The VP of Marketing runs the marketing function and delivers the plan. Hiring one well means matching operational marketing leadership to what the business needs. Here is how.
Define the level and priority
A VP of Marketing typically leads marketing operationally — planning and executing across brand, campaigns, digital, and demand — while a CMO owns marketing strategy at the executive table. Before hiring, be clear which you need, or whether in a smaller business you need someone who is both. Then define the marketing priority — brand-building, demand and performance, digital, or building the function from scratch — because these call for different marketers.
Craft plus team leadership
The strongest VPs of Marketing pair genuine marketing craft with the leadership to build and run an effective team and deliver consistently. Marketing is executed through specialists across disciplines, so a leader who has the craft but cannot build and lead a team, or vice versa, falls short. Assessing for both the marketing capability and the leadership to deliver through a team is central to the hire.
Assess delivery, not just ideas
Marketing attracts people who present well, so the assessment should probe genuine delivery — campaigns and results actually delivered, budgets managed, teams led — rather than a polished pitch of marketing philosophy. Ask for specific examples of what the candidate built and the results, and probe beneath them. A track record of delivering marketing outcomes is far more telling than fluency about marketing in the abstract.
Match to the business
Marketing differs across businesses — a brand-led beauty business, a performance-driven DTC business, a B2B business each need different marketing leadership. Match the candidate's experience to your model and stage, and a retained search can find a VP of Marketing proven in a comparable context.
Hiring a marketing leader?
We recruit CMOs and VPs of Marketing across beauty and consumer businesses.
Explore Marketing Search →Frequently asked questions
What should you look for when hiring a VP of Marketing?
Genuine marketing craft combined with the leadership to build and run a team and deliver results — matched to your marketing priority (brand, demand, digital, or building the function) and business model, and assessed on real delivery, not just ideas.
Should you hire a VP of Marketing or a CMO?
A VP of Marketing leads marketing operationally and delivers the plan; a CMO owns marketing strategy at the executive table. Decide based on whether you need operational delivery or strategic leadership — or, in a smaller business, someone who is both.
Related: What Does a VP of Marketing Do? · How to Hire a CMO · What Does a CMO Do?
