Who is hiring fractional CMOs
- Series A and B companies whose growth has stalled and whose marketing is a junior team and an agency with no senior owner.
- Consumer and DTC brands in the UK and the US that have product market fit and no idea why.
- B2B SaaS companies building a pipeline function for the first time, often alongside the first sales hire.
- Family office and PE backed businesses in hospitality, retail and services that have never had marketing leadership.
- Companies in the UAE expanding regionally, who want a leader who has launched in more than one market.
What the engagements look like
| Engagement | Days a week | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Build the function | Two | Strategy, the first senior hires, the agency roster, the dashboard the board reads |
| Fix the pipeline | Two to three | Positioning, channels, the handover to sales, for a quarter or two |
| Launch a market | One to two | A new country, a new segment, a new product line |
| Standing marketing leadership | One | Ongoing, for a company that is not ready for a full time CMO |
What it pays
The published band for a fractional CMO on this bench is £700 to £1,300 a day, set by the operator and shown on the profile before any company gets in touch. The US and UAE rate pages carry the dollar and dirham bands.
Marketing is the seat where the gap between a leader and a contractor is widest in price. A fractional CMO is paid for owning the outcome, not for the hours, and the profile should read that way.
The profile that gets chosen
- Outcomes with numbers the operator is allowed to share: pipeline built, CAC moved, a launch that worked, in ranges if the exact figures are confidential.
- The stage and the model. A seed stage B2B SaaS founder wants to see seed stage B2B SaaS, not a decade at a global brand.
- The channels actually run, not the channels listed. A company can tell the difference in one call.
- A published day rate and Available now switched on. Companies filter for both before they read a word.
The trap specific to this seat
Marketing has more places to sell yourself than any other function and most of them turn a leader into a freelancer: a content writer with a title, a paid media hand with a day rate. The engagements worth having come from a profile that reads like a CMO, on a bench where every operator is verified by hand against their LinkedIn and their CV, where the company approaches you, and where the rate is yours.
How to get on the bench
List yourself in about five minutes: name, LinkedIn, country, the seat, a two line bio, years of experience, your rate and a CV as a PDF. A person checks the listing before it goes live. Companies then approach you directly from the profile, and the engagement is between you and them. There is no registration fee.
Common questions
Where are fractional CMO jobs advertised?
Mostly nowhere. A company that wants a marketing leader two days a week does not write a job ad; it reads profiles and sends a brief to the two or three people whose track record matches its stage. The bench exists so that profile is where the company looks first.
What does a fractional CMO charge per day in the UK?
The published band on this bench is £700 to £1,300 a day. Operators set their own rate and it is printed on the profile. Two days a week at two clients is a full practice at that band, with room for a third.
Is fractional CMO work remote?
Largely, with time in the room for the leadership meeting and the team. The profile says where the operator works from and whether they are open to remote, hybrid or on site, and companies in the UK, the US and the UAE filter on it.
More of them, on hiring, contracts and what a fractional engagement costs, on the fractional executive FAQ.