For executive recruiters
When the search is real, but the role is wrong.
Sometimes the company clearly needs marketing leadership, but the budget and expectations just don’t line up for one full-time hire.
CMO + Team gives you another option.
The problem
Sometimes one job description is really five jobs.
A company may say: “We need a VP or CMO who can lead the strategy and still personally execute across demand gen, content, marketing ops, analytics, AI, and everything else.” AI can increase the leverage of a strong marketer. It does not turn one senior leader into an expert practitioner across every marketing discipline.
That makes the search hard to fill well.
And even if you find someone, there’s a good chance they’re walking into a role that’s too broad to succeed in.
The alternative
Solve the need without forcing the hire.
That is where CMO + Team can help.
Instead of putting every responsibility on one person, we can step in as the fractional marketing leader and allocate the budget across the actual capabilities the business needs.
Some of that may go toward demand gen. Some may go toward content, creative, marketing ops, analytics, product marketing, or other specialist support.
The company gets senior marketing leadership plus the right mix of execution, without pretending one person can do everything.
How it works
Here’s how it works.
- 01
You spot the wrong-shaped search.
The company has a real marketing need, but the scope, budget, or timing does not make sense for one full-time hire.
- 02
You introduce CMO + Team.
We talk with the company, understand the actual need, and determine whether a fractional leadership model makes more sense.
- 03
You get paid on the engagement.
If the company becomes a CMO + Team client, you participate in the revenue from that engagement.
- 04
Better full-time roles can come later.
As the marketing function develops, we can identify the full-time roles the company actually needs. Our preference is to work with the referring recruiter as the recruiting partner for those permanent marketing hires.
What if they already have a marketing team?
Most companies are not starting from zero.
They may already have one or two marketers who know the business well and are valuable to the company. The problem is often that those people have been asked to cover too many different marketing disciplines.
Someone may be excellent at content, events, marketing operations, or execution, but that does not mean they should also be expected to own strategy, demand generation, analytics, paid media, product marketing, and everything else.
CMO + Team does not assume those employees need to be replaced.
We start by understanding what the existing team does well, what they should own, and where the real capability gaps are.
Then we build around them.
That may mean adding senior marketing leadership, demand generation, marketing operations, analytics, creative, product marketing, or other specialist capabilities without requiring the company to hire every role full time.
The goal is to make the existing team stronger, not make them redundant.
Keep the people who are working. Stop asking them to do five jobs.
In many cases, the existing marketing employees end up with clearer roles, better support, and more opportunity to focus on the work they are actually good at.
As the marketing organization develops, CMO + Team can then help determine which capabilities should remain fractional and which should eventually become full-time hires.
Revenue share
How the revenue share works.
The goal is to make this meaningful for the recruiter, not just offer a small one-time referral fee.
of collected service revenue for months 1–12
of collected service revenue for months 13–24
The revenue share applies to CMO + Team service revenue only.
It does not apply to media spend, software, taxes, travel, or other pass-through expenses.
What that can look like.
If the client pays CMO + Team $15,000 per month:
Year 1
$180,000 in collected service revenue
Recruiter share at 15%: $27,000
Year 2
$180,000 in collected service revenue
Recruiter share at 5%: $9,000
Two-year recruiter revenue share:
$36,000
And that is before any future permanent searches created as the marketing organization develops.
Why this helps the recruiter
Why this can be a better outcome.
Get paid now.
Instead of waiting for the perfect search to appear, you can participate in recurring revenue from the CMO + Team engagement.
Preserve the client relationship.
You are still bringing the CEO a solution instead of simply telling them the search is unrealistic.
Avoid forcing a bad-fit placement.
You do not have to put someone into a role you already suspect is over-scoped or set up to fail.
Create better future searches.
As the marketing function develops, we can identify the full-time roles the business actually needs.
FUTURE HIRING OPPORTUNITIES
As the team develops, permanent roles may emerge
CMO + Team helps identify which capabilities should stay fractional and which ones now justify a full-time hire.
Examples might include:
- Demand Generation
- Marketing Operations
- Product Marketing
- Content
- Growth
- Analytics
WHY THIS WORKS
A wrong-shaped search doesn’t have to be a lost opportunity.
You can help the client solve the actual marketing problem, participate in the CMO + Team engagement, preserve the relationship, and potentially create better-defined permanent searches as the organization develops.
Get paid now. Preserve the client relationship. Create better searches later.
Let’s talk.