Interim Marketing Leadership
Full ownership for a defined period, and the period used well.
Typically 3–5 days per week for 3–9 months.
What it is
I step into an existing Marketing Manager, Marketing Director, VP Marketing or CMO mandate at close to full time. The function keeps moving, decisions keep being made, and the gap becomes something other than lost months.
Who it's for
- A vacancy at the top of marketing, with a search that will take longer than the business can wait.
- A leadership change where the function needs a steady hand through the transition.
- A team that has been without direction long enough for it to show.
- A period of intensive change, restructure, integration, new market; that needs senior marketing ownership while it runs.
The mandate
Full ownership of the marketing function for the agreed period: the team, the budget, the agenda, the reporting line and the results. The same accountability as the permanent role, with a defined end date.
How it runs
Week one is stabilization: what is in flight, what is at risk, who needs an answer today. The first month covers a proper read of the function and a plan the leadership team signs off. From there, run the function properly. Where the mandate allows it, use the period to improve what should not simply be maintained; a function held perfectly still hands the same problems to your permanent hire. Where the mandate is to hold steady, that is what I do, and I hand over a clear account of what I would have changed.
What stays behind
A function in better condition than you found it, and a successor set up to succeed: documented decisions and their reasoning, a team that knows where it stands, live priorities, and a handover that is a working relationship rather than a document. Where useful, I help specify and select the permanent role.
What it is not
Not open-ended; the end date is real, and that is what makes the honesty possible.
And not one fixed shape. If the mandate is genuinely to hold the function steady until your permanent hire arrives, that is a legitimate brief and I will take it. What I will not do is accept a change mandate and quietly caretake, or accept a caretaking brief and start rearranging the furniture. Whichever it is, we name it on day one and I run it properly.
Where it usually leads
To a permanent appointment, with a handover. Occasionally to a fractional arrangement afterwards, so the new leader has someone to think out loud with during their first months.
What I need from you
A clear mandate on day one, including what I may change and what I may not. Budget authority proportionate to the accountability. And an honest brief; an interim leader who discovers the real situation in week three loses a month.
Engagement model
An agreed day rate, set against the mandate, required availability, and expected duration.
The seniority of the seat, days per week, and the length of the assignment. Longer mandates and higher day counts are priced accordingly.
Fees are exclusive of VAT and travel. Terms, notice period and invoicing rhythm are agreed in writing before the work starts.