Roles we recruit
Seven practices, 27 functions. Start at the practice when you cannot yet name the title; go straight to the function when you can.
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A VP of marketing owns the marketing plan, team and budget, measured on pipeline and on how the market understands the product. Strong channel managers interview well for this seat, so we screen for a pipeline number they owned, a budget decision they defended and a team they built.
A new VP of marketing is judged on whether marketing starts to work as one plan that sales feels. Each stage below has a signal that predicts it, and we test for that signal before you meet anyone.
The ramp, and the test behind each milestone
Weeks 1 to 3
Spend by channel, pipeline and its quality, brand signals, the team's skills, the tools and the agency contracts, plus one-to-ones with marketing leads and the sales leaders who use their work.
On track looks like a written review of what each channel costs and produces, where pipeline quality is weak and which spend to question, shared with the CEO and finance.
How we test for it before you meet them
A case exercise in our screen: anonymized spend and pipeline data by channel. We score what they notice first and what they would not cut yet.
Weeks 4 to 6
Priorities, budget by channel and a pipeline commitment, with a definition of an accepted lead agreed with sales.
On track looks like a plan with a pipeline target, budget by channel and a definition of an accepted opportunity that sales has signed.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask how they agreed lead definitions with sales at their last company and how the argument ended. A former sales leader confirms it.
Weeks 7 to 10
Who leads each area, which seats are missing, and where agencies or freelancers add something and where they do not.
On track looks like a team map with decisions made on each open seat and on each agency contract.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask which leaders they hired or removed in their first year and why. References from those leaders tell us more than the VP's own account.
Weeks 11 to 13
Positioning and messaging written with product marketing and sales, with proof points, and tested on real deals.
On track looks like messaging that reps use in calls, with feedback from sales captured every month.
How we test for it before you meet them
A reference call with a sales leader about messaging this executive introduced and whether reps used it.
After day 90
A monthly review of spend, pipeline and quality, budget moved between channels, and early warning to the CEO when a quarter is at risk.
On track looks like budget moved on results, and a pipeline forecast within an agreed range.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask how they told a CEO that a channel had stopped working. A plain account that names the cause and the change predicts a leader the CEO will trust.
Five responsibilities. If the seat also sets company strategy with the CEO and answers to the board for brand and pipeline, it is a chief marketing officer; if it owns one area such as demand generation, it is a VP of demand generation.
Priorities, spend by channel and the trade-offs behind them, agreed with the CEO and finance.
The pipeline marketing commits to, its quality and the handoff to sales.
How the market understands the product: positioning, messaging and proof, used consistently by sales.
The leaders and specialists who do the work, and which outside partners are worth keeping.
Spend, pipeline and results in terms the CEO and the board use.
Three neighboring seats absorb work people assume belongs here. Drawing the line wrong is how a VP of marketing search ends with a channel manager in a bigger title.
That seat ownsBrand, demand and product marketing at company level, and the budget behind both.
Hire it instead whenmarketing needs an executive who sets strategy with the CEO and answers to the board.
That seat ownsThe pipeline marketing creates: channels, programs, budget and the team that turns spend into opportunities sales accepts.
Hire it instead whenpipeline is the problem and the rest of marketing is working.
That seat ownsDigital channels at scale: web, search, paid media, marketing technology and the analytics that tie them to revenue.
Hire it instead whenmost demand runs through digital channels and needs an executive with technical depth.
The title stays the same; the company does not. Pick the one that matches your stage.
Leads a set of marketing specialists who have reported to the founder or the CEO.
Owns a pipeline target and the channels, programs and budget that produce it.
Builds awareness and a clear position in a new category or a new market.
The questions we ask in our own screen. Use them in yours; the warning signs are as useful as the answers.
Every candidate we put forward is scored on these five, and the scores travel with the shortlist, gaps included. Four out of five with a named weakness beats a clean sweep you cannot verify.
| What we score | Weak evidence | Strong evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Pipeline results | Reports leads and traffic. | Pipeline and its quality defined with sales, with the numbers by quarter. |
| Budget judgment | Splits spend evenly across channels. | Spend moved between channels on evidence, including cuts. |
| Working with sales | Defends the lead count. | Definitions and messaging that sales uses, confirmed by a sales leader. |
| Building the team | Inherited a team and kept it unchanged. | Leaders hired and removed, with reasons and results, confirmed by those leaders. |
| Fit with your company | Experience at a different stage or with a different buyer. | Has led marketing at a company like yours: your stage, your buyers and your sales motion. |
Public US benchmarks, read October 2026. VP of marketing pay is mostly base: Built In’s self-reported additional cash averages $49,084 on a $201,975 average base, and Salary.com’s total cash average is $305,575. Salary.com’s employer-reported base band runs above Built In’s $188,000 median base. Company stage, marketing budget and equity move the number most.
Each bar runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile, the middle half of reported pay.
Base salaryWages including commission (BLS)Average total pay, base plus variable
VP of Marketing
Salary.com base, Built In total
$230,302 to $265,731 base$251,059 average total
Chief Marketing Officer
Salary.com base, Built In total, the seat above
$335,832 to $418,085 base$293,575 average total
Marketing Director
Salary.com base benchmark, the seat below
$179,511 to $208,951 base
Marketing managers
BLS, all industries
$123,020 to $216,410
Bars: Salary.com base salary, 25th to 75th percentile, United States, as of October 1, 2026. Rings: Built In average total compensation (base plus additional cash, self-reported), reviewed October 17, 2026 for VP of Marketing and October 1 and 13, 2026 for Chief Marketing Officer. Marketing managers: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, annual wage at the 25th and 75th percentiles (SOC 11-2021), all industries. Public aggregates, not ZaphyrRecruit placement data.
A VP of marketing runs the marketing function: the plan, the budget, the team and the agencies. They own the pipeline marketing commits to, the positioning and messaging that sales uses, and the reporting to the CEO. The measure is pipeline and how the market understands the product, not the number of campaigns launched.
Salary.com puts a VP of marketing at $230,302 to $265,731 base, with a median of $246,057 and total cash averaging $305,575 (October 2026). Built In’s self-reported figures show a $188,000 median base and $251,059 average total. A chief marketing officer sits higher, at $335,832 to $418,085 base. Company stage, budget and equity move the number.
A chief marketing officer sets strategy with the CEO, answers to the board for brand and pipeline, and often sits on the executive team. A VP of marketing runs the function beneath that, owning the plan, team and budget, and usually reports to the CEO, CRO or CMO. If the gap is leadership of the team, hire a VP; if it is company-level strategy, hire a CMO.
When you have marketing specialists and no leader setting priorities, when marketing activity is high and sales does not feel it, or when the founder still approves every campaign. Before that, a strong marketing manager may be enough. The signal is spend rising while pipeline quality and sales trust stay flat.
We look at the pipeline number they owned and how sales defined it, ask for a channel they cut and the evidence, call leaders they hired and removed, and run a spend and pipeline case. Every candidate is scored against the five criteria on this page, and the scores travel with the shortlist, gaps included.
Look for someone who has owned a pipeline number with sales, managed a budget across channels and led managers or senior specialists at a company of similar stage. Demand generation, product marketing and digital leaders can all make the step. We ask for numbers and check them with former colleagues in sales and finance.
Ten working days from a signed brief to a shortlist of three to five calibrated candidates, each with our spend and pipeline case scored and results checked with a former CEO or sales leader. Interview speed decides the rest: good marketing leaders rarely run one process at a time, so a decision within two weeks of the first interview keeps them. Notice periods at this level are often long.
Tell us the stage, the marketing spend and what sales says about the pipeline. We come back within one business day with how we would run the search and what the seat pays.
We build shortlists from people doing this work now, often before a seat is advertised. Set up a job alert for executive roles, or send your CV and we will come to you, in confidence, when a seat opens.
The VP of marketing is one of fourteen seats in this function. If the gap sits elsewhere, start there.