CMO & Marketing Executive Search

Your Marketing (CMO) Executive Search Firm Partner

If you are looking for your next Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), VP Marketing, Director of Demand Generation, Brand Marketing, or Product Marketing, we understand these profiles well and bring a proven executive search track record filling this function.

Our methodology enables us to quickly recruit the executive talent you are looking for to give you peace of mind about your operations team leadership.

Find Your Transformational CMO: Marketing Leaders for a New Era

Marketing Leadership That Drives Brand and Revenue

At Herd Freed Hartz, we help Northwest companies find transformational Chief Marketing Officers and VP Marketing leaders who blend creative vision with commercial results. Today’s marketing executives are no longer just brand champions—they’re growth architects, digital experts, and culture carriers. According to Deloitte’s 2024 Global Marketing Trends report, 78% of CMOs say their role now involves driving both brand purpose and revenue. With the marketing landscape evolving at lightning speed, your next marketing leader needs to be both an innovator and an integrator—someone who can unify storytelling, strategy, and sales.

What Makes CMO Searches Uniquely Strategic

Chief Marketing Officer roles are among the most dynamic and variable in the C-suite. The right fit depends on your company’s growth stage, industry, and go-to-market approach. For early-stage companies, the priority might be demand generation and product marketing; for mature organizations, it could be brand equity and customer loyalty. Some CMOs are deeply analytical; others are creative powerhouses. What makes these searches unique is the delicate balance of hard and soft skills, and the ability to lead cross-functional teams in high-visibility, high-stakes roles. We help clients define what kind of marketer they need before we find the right person to fill the seat. Recruiting a CMO for Redwood Outdoors was about finding that right mix of Consumer product marketing savvy with an entrepreneurial sense of adventure for marketing their spa and cold plunge products.

Your next marketing leader needs to be both an innovator and an integrator—someone who can unify storytelling, strategy, and sales.

Industry-Specific Marketing Leadership Expertise

Marketing strategy and execution varies dramatically across industries, and so do the leadership profiles that drive success. Our deep experience placing marketing executives across diverse sectors—from healthcare recruiting and financial services to technology and consumer goods—enables us to understand the unique challenges and opportunities in your market. Whether you’re a fast-growing tech company needing performance marketing expertise, a healthcare organization requiring compliance-savvy brand leadership, or a consumer goods company seeking omnichannel retail experience, we match marketing talent to industry demands. Our track record spans everything from placing CMOs at established retail brands like Nordstrom to finding growth-stage marketing leaders for emerging technology companies. This industry-specific insight helps us identify candidates who not only understand marketing fundamentals but also speak the language of your business and customer base.

Trends Shaping the Marketing Talent Landscape

Marketing has never been more measurable—or more complex. CMOs today must master a broad toolkit that spans:

• Digital channels
• Customer experience
• Content
• Data
• Martech

A 2023 Gartner CMO survey found that 71% of CMOs expect to increase their investment in marketing analytics, while over 60% are restructuring teams to better align with customer data insights. This trend makes technical fluency and cross-functional leadership essential traits. Companies are increasingly seeking Chief Marketing Officers who can collaborate with product, sales, and engineering—because customer acquisition and loyalty are everyone’s job now.

Best Practices for Hiring Marketing Executives

Hiring a CMO or VP Marketing is a high-impact decision. We take a thoughtful, tailored approach—beginning with a clear understanding of your market, customer profile, and revenue goals. Our vetting process includes:

• structured interviews
• deep portfolio reviews
• strategic thinking analysis
• leadership and cultural fit assessment

Research shows that marketing executive tenure remains among the shortest in the C-suite—averaging just 40 months—often due to misalignment in expectations. We help you avoid those missteps by aligning early, communicating clearly, and focusing on long-term success. Finding a Head of Merchandising for Wild Mike’s Pizza is not a traditional VP Marketing role – but required a strong marketing savvy in understanding retailer marketing and consumer trends to stand out from the pack.

Why the Northwest Trusts Herd Freed Hartz for CMO Executive Hires

We’ve placed marketing leaders across the Pacific Northwest in sectors ranging from tech and consumer goods to healthcare and financial services. Our clients appreciate our ability to translate business objectives into the right marketing leadership profile—and our commitment to delivering candidates who can scale with your organization. We know the local market, speak the language of modern marketing, and bring a relationship-first approach that makes the process both effective and enjoyable. With us, it’s not just about finding a marketer—it’s about finding your next growth driver.