of 3–5VETTED · RATE BENCHMARK · IR35After the brief
03InterviewsYOU MEET THE SHORTLISTYour diary
04Scoped startFIRST-MONTH OUTCOMES AGREEDYou set the date
05Fractional, interim and permanentIR35 POSITION SET OUTOn every brief

Shortlist3–5

In the press

Marketing Week Demand for fractional CMOs ‘driven by expertise over cost’ · 27 May 2026
Useful before you choose a route. It finds that companies bring in fractional CMOs mainly for senior expertise at growth moments, not to save money.

3–5

Shortlist · with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 set out

Vetting · stages before a candidate reaches you

£147,000

CMO median salary · Chief Marketing Officer, 2026

Robert Half, 2026

£750–£1,400

Fractional CMO day rate · published band, 2026

Connectd, 2026

15 minutes · video or phone

Book 15 minutes to hire a CMO

Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with CMO candidates, their day rates and availability.

0115 minutes, video or phone
02We scope the role and the days a week
03A shortlist of 3–5 after the call
04Fractional, interim and permanent briefs

Prefer email? Use the booking page →

Pick a day that suits · live availability

Open the booking calendar →

On the board · last 3 months

CMO roles jobs on the board

0 CMO roles · 9 fractional executive

No CMO roles roles on the board in the last three months. Showing fractional executive roles instead.

Browse every role on the board →

Current CMO and marketing leadership roles on our board

Fractional recruiting starts with the brief, not the CV pile. Send a CMO brief and we come back with a shortlist of three to five candidates, each through five-stage vetting.

01/ the role

Hire a CMO: what the seat owns before you write the brief

A CMO owns marketing strategy at board level: positioning, brand, demand and the growth plan, with the budget and the team that deliver them.

They answer to the CEO and, in many companies, sit on the board.

Before you hire, decide which of those the seat must fix first.

A business entering a new market needs a different CMO from one whose pipeline has stalled.

The case for marketing has to be made inside the business too.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing reports that 54% of marketers believe marketing is poorly understood by the wider business, and 40% find its role difficult to explain.

So test for a CMO who can explain what marketing returns in the board’s own terms.

That skill matters as much as the plan itself.

Duties that come with a board seat

If the CMO becomes a director, the seven general duties of a company director under the Companies Act 2006 come with the seat.

Companies House notes they also apply to someone who acts as a director without being formally appointed.

Marketing claims carry their own rules.

The CAP Code, enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority, must be followed by all advertisers, agencies and media, and requires evidence behind every claim.

Which marketing seat you are filling

A marketing director usually runs the marketing function and its budget, one level below a CMO or in a smaller business.

A head of marketing delivers the plan and its channels.

Robert Half’s 2026 salary guide puts the medians at £147,000 for a CMO, £79,500 for a marketing director and £66,250 for a head of marketing.

Writing a CMO job description first shows whether the duties match the title.

02/ scope

How to hire a CMO: the steps

1. Write the brief around the growth problem

Most advice on how to hire a CMO starts with the search; start with the brief instead.

Set out what the CMO will own, what they inherit (team, agencies, tools, budget) and what stays with the CEO and with sales.

Then say what should be different after twelve months, in numbers the board already tracks.

2. Choose the route

Permanent, fractional, part-time or interim: the section below sets out which fits which situation.

Decide this before you set a budget, because the cost basis differs.

3. Search, then test on a real brief

An advert that says "hire CMO" mostly reaches people already on the move.

Many strong CMOs are in post, so someone has to approach them; a CMO headhunter does that for a permanent seat.

Give every candidate the same brief from your business, such as a launch or a stalled channel, and ask for their plan and budget.

The CIPD’s factsheet on selection methods covers structured interviews and skill-based assessment tasks, which suit this seat.

Acas notes there is no set recruitment process in law, but employers must follow a fair one, with discrimination and data protection law applying throughout.

4. Check the record before the offer

Take references yourself from a CEO and a sales leader who worked with the candidate.

Ask what changed in the numbers on their watch, not what they were responsible for.

Search past directorships and the disqualified directors list on the Companies House register.

That is how to hire a chief marketing officer on any route; only the contract at the end changes.

If your question is how long does it take to hire a CMO, notice periods often decide it more than the search does.

Ask every candidate about notice at first contact.

What we do on a brief

We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.

Every candidate goes through our five-stage vetting first.

03/ economics

What it costs to hire, by route

Robert Half’s 2026 salary guide puts a permanent CMO at £110,250 to £183,750, with a median of £147,000.

Its London median is £200,000.

Employer National Insurance adds 15% on pay above £5,000 a year (HMRC, 2026/27), before pension, benefits and any bonus.

Connectd’s guide, updated in April 2026, publishes £750–£1,400 a day for a fractional CMO, with £800–£1,000 at mid-market.

Exec Capital’s 2026 guide gives an interim CMO £700–£2,000 a day.

These are figures published by firms in the market, not a survey of your sector.

For retainers see fractional CMO cost, and for the full pay picture see CMO salary.

04/ comparison

Permanent, fractional, part-time or interim CMO?

Four ways to fill the seat. Choose by how much of the week the work needs, and for how long.

PermanentFractionalPart-timeInterim

TimeFull-time, open-endedAgreed days a week, often alongside other clientsA fixed part of the week, often employedFull-time, for a fixed term

SuitsA business whose growth decisions need an owner every dayA business that needs senior marketing judgement, not five days of itA steady marketing function with a smaller teamA vacancy, a launch, a rebrand or a turnaround

Published cost£147,000 median salary (Robert Half, 2026), plus employer NI and benefits£750–£1,400 a day (Connectd, 2026)Set out on each shortlist£700–£2,000 a day (Exec Capital, 2026)

IR35On payrollDecided by how the engagement runsUsually on payrollDecided by how the engagement runs

05/ vetting

How we vet CMOs

What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.

01
Qualification screen
Verify CMO tenure, sector context and stage fit.
SOURCING
02
Mandate fit
Match to your situation — stage, board dynamics, timing.
MATCHING
03
Reference deep-dive
We take references ourselves, from recent past clients — real outcomes, not titles.
VERIFY
04
Shortlist
Three to five candidates with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
SHORTLIST OF 3–5

06/ hire a CMO for a B2B tech company

Hire a CMO for a B2B tech company: what changes

To hire a CMO for a B2B tech company, run the same steps with a sharper test: can this person build pipeline that sales accepts, at a cost the board can see?

Searches for "how to hire a CMO for a B2B tech company" point at a real difference.

The buyer is often a committee, the sales cycle is longer, and marketing is judged on pipeline rather than reach.

Ask for evidence of pipeline sourced and closed, not leads or traffic.

Test candidates on your own funnel: where do deals stall, and what would they change in the first quarter?

B2B marketing has its own data rules.

The ICO’s business-to-business marketing guidance explains that the PECR email rule does not apply to companies, but sole traders and some partnerships are treated as individuals, and UK GDPR still applies to a named business contact.

At an early stage, a part-week CMO can set strategy while a smaller team delivers: see B2B fractional CMO.

To compare the CMO, marketing director and head of marketing seats on a part-week basis, see fractional marketing leader.

07/ permanent, fractional or interim CMO

Permanent, fractional or interim CMO: which route

Permanent, fractional or interim CMO is the first decision, and it turns on two questions: how much of the week the work needs, and for how long.

Whether the search reads "hire chief marketing officer", "CMO hire", "hire CMOs" or "CMO for hire", the choice underneath is the same.

A permanent CMO suits a business whose growth decisions need an owner every day.

A fractional CMO works agreed days a week; to go that way, hire a fractional CMO.

An interim CMO works full-time for a fixed term, to cover a vacancy, a launch or a turnaround.

A part-time CMO works a fixed part of the week, often as an employee.

If the CMO works through their own company, the off-payroll working rules (IR35) may apply.

Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, and a medium or large client makes the determination; our IR35 guide sets out the tests.

As for where to hire a chief marketing officer: a permanent one is often reached by direct approach, because many strong CMOs are in post.

Our CMO jobs board shows how other businesses are framing the seat.

08/ questions

Hire a CMO FAQ

The questions people ask before bringing in a CMO.

Write the brief first (what the CMO will own, what they inherit, what should change in the first year), then choose permanent, fractional, part-time or interim. Test every candidate on a real brief from your business, take references from a CEO and a sales leader, and check past directorships before the offer.

Robert Half’s 2026 salary guide puts a CMO at £110,250 to £183,750, with a median of £147,000; employer National Insurance adds 15% above £5,000 a year (HMRC, 2026/27). Connectd publishes £750–£1,400 a day for a fractional CMO. On every brief we set out each candidate’s pay or day rate on the shortlist.

Four: write the brief around the growth problem, choose the route, search and test candidates on a real brief, then check references and directorships before the offer. The brief is the step most often rushed, and the one that decides whether the hire works.

Use the same steps, and test for pipeline: ask for evidence of pipeline sourced and closed, and set a task on your own funnel. Check the candidate knows the B2B data rules, which the ICO sets out in its business-to-business marketing guidance.

Permanent when growth decisions need an owner every day; interim when the seat is empty or a launch or turnaround needs a full-time leader for a fixed term. Fractional when you need senior marketing judgement for agreed days a week: hire a fractional CMO.

It depends on the route and on notice periods more than on the search. A permanent CMO in post usually has notice to serve; a fractional or interim CMO may be free sooner. We set out each candidate’s availability on the shortlist.

A CMO sets marketing strategy at board level; a marketing director usually runs the marketing function and its budget, reporting to the CEO or a CMO. Robert Half’s 2026 medians are £147,000 and £79,500 respectively.

It can, if the CMO works through their own company. Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, and a medium or large client makes the determination (HMRC). We set out each candidate’s IR35 position on the shortlist.

Book 15 minutes · shortlist of 3–5

Bring the brief. We architect the team.

A shortlist of 3–5 with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.

Book a call →Submit a brief