Interim marketing director · Fixed term · Full-time

Interim marketing director · what one does, how long, what it costs

An interim marketing director runs the marketing function full-time for a fixed term: the plan, the team, the budget and the agencies, through a vacancy, parental leave, a launch or a reset. They own the results while they are there, then hand over to a permanent hire or the team they leave behind.

Across every discipline, the Institute of Interim Management’s 2026 survey puts the average assignment at 10.0 months. Below: what an interim marketing director does stage by stage, what one costs, and how the role differs from an interim CMO and from fractional or permanent hires. We recruit interim, fractional, part-time, temporary and permanent marketing leaders.

Brief us on an interim marketing director →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

Fast Company 16 leaders on when fractional C-suite hires make sense · 24 Jun 2026
Leaders split on part-time senior hires: some back them for a defined mandate, others want a full-time owner for work that needs one daily. A launch or a leave cover with a plan half-delivered is usually the second kind.

£800–£1,400

Interim marketing director, mid-market · a day, published band

Exec Capital, 2026

10.0 months

Average assignment · all interim disciplines

IIM survey, 2026

£907

Average interim day rate · all disciplines, not a marketing rate

IIM survey, 2026

3–5

Shortlist · with day rate, availability and IR35 set out

15 minutes · video or phone

Book 15 minutes to hire an interim marketing director

Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with interim marketing director 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

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On the board · last 3 months

Interim marketing director jobs on the board

0 Interim marketing director · 4 interim executive

No Interim marketing director roles on the board in the last three months. Showing interim executive roles instead.

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Live interim and fractional marketing leadership roles

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

01/ the role

What is an interim marketing director? The function, run for a fixed term

What is an interim marketing director? A senior marketer who takes the marketing director’s seat in full for a set period, then leaves. The Institute of Interim Management defines interim management as leadership by an independent, board or near-board level manager or executive, over a finite time span. For a marketing director, that means owning the plan, the budget, the team and the agencies, with the authority to change them.

Marketing director or CMO?

A marketing director runs the marketing function: campaigns, channels, brand, pipeline targets and the team. A CMO sets company-level growth strategy, usually from the board. They are different hires with different pay, and the interim market prices them differently; for the board-level seat, see interim CMO.

Not an agency, not a freelancer

An agency delivers to a brief and a freelancer delivers a piece of work. An interim marketing director writes the brief, manages the agencies and answers for the result. For the permanent remit, see what a marketing director does.

02/ scope

How to hire an interim marketing director

Write the outcome and the date first: the plan delivered, the launch shipped, the function back on track, the permanent hire in post. Decide what the interim can change without the CEO, such as the agency roster, the channel mix and the budget split. Decide the contract: through the interim’s own limited company, or as a fixed-term employee, which also covers maternity cover.

Ask for the results of recent assignments, not a portfolio of campaigns, and take references from the chief executives who hired them. The CIM’s Chartered Marketer status, awarded to graded members who keep up their professional development and pass an assessment, is one signal worth checking, not a requirement. To hire an interim marketing director through us, brief us on the interim marketing director hiring page; we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.

03/ economics

What an interim marketing director costs company size sets the band

An interim marketing director is paid a day rate for the days worked, usually five a week, with no bonus, pension or notice period on top. Exec Capital, a recruiter, publishes bands by company size: £500 to £900 a day for an SME or scale-up with revenue up to £30m, £800 to £1,400 for mid-market and PE-backed businesses, and £1,200 to £1,800 for a large corporate or brand-led business. Its 2026 Executive Salary Guide puts an interim CMO at £700 to £2,000 a day, which is why the two searches should not be confused.

For context across all disciplines, not for marketing alone, the IIM’s 2026 Interim Management Survey puts the average interim day rate at £907 and the private-sector average at £1,004.

Against a permanent hire, Robert Half’s 2026 guide puts a marketing director between £70,000 at the lower quartile and £90,000 at the upper, with a median of £79,500, before employer costs. For more on pay, see marketing director salary.

04/ comparison

Interim, fractional or permanent three ways to fill the seat

The same marketing seat, filled three ways. Choose by how many days the work needs and whether it has an end.

InterimFractionalPermanent

Days a weekUsually fiveOne to three, often across several companiesFive

TermFixed, ends on an outcome or a dateOngoing, reviewedOpen-ended

How paidDay rateDay rate or monthly retainerSalary and benefits

Published cost£500–£1,800 a day by company size (Exec Capital)Day rate × days workedMedian £79,500 (Robert Half)

Best forA vacancy, leave cover, a launch or a resetSenior marketing direction part of the weekLong-term ownership of marketing

05/ vetting

How we vet interim marketing directors

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

01
Qualification screen
Verify interim marketing director 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/ interim marketing director

Interim marketing director: what one does, stage by stage

An interim marketing director works through an assignment in stages. The IIM’s guide to interim management names five: entry, diagnosis, proposal, implementation and exit. Knowing them tells you what to expect in week one, month one and the last month.

Entry and diagnosis

The first weeks go on what is working and what is only busy: spend and results by channel, the pipeline marketing is credited with, agency contracts, the team and the brand. The rules belong in that first read. Marketing must be accurate, legal, decent, truthful, honest and socially responsible (GOV.UK), and the CAP Code, enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority, is the rule book for non-broadcast ads, promotions and direct marketing.

The proposal

Then a plan to the CEO: what to stop, what to fund, which agencies to keep and what the function should look like at handover. The IIM expects an interim to challenge the original brief where the diagnosis points elsewhere.

Implementation

Running the plan, the team and the agencies, and reporting results in the board’s terms. If the plan includes sustainability messages, the CMA’s Green Claims Code explains how to make environmental claims within consumer protection law; an interim should check claims against it before they run.

Exit and handover

A plan the team can run, agency briefs and contracts in order, results reported against the original brief and, often, help appointing the permanent marketing director. For that search, see marketing director recruitment.

07/ interim vs fractional

Interim marketing director vs fractional marketing director the whole seat, or part of it

Interim marketing director vs fractional marketing director comes down to days and duration. An interim takes the whole seat, full-time, for a fixed term, and runs the team day to day. A fractional marketing director takes part of the seat, one to three days a week, with no set end, directing the plan while the team and agencies execute.

Choose interim for a vacancy, parental leave, a launch with a date or a function that needs resetting now. Choose fractional when a smaller business needs senior marketing judgement but not five days of it. For a regular reduced-hours role, see part-time marketing director jobs.

08/ when to hire

When to hire an interim marketing director and for how long

Four situations account for most interim marketing director briefs. A vacancy or leave: the marketing director leaves or goes on parental leave with a plan half-delivered. A launch: a product, market or brand launch with a date and no one to run it. A drifting function: plenty of activity, too few results. A rebrand or a merger that needs an owner for a defined period.

How long? Tie the term to the outcome or the leave period, with a review part-way through. Across all disciplines the IIM’s 2026 survey puts the average assignment at 10.0 months; it is an all-discipline average, not a marketing rule. If revenue leadership is missing too, see interim CRO.

09/ questions

Interim marketing director FAQ

The questions people ask before bringing in an interim marketing director.

A senior marketer who runs the marketing function full-time for a fixed term: the plan, the team, the budget and the agencies, through a vacancy, leave, a launch or a reset, then hands over.

Reviews spend, results, agencies and the team, proposes a plan to the CEO, runs it and exits with a handover, following the stages the Institute of Interim Management describes. They brief and manage the agencies rather than replace them.

As long as the outcome or the leave period takes, agreed at the start with a review point. The IIM’s 2026 survey puts the average interim assignment, across all disciplines, at 10.0 months; that is not a marketing-specific figure.

A day rate for the days worked. Exec Capital publishes £500 to £900 a day for an SME or scale-up, £800 to £1,400 mid-market and PE-backed, and £1,200 to £1,800 for a large corporate or brand-led business. We set out each candidate’s day rate on the shortlist.

An interim works full-time for a fixed term and runs the team day to day. A fractional marketing director works one to three days a week on an ongoing basis, directing the plan. Interim for a vacancy, leave or a launch; fractional for steady part-time direction.

When the marketing director leaves or goes on leave with a plan half-delivered, when a launch has a date and no owner, when the function is busy but not producing results, or when a rebrand or merger needs an owner for a defined period.

Write down the outcome, the term and what the interim can change, then send us the brief through the interim marketing director hiring page. We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out. You interview and choose.

No. The marketing director runs the function; the CMO sets growth strategy at board level. Exec Capital’s 2026 guide puts an interim CMO at £700 to £2,000 a day. See interim CMO for the board-level seat.

It depends on how the assignment runs in practice, contract by contract. In most cases the client decides and should give a status determination statement with reasons; for a small client outside the public sector, the interim’s own company decides (HMRC). See our IR35 guide.

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