Finding the right marketing director takes time.
You shouldn't rush it.
I'll keep the marketing moving while you look.
Writing the job description. Finding the candidates. Interviewing them. Making the decision. Then waiting out a notice period.
A senior marketing vacancy can easily last for months.
In the meantime, the team still needs decisions. Campaigns still need to happen. Agencies need managing, budgets need watching and somebody needs to know what matters now and what can wait.
You don't want everything to grind to a halt. But you don't want to make a permanent appointment in a hurry either.
That's where I come in.
I can step in as your interim marketing director and keep things moving while you take the time to find the right person. As much or as little as you need, for as long as the search takes.
And I won't be applying for the job myself. I'd rather help you fill it.
What I pick up
Whatever needs picking up. Usually some combination of:
The strategy and the plan — so the team still knows where it's going and what matters most.
Campaigns, content and marcomms — the things that can't simply sit and wait for a new starter.
CRM, email and customer data — which have a habit of slipping when nobody owns them.
Paid, digital and agencies — so you know what you're paying for and whether it's doing its job.
The marketing budget — including the decisions about what carries on, what changes and what stops.
The team — giving people someone senior to make decisions, remove obstacles and bring things to.
The recruitment — if useful. I can help shape the brief, interview candidates and give you an independent view of the shortlist.
The handover — properly documented, so your new marketing director arrives with the full picture rather than spending their first month reconstructing it.
I don't need to arrive and redesign everything. If you've got a good plan, I'll keep it going.
If there are obvious gaps, I'll happily work with you to suggest and work on improvements.
And if something needs fixing before the new person arrives, we can decide whether it's worth doing now or leaving for them.
Senior cover without another recruitment problem.
Sometimes you need someone to hold the fort. Sometimes you need rather more than that.
I can run the marketing function, support an existing team, manage agencies and suppliers, deal with the things that need senior judgement and make sure important work doesn't disappear into the gap between one marketing director and the next.
The point isn't to make myself indispensable.
It's to leave things in good shape for the person you've actually hired.
Got a marketing role open that's taking longer than you'd hoped?
Tell me roughly where things are: what role you're recruiting for, what you've got in the team and what needs covering.
I'll tell you whether I think I can help. If I can't, I'll say so.
I'm based in Maidenhead and work with businesses across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire , Oxfordshire and London.