Interim CMO and Head of Marketing positions are becoming increasingly in demand and we are seeing the top talent attracted to them.

Businesses are making temporary marketing placements part of their overall strategy in order to achieve specific objectives. Two of the most common and effective uses of this alternative recruitment strategy are facilitating change management and seeing a business through high growth periods.

Change management
In addition to bringing on project managers for large scale changes, many businesses are opting to recruit interim marketing leaders with specific change management experience. The communications strategy for both staff and clients is a pivotal part of the success of business change, so the marketing department often plays a crucial role. Over-burdening existing teams with an additional project, or using incumbent marketing heads without change management experience risks the success of the project.

Business growth
For businesses in growth period, the marketing leader that they need today to drive the business forward might not be the same person they need in 6 or 12 months. High growth businesses often come to us to find an interim CMO to handle the rapidly evolving strategy during growth. This recruitment strategy is especially prevalent in start-up companies where budgets might not stretch to a full time c-level hire. For example, an interim CMO can define and implement strategy then a permanent Head of Marketing can see it through.

In terms of the pool of candidates available for interim placements, we are also seeing changes here in that high profile individuals are far more open to interim positions than they were previously. Opting to take on an interim marketing leader does not mean that you need to compromise on the quality of the hire.

tml Partners – specialists in marketing recruitment.