How HR Leaders Are Rethinking Marketing Hires

Hiring a full-time marketing leader used to be the default playbook for growth-stage companies. But that approach is costing more time, money, and momentum than ever before.

Here’s how the savviest pros are approaching marketing leadership hires now.

AI’s Impact on Hiring

Today’s People teams are navigating a hiring environment unlike anything before. Job postings receive hundreds (even thousands) of applicants, many of which are:

• Generated by AI tools or bots

• Misaligned on qualifications (either under or over)

• Littered with inflated or fabricated experience

The volume is overwhelming. And worse, the tools usually used to parse candidate submissions aren’t much help. 

ATS systems, originally built to streamline candidate screening, now struggle under modern hiring demands. These platforms, often built on outdated logic, rely heavily on keyword-matching and rigid filters that can inadvertently discard high-potential candidates for trivial reasons. Even when applicants meet or exceed role requirements, biased algorithms or inflexible workflows can prevent them from surfacing. 

The problem becomes even more pronounced in executive-level hiring, where qualifications are nuanced and difficult to quantify. Strategic thinking, leadership ability, and cultural fit don’t easily translate into keywords. Here, the stakes are higher, the processes slower, and the risks of a bad hire more costly.

This isn’t just anecdotal. A 2024 research study by University of Washington graduate student Jay Yoon found that even the most advanced AI-powered hiring tools frequently screen out qualified candidates due to formatting inconsistencies or keyword overemphasis, amplifying bias rather than mitigating it.

With more resumes than humans could go through manually and tools falling short of good help, lean HR teams with open roles are spending more time managing the noise than they are moving the business forward.

The True Cost of Hiring Full-Time Marketing Leaders

Hiring a senior marketing leader isn’t just operationally intense—it’s expensive. Consider the real costs:

• $250K+ in salary, plus equity and benefits

• 60–90 days to hire (on a good day)

• Ramp time before meaningful impact

• Risk of misalignment or misfire

All this leads to high costs and slow market entry. It’s the opposite of what growth-stage companies need. And should the hire not work out, the cost is even greater: morale, momentum, and credibility with your board all take a hit.

Fractional Marketing As a Smarter Strategy

Fractional marketing leadership is gaining traction not as a fallback, but as a deliberate, strategic model.

It gives teams access to:

• Executive-level marketing expertise

• Hands-on strategy and execution

• Immediate impact—often in 30 days or less

• Flexible commitment without long-term overhead

You don’t just save on costs. You gain the right kind of momentum at the right time. Fractional leaders bring experience and clarity, helping founders and HR leaders prioritize, operationalize, and scale efficiently.

Embracing Fractional Talent Models

Fractional support is appealing to founders, but it’s also being embraced by Heads of Talent, People Ops, and CFOs alike. 

Here’s why:

• It alleviates the strain on overloaded recruiting pipelines

• It protects runway without stalling pipeline generation

• It removes the months-long drag of senior hiring cycles

• It helps teams de-risk GTM execution with seasoned experts

More and more, people leaders see fractional talent as a strategic approach, not just a temporary fix. A way to deliver results while still respecting headcount constraints, hiring freezes, or shifting team structures exists.

And importantly: Fractional leadership allows HR leaders to meet growth expectations without adding permanent headcount.

Rethinking Marketing Resourcing

People teams face pressure to hire efficiently and inclusively. They need to show measurable ROI, fast— especially in marketing roles, where teams face tight timelines and outcomes are linked directly to growth.

Fractional marketing leadership offers HR leaders a new tool. It helps meet go-to-market needs without the hiring delays, pay talks, and onboarding issues. For talent teams that report to finance, it is easier to explain. Fractional models lower fixed costs and show quick results.

Is Agility Over Headcount Right for Your Team?

Ask yourself:

• Do we need marketing leadership now, not three months from now?

• Are we under pressure to hit growth goals with limited bandwidth?

• Is our recruiting process struggling to surface qualified, trustworthy candidates?

• Is the cost of hiring full-time slowing down other priorities?

If the answer is yes to any of these, fractional marketing might be your best move.

What Growth Looks Like Without a Full-Time Hire

As fractional CMOs ourselves, we’ve partnered with growth-stage companies to:

• Reboot stalled pipeline programs

• Rebuild positioning and messaging

• Scale demand gen engines

• Launch new product lines

We achieve this without subjecting teams to lengthy interview processes, complex compensation discussions, or extended onboarding schedules. And there is no committed, six-figure expense. Instead, we focus on what truly counts: gaining traction.

Hiring turmoil is at an unprecedented level; agility is a strategic edge. For modern HR and people leaders, fractional leadership can be a more intelligent approach to staffing the roles that fuel expansion.

Want to learn more? Download our guide: Smart Hiring Alternatives: A Decision-Making Guide for Startup People Leaders.