CMO Executive Search Firm

Find marketing leaders who build demand, brand, and enterprise value

Christian & Timbers helps companies hire marketing leaders who can grow brands, build demand, and develop marketing strategies that increase revenue and connect directly to business outcomes.

As expert CMO executive search recruiters, the team works directly with CEOs, boards, founders, and investors to define the marketing executive role and then recruit Chief Marketing Officers and senior marketing leaders. 

High-growth technology companies, private equity-backed businesses, and global enterprises trust Christian & Timbers to find leaders who turn brand, data, and product into a growth engine in the age of AI. 

A modern Chief Marketing Officer does more than lead a marketing department. The right CMO helps shape business strategy, improve brand perception, generate demand, support revenue targets, and guide the company through digital and AI-driven change.

Our marketing executive search to hire a marketing leader who will hold full ownership of growth and market position.

The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) role connects brand, product, customer data, sales, and revenue. The person in this role needs to think strategically to shape the company's direction. They need the experience to make executive decisions that will get business results.

Christian & Timbers CMO executive search focuses on finding the leaders who build strong marketing organizations while also working closely with the CEO, CRO, product leaders, and the rest of the leadership team. CMOs need to have a full understanding of all parts of the business to market it effectively.

CMO executive search

What Does a Modern Chief Marketing Officer Do?

The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) role connects brand, product, customer data, sales, and revenue. The person in this role needs to think strategically to shape the company's direction. They need the experience to make executive decisions that will get business results.

Christian & Timbers CMO executive search focuses on finding the leaders who build strong marketing organizations while also working closely with the CEO, CRO, product leaders, and the rest of the leadership team. CMOs need to have a full understanding of all parts of the business to market it effectively.

Define strategy.
‍How a company is seen in the market and build clear brand vision, positioning, and craft compelling brand narratives

Create demand.
Turn marketing budgets into pipeline and growth with demand generation, growth, and partnering with sales.

Market products. Connect customer needs with the product and explains how the product solves a customer problem, and distinguishes from competitors.

Marketing ROI.
Use data-driven decision-making to measure marketing ROI, connect marketing performance to revenue, and communicate to boards.

A successful CMO touches brand building, digital marketing, demand generation, product marketing, customer experience, revenue operations, communications, analytics, and AI.

That means the right CMO candidate depends heavily on what the company's business strategy is.

For example, a high-growth technology company may need a marketing leader who can create a category and quickly build a pipeline of customers. A mature enterprise may need an executive who can modernize its brand and develop marketing systems. A private equity-backed company may need a CMO who can increase demand generation and support aggressive revenue targets.

Christian & Timbers builds each CMO executive search around specific business needs and goals.

What Christian & Timbers Looks for in CMO Candidates

Business Impact
Can the candidate connect marketing strategies to revenue, customer growth, market share, or enterprise value?

Marketing Leadship
Can the executive build a strong marketing team, train future leaders, and work effectively across the executive team?

Strategic Vision
Can the candidate understand an evolving market and decide where the company should invest its time, money, and attention?

Leadership Style
Does the executive's leadership style fit the company's culture, growth stage, CEO, and existing leadership team?

CMO Executive Search for Brand, Growth, Digital and Product Marketing

No two CMO executive searches are exactly alike. Like almost all company roles, the responsibilities of a CMO are nuanced and depend on the company. Some companies need a brand builder. Others need a demand generation expert. And many need a marketing leader who can do both.

Christian & Timbers recruits marketing executives across:

  • Chief Marketing Officer
  • Chief Growth Officer
  • Chief Brand Officer
  • Chief Digital Officer
  • Chief Commercial Officer
  • VP of Marketing
  • VP of Growth
  • VP of Demand Generation
  • VP of Product Marketing
  • VP of Brand
  • Marketing Directors
  • Revenue Operations leaders

For companies building a broader commercial leadership team, Christian & Timbers also recruits Chief Revenue Officers and other senior sales and marketing executives.

CMO Search for High-Growth Technology Companies

Marketing leadership becomes especially important when a company is creating a new market, launching new products, or scaling quickly.

Christian & Timbers works with high-growth technology companies across all industries, including AI, cybersecurity, SaaS, and data infrastructure.

Companies in these specific industries need marketing leaders who can explain complex products in simple language, create demand in new categories, work closely with product and sales, and build marketing teams that can scale.

For AI-driven businesses, there be a bigger need for CMO who understand how AI is changing marketing. Do they know how they can use AI for customer research, content creation, marketing operations, analytics, and digital transformation?

Learn more about AI executive search practice.

CMO Executive Search for Private Equity Portfolio Companies

Private equity-backed companies usually have a specific and calculated growth plan. Marketing needs to be fully on board and support it.

A portfolio company’s plan may require a CMO who can reposition the brand, improve demand generation, enter a new market, support a sales transformation, or prepare the business for its next stage.

Christian & Timbers works with both the investors and the company’s leadership team to identify the marketing skills and expertise that the business plan needs to succeed.

Christian & Timber’s private equity executive search team works with CMO roles to ensure the role aligns with broader leadership needs across the portfolio.

Christian & Timbers CMO Executive Search Process

Every CMO executive search starts with defining the business goals and objectives for the role. Before searching for candidates, Christian & Timbers dives into understanding what the new marketing leader actually needs to accomplish in the first 12-18 months.

Define the CMO Role

Meets with the CEO, board, investors, and other key leaders to understand strategy, targets, brand position, challenges, and growth plans.

Map the Market

Executive recruiters conduct market mapping across relevant industries, companies, and adjacent markets..

Target and Assess Candidates

Targeted outreach to engage potential CMO candidates. Candidate assessment looks at expertise, leadership style, thinking, previous outcomes, and culture.

Select and Close the Hire

The CMO executive search team helps clients compare finalists, complete references, structure the offer, and prepare for the executive's transition into the organization.

How CMO Executive Search Reduces Hiring Risk

CMO hiring can be difficult because successful marketing looks different from one company to another.

For example, one marketing executive may have built a global brand but may have little experience creating demand for a new product category.

Another marketing executive may be excellent at growth marketing but lack experience managing a large marketing team.

That’s why CMO executive search firms need to have a full grasp of the company's plan before finding a candidate.

Christian & Timbers evaluates:

  • The size and type of companies they have helped grow
  • The marketing teams they have built
  • Their experience with brand marketing and demand generation
  • Product marketing expertise
  • Marketing budgets and investments they have managed
  • Their relationship with sales and revenue operations
  • Their ability to use data in decision-making
  • Digital transformation experience
  • Their leadership development record
  • Measurable business outcomes from prior roles

This gives the company hiring team a more complete understanding of the candidate than a résumé can provide.

CMO Marketing Leadership Must Work Closely With the Entire C-Suite and Board

At the best marketing organizations, Chiefs Marketing Officers work closely with sales, product, finance, technology, and company leadership.

This makes it important for Christian & Timbers to evaluate how CMO candidates operate as enterprise leaders, not just as marketing experts.

CEO + CMO

The CMO helps translate the company's strategic vision into a clear market position and growth story.

CRO + CMO

Marketing and revenue leadership align demand generation, pipeline, customer acquisition, and revenue targets.

CPO + CMO

Product and marketing leaders connect customer needs, product strategy, positioning, launches, and market feedback.

CFO + CMO

CMOs increasingly need to explain marketing investments, performance, and ROI in financial terms.

Christian & Timbers conducts C-suite executive search across the leadership team. If you need more than one C-suite role, the excels at finding complementary leaders that work synergistically.

Why Companies Choose Christian & Timbers for CMO Executive Search

The hardest part of finding the right marketing leader is finding someone who fits the company's specific business strategy.

Christian & Timbers brings 40+ years of executive search experience, market research, targeted outreach, and structured candidate assessment together in one search process.

The firm has completed more than 5,000 C-suite and board executive searches and works across all industries including, technology, AI, private equity, cybersecurity, SaaS. These are all industries where leadership decisions can makes-or-break company growth.

Through Christian & Timbers extensive network, the firm searches beyond executives who are actively looking for jobs. The best candidate often are already performing and getting results at a different company. Christian & Timbers knows how to find the best fit and develop a compelling offer..

CMO Executive Search Results

Christian & Timbers has experience in marketing executive search for go-to-market leaders for companies navigating growth, transformation, and major business transitions. CMO hiring should be considered in the context of the entire leadership team rather than marketing alone.

In one private equity portfolio engagement, Christian & Timbers recruited a GTM President, CMO, SVP of Sales, CPO, and SVP of Engineering. The investment partner reported that the executive hires drove 2X growth.

In another engagement, Christian & Timbers recruited a CRO and CMO for a Bessemer portfolio company. Bessemer Operating Partner Andy Geisse said the leaders helped the company achieve a critical exit.

See more successful executive placements.

Christian & Timbers Testimonials

SYLVIA ISLER

Working with Christian & Timbers was an exceptional experience from start to finish. The firm reached out to me on LinkedIn regarding the CTO opportunity at Atropos Health, and from that initial contact, they demonstrated true professionalism and clear communication. Throughout the entire interview process, JC Christian was an invaluable partner. He played a key role in coordinating the steps between me and the Atropos team, and his regular, thoughtful check-ins ensured I felt supported and informed at every stage. Moreover, it was JC's proactive, intuitive sourcing that connected me with Atropos.

I highly recommend the executive search firm to any executive looking for their next challenge or any company searching for top-tier talent; Christian & Timbers makes the recruiting process seamless, efficient, and genuinely human.

SYLVIA ISLER

CTO

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MARIA RIVAS

I had the privilege of working with Jeff Christian, founder and CEO of Christian & Timbers who helped me secure an independent corporate board director role at a global radiopharmaceutical company.  From the outset, Jeff demonstrated a deep understanding of the company’s growth trajectory and outlook, board governance and strategic oversight needs, and how my experience could add value at the board level. His guidance throughout the process was thoughtful, strategic, and highly effective. I would strongly recommend Jeff Christian and his firm to any corporate board seeking a strategic executive recruitment firm able to identify and attract outstanding board talent.

MARIA RIVAS

BOARD MEMBER

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WILLIAM R. JELLISON

I had an outstanding experience working with Jeff Christian and his team. They presented me with a compelling Board opportunity at Telix Pharmaceuticals, which I was very pleased to accept. Jeff and his team demonstrated strong professionalism throughout the process. They worked effectively with both sides to ensure the role was an excellent fit - exciting, strategically aligned, and well-matched to my background and interests.

I would highly recommend Jeff Christian and his team to any executive or company seeking top-tier board placements.

WILLIAM R. JELLISON

BOARD MEMBER

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BRIGHAM HYDE

Christian & Timbers is an exceptional NYC executive search partner. They move fast and found us one of the best CTOs in the industry. Would highly recommend using them.

BRIGHAM HYDE

CEO

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ALFRED CHUANG

Christian & Timbers works fast, diligently, and sources great candidates. Would highly recommend them to others.

ALFRED CHUANG

FOUNDER

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BARBARA MASSA

We’ve partnered with Christian & Timbers for many years, and their team is exceptionally professional, responsive, and energetic. Thanks to their efforts, we secured an outstanding CEO and Operating Partner who have strengthened our leadership and positioned a portfolio company for long-term success.

BARBARA MASSA

PARTNER AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

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JOE DE PINHO

Christian & Timbers is an outstanding executive search firm in NYC to work with in AI and cyber security. Their data-driven and bespoke approach has been pivotal in recruiting GTM leaders and board members for our portfolio companies like SecurityScorecard. The GTM President, CMO, SVP Sales, CPO and SVP Engineering have helped drive growth by 2X.

JOE DE PINHO

PARTNER

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ANDY GEISSE

I’ve trusted Jeff and Christian & Timbers for over two decades because they always deliver. Their hands-on, relentless process brings us top leaders who know how to scale, drive performance, and deliver the best outcomes. They drove a very disciplined process recruiting a CRO and CMO for one of Bessemer’s portcos that helped us achieve a critical exit.

ANDY GEISSE

OPERATING PARTNER

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NICK DOUCETTE

Jeff and the team at Christian & Timbers were professional, communicative, and extremely responsive. They ensured the entire process was focused on what our company needed and did not push candidates they believed wouldn’t fit our culture and growth. I would work with them again without hesitation.

NICK DOUCETTE

VICE PRESIDENT, OPERATIONS

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BILL ANDREWS

Christian & Timbers’ science-based methodology and rigorous process helped us find 3 top-tier GTM leaders that know our business and drive revenue. Their approach has been crucial to our company’s growth and leadership.

BILL ANDREWS

CEO

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CHRISTY WYATT

Christian & Timbers did an awesome job on a tough CFO search for us. We were interviewing the best local candidates with PE and SaaS experience in less than 2 weeks and met a short timeline.

CHRISTY WYATT

CEO

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EZEQUIEL STEINER

The team at Christian & Timbers drove a very tight process and completed our CISO search in less than 70 days. We needed someone in Boston with a very specific skill set. C&T executes exactly as they commit.

EZEQUIEL STEINER

CEO

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Frequently Asked Questions About CMO Executive Search

What is CMO executive search?

CMO executive search is a specialized recruiting process used to identify and hire Chief Marketing Officers and other senior marketing executives.

Unlike traditional recruiting, executive search typically includes market research, direct outreach to employed executives, structured candidate assessment, references, and support through the final hire.

What does a Chief Marketing Officer do?

A Chief Marketing Officer leads the company's marketing strategy.

Depending on the business, that can include brand strategy, demand generation, digital marketing, product marketing, customer research, communications, marketing operations, growth marketing, and marketing analytics.

The CMO also works with other senior leaders to connect marketing activity with broader business outcomes.

When should a company hire a CMO?

A company may need a CMO when marketing becomes important enough to require executive-level leadership.

Common triggers include rapid growth, expansion into new markets, a major product launch, weak demand generation, changing brand positioning, increased marketing investment, or the need to connect marketing more closely with revenue.

Read Christian & Timbers' complete guide to hiring a CMO.

What should companies look for in a CMO?

The right CMO profile depends on the company's goals.

Important areas can include brand building, demand generation, growth marketing, digital marketing, product marketing, team leadership, marketing ROI, strategic thinking, data-driven decision making, and experience working with sales and product teams.

A company's growth stage and business model should determine which skills matter most.

How does a CMO executive search firm find candidates?

CMO executive search firms use market mapping, research, professional networks, referrals, and targeted outreach to identify senior marketing executives.

This allows the search to include executives who are not actively applying for new roles.

How are CMO candidates assessed?

Christian & Timbers evaluates CMO candidates against the company's specific business goals.

Assessment can include leadership experience, marketing expertise, past business outcomes, strategic thinking, communication, leadership style, team development, company culture, and the candidate's ability to work across sales, product, finance, and executive leadership.

What is the difference between a CMO recruiter and a general executive search firm?

A CMO executive search partner needs to understand how modern marketing works.

That includes brand marketing, demand generation, product marketing, growth marketing, digital marketing, revenue operations, marketing analytics, and the relationship between marketing and sales.

That deeper understanding makes it easier to distinguish between executives who have similar titles but very different experience.

What roles does Christian & Timbers recruit within marketing?

Christian & Timbers recruits Chief Marketing Officers as well as Chief Growth Officers, Chief Brand Officers, Chief Digital Officers, VPs of Marketing, VPs of Growth, product marketing leaders, demand generation executives, marketing directors, and other senior marketing talent.

Learn more about Christian & Timbers' sales and marketing executive search.

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Find Your Next Chief Marketing Officer

The right Chief Marketing Officer can strengthen the brand, build demand, align marketing with revenue, and help the company compete in a changing market.

Christian & Timbers CMO executive search services help CEOs, boards, founders, and investors identify marketing leaders whose experience matches the company's strategy, culture, and next stage of growth.

Book a consultation with Christian & Timbers to start your CMO executive search.