Marketing director · job description template

Marketing director job description

The short answer · updated 28 September 2026

A marketing director job description sets out the senior role that leads a company’s marketing and turns the business plan into demand. The core responsibilities are the marketing strategy and budget, brand and positioning, the campaigns and channels that build pipeline, measuring what marketing returns, and leading the marketing team.

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Job purpose

A marketing director owns how the company finds, wins and keeps customers through marketing, and answers for the budget that pays for it. In a smaller company the marketing director is the most senior marketer and reports to the chief executive; in a larger one the role sits under a CMO and runs a brand, a region or a business unit. The purpose line should say which version this is and the result the business needs next: a launch, a new market, a rebrand or a pipeline the sales team can rely on. For the role itself, see what does a marketing director do.

Acas publishes an outline job description template whose headings (the main duties and who the post reports to) suit a marketing director brief. If the role will answer to a CMO, read the CMO job description first so the two briefs do not overlap.

Key responsibilities

Order the duties by importance and start each with a verb. A typical marketing director job description covers:

setting the marketing strategy and plan from the business plan, and agreeing it with the CEO or CMO;
owning the marketing budget and deciding where it is spent;
managing the brand, positioning and messaging;
planning and running campaigns across the channels that suit the market;
working with sales on pipeline, lead quality and handover;
measuring what marketing returns and reporting it to the leadership team;
leading, hiring and developing the marketing team, and managing agencies and freelancers;
owning customer insight, market research and competitor analysis;
keeping advertising within the CAP Code, which the ASA enforces, with evidence for every claim;
keeping direct marketing, email and cookies within the PECR and data protection rules the ICO sets out;
choosing and running the marketing technology and data.

Reporting line and scope

The marketing director reports to the chief executive or managing director, or to the CMO where there is one. The heads of brand, digital, content, product marketing and communications usually report in, along with any agencies. List what reports to the role and what stays elsewhere, for example sales, pricing or customer service.

Some marketing directors sit on the board or the executive team; others present to it for their items. Say which in the job description, and how often the role reports marketing performance to the board.

Skills, experience and qualifications

No qualification is required by law to be a marketing director. Ask for experience of the marketing problem the company has now and describe it specifically. Acas warns that phrases such as “highly experienced” in a job advert can discriminate on age, so define the experience rather than counting years. Our guide on how to become a marketing director covers the usual routes in.

experience leading marketing at a comparable scale, in a comparable market (B2B or consumer, product or service);
a record against the specific problem: a launch, a new market, a rebrand, demand generation or a turnaround;
budget ownership, and choosing channels by what they return;
leading a team and managing agencies;
working with sales, product and finance, and reporting to a CEO or board;
a professional qualification where it helps, such as the CIM qualifications or Chartered Marketer status, listed as desirable unless the job requires it.

Head of marketing job description

A head of marketing job description sits one level down. The head of marketing runs the marketing plan more than sets it: the channels, the campaigns, the calendar and the team that delivers them, often with their own hands on the work. They usually report to the marketing director, the CMO or, in a smaller company, straight to the chief executive, and the budget they hold is set above them.

Change four things when you write it. Put delivery ahead of strategy in the responsibilities; name the channels the role must run and the measures it answers for; say who owns the strategy and the budget; and ask for experience running a team of the size the role will lead. Pay differs too: see our head of marketing salary page, and to hire one for part of the week, our fractional head of marketing page.

Fractional marketing director job description

A fractional marketing director works a set number of days a week or month, so the job description narrows. Name the days, the outcomes expected over the first six to twelve months (a strategy agreed, a plan and budget in place, a head of marketing or agency hired, a pipeline measure the board trusts), what the fractional marketing director owns and who delivers the work in between.

Our page on how to hire a fractional marketing director sets out how the engagement works, and our fractional marketing jobs hub covers the wider marketing team.

A fractional marketing director working through their own company may fall within the off-payroll working rules (IR35). Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, not on the wording of the job description, and a medium or large client makes the determination. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.

Interim and permanent versions

Interim. An interim marketing director works full-time for a fixed period, so the job description leads with the situation (a launch, a rebrand, a gap after a departure, or cover while the permanent search runs) and the date or event that ends the assignment. See our interim marketing director page.

Permanent. The permanent version looks further ahead: the brand and the team over several years. When the marketing director is hired as an employee, the job title or a description of the work goes into the written statement of employment particulars they must have on the first day, so keep the two consistent. For a permanent search, see our marketing director recruitment page.

We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors. For a marketing director brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after our five-stage vetting.

A template you can copy

Copy these headings and write one short block under each. Keep pay out of the job description and state it in the offer.

Job title: marketing director or head of marketing, and whether the role is fractional, interim, part-time or permanent.
Reports to: the CEO, managing director or CMO, with any board or executive seat; list who reports to the role, including agencies.
Purpose: two or three sentences on why the role exists now and the marketing result it must deliver.
Responsibilities: eight to twelve duties, each starting with a verb, in order of importance.
Requirements: essential and desirable experience, described specifically, and a qualification only where the job needs one.
Terms: full-time or days a week, location, start date, fixed term or permanent, and the pay basis (salary or day rate).

Questions people ask

What should a marketing director job description include?

The job title and type of engagement, who the role reports to and who reports in, the purpose, the key responsibilities, the experience and skills required, and the terms. Acas suggests giving applicants the job description together with a person specification and information about the organisation.

How long should a marketing director job description be?

Long enough to cover purpose, responsibilities, reporting line, requirements and terms, and short enough to read in a few minutes: one to two pages is usually enough. The marketing plan and the numbers belong in the candidate pack and the interviews.

How is a head of marketing job description different?

It puts delivery ahead of strategy: the channels, campaigns and team the role runs, with the strategy and budget set by a marketing director, CMO or CEO. See the head of marketing section above and our head of marketing salary page.

How is a fractional marketing director job description different?

It names the days a week or month, the outcomes expected over the first six to twelve months and who delivers the work in between. See how to hire a fractional marketing director.

What does a marketing director earn?

It depends on the size of the company, its sector and whether the role is permanent, interim or fractional. Our marketing director salary page sets out pay and day rates, each figure with its source.

How do I hire a marketing director?

Define the marketing problem, choose between permanent, interim, part-time and fractional, write the job description around that problem, and test every candidate against it. Our marketing director recruitment page sets out the process; we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.