Interim Head of Marketing & Communications
I have focused on Environment, Planning and Sustainability careers for more than twenty years, but I have been known to turn my hand to help with wider recruitment needs too.
I took a call from a client who explained their Marketing lead was moving on, at a month’s notice. This was leaving a small marketing and communications team leaderless, and soon. The business wanted to take the opportunity to find someone who could not only hit the ground running, and engage the existing team, but also take stock of current marketing activities’ effectiveness and advise best forward options.
The last hire of this nature I’d entertained was a Web Manager role for The Carbon Trust about fifteen years previous. When asked if I could help find a Marketing lead, I was clear that it would be, ‘outside my usual domain,’ but this is a client I always want to help. We agreed on a Search for an Interim Head of Marketing & Communications, to start as soon as possible.
The role spec included:
• Lead a review of company brand, ensuring alignment with the organisation’s mission and values.
• Monitor and measure the effectiveness of all marketing and communications activities, with a keen eye on ROI, ensuring continuous improvement and alignment with organisational goals.
• Oversee the alignment of a corporate communications strategy to build the company’s brand and reputation.
• Develop and manage a stakeholder engagement strategy to maximise relationships with key clients, investors, partners, and intermediaries.
• Develop a structure and framework for branding and communications, enabling the team to develop marketing activities that support the organisation’s objectives.
• Direct a team and budget, ensuring optimal allocation and utilisation of resources.
This role clearly needed someone with a confident history of leading marketing and communications functions, with vision to develop and implement corporate communications strategies, ability to manage stakeholder relationships at varying levels, a keen eye for detail, and understanding of controlling budget.
The pool of candidates who would have the necessary skills and experience, located within a reasonable geographical range, could commit to what is essentially a full-time position, and be available for a near-term start, was never going to be large. However, within a week I had managed to identify, shortlist, and speak with a dozen people who could potentially fit the brief.
Within two weeks of accepting this slightly left-field assignment, my client had five CVs and selected the most appropriate two for interview. Further to a second interview the following week, an Offer was accepted, with a start date just five weeks from that initial call between my client and me.
The successful candidate has brought extensive marketing and communications experience built over 30 years working in various backgrounds: agency, charity, local government and corporate. They also have several years’ record working in my client’s exact market sector. Most importantly though, they have brought enthusiasm and an appetite to succeed in the role.
