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part-time executive recruitment

Hire a Part-Time CMO

Hire a Part-Time CMO: design an employed marketing leadership role around the days the work needs, then make its authority, team support and cover clear in the job description.

Brief us on this role →
CMO briefChoose a part of the brief

Part 01 / 04

Continuing seat

Write the responsibilities that remain with the CMO throughout the year.

Hire a Part-Time CMO: what must the role own?

Write the responsibilities that remain with the CMO throughout the year.

Continuing seatWrite the responsibilities that remain with the CMO throughout the year.
Working daysSet the planned days and where key leadership meetings sit.
DecisionsState which marketing and budget decisions the CMO owns.
CoverName the manager or deputy who handles matters outside working days.

Role reference: Acas part-time workers guidance. Part-time employees and workers are protected against less favourable treatment than a comparable full-time worker.

What changes when the CMO is part-time?

Part-time describes the employed working pattern. A part-time CMO can hold a continuing seat while working fewer days; the employment terms and cover between days must be explicit.

part-timeChoose a part of the brief

Part 01 / 04

Employment

Define the employed part-time role and its continuing responsibilities.

How would this work in a real brief?

The hiring decision becomes clearer when the work and its boundary are written down together.

Illustrative brief · a continuing role with a small team

The business needs a continuing marketing leader, but the decision load does not fill a full working week. It wants an employee who owns the function on an agreed schedule.

The part-time CMO owns strategy, team management and budget recommendations on their working days.

The appointment owns

The part-time CMO owns strategy, team management and budget recommendations on their working days.

Another owner retains

A named deputy handles routine approvals between days; the CEO retains company-level investment decisions.

How should you assess CMO candidates?

Put the same work and evidence in front of each candidate before comparing answers.

The evidenceChoose a part of the brief

Part 01 / 04

Scope

Test whether the candidate has owned a whole marketing function, not only one channel.

Acas recommends a consistent, fair selection process: choosing who to interview.

Does this hiring pattern fit the work?

Test the amount of the week, the expected end and the continuity needed before writing the contract.

How much of the week does the work fill?
Is this a defined assignment with an end?
For a continuing part-week role, is this an employee?

The working pattern · part-time

A part-time CMO

An employee holds a continuing seat for fewer hours. Agree the schedule, employment terms and cover outside working hours.

Read the part-time CMO hiring brief →

What must happen before the CMO starts?

Set the employed hours, days, reporting line and benefits in writing.

A clear startChoose a part of the brief

Part 01 / 04

Contract

Set the employed hours, days, reporting line and benefits in writing.
  1. 1

    Contract

    Set the employed hours, days, reporting line and benefits in writing.

  2. 2

    Access

    Give the CMO the plans, customer evidence, budget and team introductions needed.

  3. 3

    Cover

    Introduce the person who handles decisions outside working days.

  4. 4

    First cycle

    Agree the first planning and review cycle against the real working calendar.

A useful CMO brief names the decision, the working pattern and the evidence before it names a candidate.

What should the brief say?

Hire a Part-Time CMO begins with continuing seat, a stated working pattern and the evidence you will ask every candidate to show.

15 minutes · video or phone

Brief us on a CMO

Tell us what the role must own, how it will work and when it must start.

  1. 01A brief built around the decisions and working pattern.
  2. 02A shortlist of 3–5 with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
  3. 03Five-stage vetting before a candidate reaches you.
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  1. A shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position
  2. Fractional, interim, part-time, temporary or permanent — and non-executive directors
  3. Every candidate through our five-stage vetting
  4. Your briefs and their candidates, in one room
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