How to hire a head of marketing · bridge the gap first · head of marketing, marketing director or CMO

Hire a Head of Marketing · or bridge the gap

To hire a head of marketing, first write down what marketing must deliver in the next year: pipeline for sales, a brand, a launch, or a team and agencies run properly.

Then make two choices: which seat it is (head of marketing, marketing director or CMO), and whether to appoint now or put fractional or interim cover in while the permanent search runs.

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 head of marketing 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
UK research on why companies bring in fractional marketing leaders: mainly for senior expertise at a growth moment, not to save money. Worth reading before you decide whether to cover the seat first.

3–5

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

Vetting · stages before a candidate reaches you

£66,250

Head of marketing median salary · permanent, 2026

Robert Half, 2026

£400–£800

Interim head of marketing · a day, growth stage

Exec Capital, 2026

15 minutes · video or phone

Book 15 minutes to hire a head of marketing

Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with Head of Marketing 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

Head of marketing roles jobs on the board

0 Head of marketing roles · 9 fractional executive

No Head of marketing roles roles on the board in the last three months. Showing fractional executive roles instead.

Browse every role on the board →

Current head of marketing roles on our board

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

01/ the role

Hire a head of marketing: what you are hiring for

A head of marketing runs the marketing programme: campaigns, channels, content, agencies and the leads that go to sales.

They usually report to a marketing director, a CMO or the chief executive.

A search for "hire head of marketing" usually follows a gap that has been open for months.

Name the gap before you name the hire.

Signs the seat is overdue

The founder or a sales leader runs marketing in spare hours.

Agencies and freelancers each report to someone different, and nobody joins up their work.

Sales asks for more leads than marketing can show.

Or a launch, a rebrand or a new market needs one person accountable for it.

The rules the seat signs off

Ads and promotions must follow the CAP Code, which binds advertisers, agencies and media alike and is enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority.

Email, text and phone marketing fall under the ICO’s direct marketing and PECR guidance.

Whoever you hire will sign off both, so ask how they have done it before.

02/ scope

How to hire a head of marketing: the decision, step by step

1. Write down what marketing must deliver

Name the result that should be different in twelve months, and who will judge it.

A business-to-business firm that sells through a sales team and a consumer brand need different people.

2. Pick the seat

Decide whether the job is running the programme, owning the strategy and budget, or setting direction with the board.

The section below compares the three seats.

3. Decide on timing: now, or cover first

If the permanent search will take months and marketing cannot stand still, put cover in first.

The bridge-the-gap section sets out how.

4. Choose the contract

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

For set days on your payroll, see the part-time head of marketing route.

5. Run a fair search, tested on a real plan

Acas notes there is no set recruitment process in law, but employers must follow a fair one.

Our page on head of marketing recruitment sets out the search, what to test and the checks before an offer.

Start from a head of marketing job description.

CIM’s Chartered Marketer status shows continuing professional development and a passed assessment: a useful signal, not a requirement.

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/ the board

What the board holds.

A read of the roles on the board on this page, counted as they stand: how each is engaged, whether the posting gives the days and the rate, and where the work happens.

On this board, last 90 days · 9 roles · fractional executive

Engagement

Fractional9

Seat

CFO3
Finance director1
General counsel1
HRD1
COO1
CISO1
Other seats1

Days a week

Stated in the posting4
Not stated5

Day rate

Verified rate1
Estimated (est)5
Rate not stated3

Work arrangement (as the job feed classifies it)

Remote2
Hybrid4
On-site3

Newest posting on the board: 5 Oct 2026.

04/ economics

What each route costs, from published figures

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

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

Exec Capital publishes £400–£800 a day for an interim head of marketing at a growth-stage business.

Both firms are recruiters, and these are their published figures, not a survey of your sector.

More detail sits on head of marketing salary, and current head of marketing jobs show how other businesses frame the seat.

05/ comparison

Permanent, part-time, fractional or interim?

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

PermanentPart-timeFractionalInterim

TimeFull-time, open-endedA fixed part of the week, usually employedAgreed days a week, often alongside other clientsFull-time, for a fixed term

SuitsA programme that needs running every week, for yearsA steady, smaller marketing functionSenior judgement while the permanent search runs, or for goodAn empty seat, a launch or parental-leave cover

Published cost£66,250 median salary (Robert Half, 2026), plus employer NI and benefitsSet out on each shortlistSet out on each shortlist£400–£800 a day at a growth-stage business (Exec Capital, 2026)

ContractEmployment, on payrollUsually employment, on payrollServices; IR35 decided by how the engagement runsFixed-term employment, or services with IR35 decided by how it runs

06/ vetting

How we vet heads of marketing

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

01
Qualification screen
Verify Head of Marketing 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

07/ bridge the gap before a full-time head of marketing

Bridge the gap before a full-time head of marketing: fractional or interim cover first

To bridge the gap before a full-time head of marketing, put fractional or interim cover in first, then run the permanent search without leaving marketing unowned.

A typical search reads: "looking for a fractional growth lead to bridge the gap until we hire a full-time head of marketing".

That is the usual case, and it has two answers.

Fractional cover works agreed days a week, often through the leader’s own company.

It suits a business that needs the plan set and the agencies run, but not five days of senior time; see fractional head of marketing roles, or a fractional head of growth if the gap is mainly pipeline.

Interim cover works full-time for a fixed term.

If you employ them directly, it is a fixed-term contract, which ends on a date or when a task is done; maternity cover and a specialist for a project are both examples.

Exec Capital publishes £400–£800 a day for an interim head of marketing at a growth-stage business.

If the gap is at director level, look at an interim marketing director instead.

Write the end into the brief: the plan, the agency roster and the job description the cover hands to the permanent hire.

Agree at the start whether the cover may apply for the permanent seat.

If the cover 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.

08/ head of marketing, marketing director or CMO: which hire

Head of marketing, marketing director or CMO: which hire

Head of marketing, marketing director or CMO is a choice about what the person will own, not about the title on the advert.

A head of marketing runs the programme against a strategy someone else has set.

A marketing director owns the strategy, the budget and the function; a CMO sets marketing direction at executive-committee level.

If the chief executive is writing the marketing strategy and needs it delivered, a head of marketing is the hire.

If nobody owns the strategy, hire a marketing director; if marketing needs a voice at board level across brands or markets, hire a CMO.

Robert Half’s 2026 medians are £66,250, £79,500 and £147,000 respectively.

Titling the seat up raises pay and expectations; titling it down loses the candidates you wanted.

If the seat is part-time at any level, part-time workers’ rights apply: an employee must not be treated less favourably than an equivalent full-timer just because they are part time.

09/ questions

Hire a head of marketing FAQ

The questions people ask before bringing in a head of marketing.

Write down what marketing must deliver in the next year, pick the seat (head of marketing, marketing director or CMO), and decide whether to appoint now or cover first. Then choose the contract and run a fair search that tests candidates on a real plan and budget from your business.

Robert Half’s 2026 salary guide gives a median of £66,250 for a head of marketing; employer National Insurance adds 15% above £5,000 a year (HMRC, 2026/27). Exec Capital publishes £400–£800 a day for an interim at a growth-stage business. On every brief we set out each candidate’s pay or day rate on the shortlist.

Five: write down what marketing must deliver, pick the seat, decide on timing, choose the contract, then run a fair search tested on a real plan. The timing step is the one most often skipped, and it decides whether marketing stalls while you search.

Put fractional or interim cover in first. Fractional cover works agreed days a week and suits setting the plan and running agencies; interim cover works full-time for a fixed term and suits an empty seat or a launch. Write into the brief what the cover hands to the permanent hire.

A head of marketing if someone already owns the strategy and needs it delivered; a marketing director if nobody owns the strategy and budget; a CMO if marketing needs a voice at board level. Robert Half’s 2026 medians are £66,250, £79,500 and £147,000.

A fractional head of marketing works agreed days a week, often alongside other clients. An interim works full-time for a fixed term, either on a fixed-term contract or through their own company. Choose by how much of the week the work needs.

It can, if the person 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