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Permanent CMO · hiring brief

Hire Chief Marketing Officer

Hire Chief Marketing Officer: brief the commercial role marketing must play, set budget and board reporting, search beyond active candidates and assess each on your own data.

Brief us on this role →See CMO roles

Reviewed by Fractional Quest · updated 28 October 2026 · 5 sources linked below

  • 3–5on every shortlist
  • 5stages of vetting
  • IR35set out on every brief
Hire Chief Marketing Officer: a marketing leader walking her team through campaign concepts (illustration)

On the board · last 90 days

Which CMO roles are on the board?

Permanent CMO roles first, then the seat in any engagement and the wider function when the board runs short.

Roles

See every role on the board →

Every fractional role in the UK is on the fractional jobs board.

In the press

The brief

Hire Chief Marketing Officer: what must the role own?

Say what share of growth marketing must deliver.

  • 01Commercial roleSay what share of growth marketing must deliver.
  • 02BudgetSet the annual budget and approval limits.
  • 03TeamDescribe the team the CMO inherits and may restructure.
  • 04BoardSay how marketing reports to the board.

Role reference: Chartered Institute of Marketing framework. The CIM framework describes the strategic and financial capabilities of a chief marketing officer.

How to hire

How to hire a chief marketing officer: the essentials

Brief, route, search, assess.

Decide whether the seat needs a permanent chief marketing officer or a fractional one first. Then approach people in post, since most strong CMOs are not looking, and give each the same task: a view of your marketing after reading your numbers.

The working pattern

What changes when the CMO is permanent?

A permanent chief marketing officer owns marketing strategy, budget and team for years and answers to the CEO and often the board.

The illustrative brief: a scale-up appointing its first chief marketing officer. Marketing has grown to eight people under a head of marketing who now needs an executive above them.

The appointment owns: The company hires a chief marketing officer to own strategy and budget; the head of marketing runs delivery.

Another owner retains: The CEO keeps company strategy; the board approves the annual budget.

The case is illustrative; it does not describe a Fractional Quest placement.

From brief to start

How do you hire a chief marketing officer, step by step?

The first three steps are ours; the last four are what has to be true before the first day. We don’t promise a shortlist by a date.

  1. Day 0
    01
    The 15-minute call
    What the CMO must own, the working pattern, the start date and the budget.
    You and us
  2. Week 1
    02
    Scope agreed in writing
    The outcome the seat exists for, the days, and how the engagement will run for IR35.
    Us
  3. Weeks 1–3
    03
    Search, references, shortlist
    We approach people who aren’t looking, verify tenure, take references ourselves and return three to five.
    Us
  4. Week 4
    04
    Offer
    Confirm package, authority and reporting.
    You
  5. Before day one · 2
    05
    Data
    Provide revenue, spend, research and plans.
    You
  6. Before day one · 3
    06
    Introductions
    Introduce team, sales lead and board.
    You
  7. Before day one · 4
    07
    First 90 days
    Agree the questions for day 90.
    You

Your figures

What does part of a CMO’s week cost?

Rate × days × weeks, against a loaded full-time package. Move the sliders; the numbers redraw.

  • CMO band £750–£1,400 (Connectd 2026)
Year-one cost, fractional
£101,200
2 days a week · 46 weeks · day fees, before tax · our arithmetic
Fractional executive£101,200
Full-time CMO, loaded£168,300£765 a day over 220 days · our arithmetic
Fractional costs less in year one by£67,100

Our arithmetic. £147,000 Robert Half 2026 median salary + employer NI at 15% above £5,000 (HMRC) = £168,300. Excludes pension, bonus and any search fee.

Assessment

How should you assess CMO candidates?

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

  1. Comparable decision
    Ask for a strategy they owned and its commercial effect.
  2. Authority
    Test how they defend a budget to a board.
  3. Team
    Ask how they led a head of marketing without undermining them.
  4. Handover
    Ask how they set up marketing to run without them.

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

Vetting

What happens before anyone reaches your shortlist?

Five stages before a candidate reaches a shortlist of three to five.

  1. Pedigree screen
    Tenure
    We verify prior tenure in the seat, at the scale and stage you need. No consultant presenting as an executive.
  2. Mandate fit
    Fit
    Fit to your stage, sector and the problem the seat exists to solve, not a CV keyword.
  3. Reference deep-dive
    Verify
    We take references ourselves, from recent clients and boards: what they delivered, not what they titled it.
  4. Shortlist
    Shortlist
    Three to five candidates, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
  5. Kick-off
    Start
    Scope, first-month outcomes and the contract agreed before day one.

The full process is on how we vet.

The right pattern

Does this hiring pattern fit the work?

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

Questions

Hire Chief Marketing Officer: questions, answered

A brief to hire a chief marketing officer begins with commercial role: Say what share of growth marketing must deliver. Then a stated working pattern and the evidence you will ask every candidate to show.

Read next

Related hiring and role pages

Sources

Where does every reference on this page come from?

  • cim.co.uk
  • HMRC
  • legislation.gov.uk
  1. 1
    Chartered Institute of Marketing framework cim.co.uk
  2. 2
    Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 HMRC
    Employer National Insurance at 15% above £5,000 a year.
  3. 3
    Understanding off-payroll working (IR35) HMRC
    Status depends on how the engagement runs; medium and large clients make the determination.
  4. 4
    Check employment status for tax (CEST) HMRC
    HMRC’s own status check for each engagement.
  5. 5
    Employment Agencies Act 1973 legislation.gov.uk
    The law a recruitment agency works under; no fee to a work-seeker.

For hiring managers

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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