Movement in the market
After a turbulent few years for senior marketing leaders, with around a quarter of senior marketing roles cut from businesses (2025 Career & Salary Survey, Marketing Week), it very much remains a ‘clients’ market’ and we’re seeing that exacerbated by the increased demand for either hybrid or in-office leadership.
While many senior marketing leaders have embraced remote working in the past few years, organisations are now seeking candidates who are open to 4-5 days in the office, supporting cross-organisational collaboration, stronger relationships, and faster decision-making.
This is causing movement in the market, with physical location becoming a real focus. In recent years, with a more remote or hybrid lifestyle, many senior leaders moved out of metropolitan areas that made an occasional commute ideal. However, with a move back to the office, commutable locations are now hugely important and greatly impact those seeking Chief-of or Director-level roles.
For our ‘rising stars’ candidates – those in Senior Manager or Head-of level – there is still a greater expectation of flexibility because roles are easier to come by. They also seem to retain a higher focus on culture and particularly the alignment of values, so many are choosing to wait it out for roles and organisations who truly meet their needs and purpose.
For clients, we continue to emphasise the importance of culture and their ‘employer brand’ i.e. communicating their values and the benefits of in-office collaboration in order to attract talent, while also seeking to retain the high-performing senior leaders they already have by offering some flexibility.
With this kind of shift, senior marketing leaders are enjoying a little more bargaining power. With the loss of flexibility comes higher salary expectations and benefits – particularly for compensation related to commuting costs.
So, this complex recruitment environment requires honesty and negotiation, but one thing certainly stands firm – the demand for candidates with experience in delivering change, and transformation and data-driven marketing strategies to drive revenue growth, is not going to change in the foreseeable future. Candidates will need to focus on skills gaps and clients will need to focus on long-term cultural impact.
If you’re ready to make your next career move, or if you’re hiring for your team, please get in touch or connect with us/send a message on LinkedIn.
Suzie Walker Executive Search is a firm of specialist headhunters with an expert team recruiting interim and permanent senior leaders for B2C and B2B marketing and digital/tech roles in FTSE 350 and private equity-backed companies. Find out how we can support you by connecting with a Consultant below.
If you’re ready to make your next move, we regularly post new opportunities on our LinkedIn company page. If you apply for a role on the platform, it requires a 1st connection for us to respond, so please make sure to connect with Suzie Walker. Our company page is also frequently updated with the latest hiring news, expert interviews, and candidate guidance, so well worth following.
