What a Headhunter Charges to Hire a Marketing Director or CMO
A recruiter’s invoice is only part of the cost of appointing a marketing director or CMO. Compare fee models and salary examples, then check the employment costs and handover work before you sign.
For a marketing director or CMO, recruitment fees are normally a percentage of first year salary, with Reed publishing general agency rates of 15% to 20%, rising to 30% for harder to fill roles. Headhunter fees sit alongside salary, employer National Insurance and pension contributions in your first year budget.
How does a recruiter calculate the fee?
The starting point is the fee percentage multiplied by the salary or remuneration figure defined in the recruitment agreement.
That definition deserves attention before you compare quotes. An agreement based on basic salary produces a different invoice from one that includes an anticipated bonus, car allowance or other benefits.
Check whether a minimum fee applies and whether the final invoice changes if you agree a higher salary with the candidate.
The role itself also affects the search you need: a marketing director running an existing team has a different remit from a CMO expected to reshape the commercial strategy.
The UK marketing director salary guide by company size can help you assess the salary budget before you calculate the recruitment charge.
What is the difference between retained search and contingency recruitment?
Contingency recruitment usually means the agency earns its placement fee when a candidate it has introduced is hired, with the contract defining the payment trigger.
You might appoint an agency exclusively or allow several agencies to work on the vacancy. Exclusivity is a separate contractual question from whether payment is contingent on a hire.
Retained executive search means you commit to paying for the search work, with payments due at agreed stages.
Those stages can include the start of the assignment, delivery of a shortlist and completion of the appointment. The agreement should specify what triggers each invoice and what remains payable if you pause or cancel the search.
A retained assignment can include market mapping and approaches to people who are not actively applying for jobs. Ask what the firm will deliver and who will conduct the work, since the label alone does not establish the scope.
Hiring through either model can be the right decision. A retained search may suit a confidential appointment or a tightly defined candidate market, while a contingency recruiter may already have suitable people available.
What do headhunter fees look like at different salaries?
Applying the rates in Reed’s recruitment cost guide gives the following calculations for the three salary levels.
These calculations use basic salary as the fee basis and exclude VAT.
| Annual basic salary | Fee at 15% | Fee at 20% | Fee at 30% |
|---|---|---|---|
| £70,000 | £70,000 × 15% = £10,500 | £70,000 × 20% = £14,000 | £70,000 × 30% = £21,000 |
| £90,000 | £90,000 × 15% = £13,500 | £90,000 × 20% = £18,000 | £90,000 × 30% = £27,000 |
| £120,000 | £120,000 × 15% = £18,000 | £120,000 × 20% = £24,000 | £120,000 × 30% = £36,000 |
The higher percentage is a cost scenario, not a universal retained search rate. The recruiter’s written quotation determines the percentage and fee basis for your appointment.
For a £90,000 appointment, moving from a 20% quote to a 30% quote adds £9,000 before VAT, calculated as £27,000 minus £18,000.
That difference needs to be assessed against the search scope, candidate access and assessment work included in each proposal.
What is the total first year cost of the hire?
The recruitment invoice is an additional cost of making the appointment. Salary also creates employer National Insurance and workplace pension obligations.
How are employer NI and pension contributions calculated?
For the 2026/27 tax year, HMRC’s employer rates and thresholds set the standard employer National Insurance rate at 15% above the £5,000 annual secondary threshold.
For a £90,000 salary, the annualised calculation is (£90,000 minus £5,000) × 15% = £12,750.
Under the qualifying earnings basis, GOV.UK’s workplace pension guidance sets the minimum employer contribution at 3% of earnings between £6,240 and £50,270.
Each salary in these examples exceeds the upper limit, so the annual minimum employer contribution is (£50,270 minus £6,240) × 3% = £1,320.90.
A scheme that calculates contributions on full salary, or offers a higher employer contribution, will cost more.
What does the combined budget look like?
The table uses annualised calculations for a full year at the stated salary, standard employer NI and minimum pension contributions on qualifying earnings from the start of employment.
It excludes Employment Allowance, NI reliefs and salary sacrifice arrangements, which can change the employer’s cost.
| Annual salary | Employer NI | Employer pension | Recruitment fee at 20% | Combined first year cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £70,000 | £9,750 | £1,320.90 | £14,000 | £95,070.90 |
| £90,000 | £12,750 | £1,320.90 | £18,000 | £122,070.90 |
| £120,000 | £17,250 | £1,320.90 | £24,000 | £162,570.90 |
For the £90,000 appointment, the addition is £90,000 + £12,750 + £1,320.90 + £18,000 = £122,070.90.
These totals exclude bonuses, benefits and equipment, along with the marketing budget the person will manage. They also exclude VAT on the recruitment invoice, so cash planning needs to allow for any VAT charged and the amount your business can recover.
What should you check before signing the agency terms?
Compare headhunter fees alongside the contractual commitments attached to them, including when payment becomes due.
An invoice triggered by acceptance of an offer has a different cash implication from one triggered by the employee’s start date. Retained payments may fall due before anyone joins.
Check what happens if a candidate withdraws before starting, and separately what happens if the employee leaves after joining.
Where a recruiter offers a rebate or replacement period, establish when it begins and what conditions apply. Late payment, late notification or changes to the role can affect eligibility under the agreement.
A replacement service and a fee rebate are different remedies. The terms should explain which applies, whether any additional charges arise and what happens if a replacement search does not produce an appointment.
Also check how introductions are attributed. If someone is already known to your business or arrives through more than one agency, resolve that position in writing before progressing the candidate.
For a retained search, read the cancellation provisions alongside the payment schedule. Your obligation to pay for completed search work may continue even if you decide to stop recruiting.
What should be in place before you pay a search fee?
A recruiter needs a brief that explains what the director will own, what authority they will have and what resources they can use.
If you need someone to set strategy and manage a team, recruit for that responsibility. If the immediate need is execution within an agreed plan, assess whether the director title matches the work.
The candidate should be able to understand how the business currently wins customers and where you expect them to make changes.
That does not require perfect attribution, but it does require an honest account of where enquiries come from, how follow up works and which commercial figures you trust.
Company ownership of accounts also belongs in the preparation. The incoming director needs access to the systems and reporting they are expected to manage, with responsibilities agreed between employees and any agencies.
The guide to what to put in place before you hire a marketing director covers those foundations in more detail.
The distinction is between work the new director should lead and preparatory work your existing team can complete before they arrive. Some businesses need senior leadership to establish those foundations, so preparation should not become an indefinite reason to delay a necessary appointment.
Where does The Growth Install fit before a marketing hire?
The Growth Install is for founders about to hire a marketing manager, head of marketing or fractional CMO. Over 90 days we install three agreed growth workflows on your own accounts, with tracking and a live dashboard, next to the people who'll own them. It's one flat fee for three months, then it stops. If you still hire, your new hire has something to take over and improve from day one.
That makes it an alternative to hiring immediately when the next step is to establish agreed workflows and the team’s ability to run them.
It does not cover every marketing channel or replace a marketing department. Where the business needs ongoing senior leadership, the permanent appointment may still be the right decision.
The client owns the accounts and systems, so an incoming director can take responsibility for the work already installed.
What else should you know before appointing a headhunter?
Do I pay a contingency recruiter if nobody joins?
A contingency placement fee is normally conditional on a hire, but the contract determines when it is earned. Check for separately chargeable advertising, assessment services or other agreed work before assuming that no appointment means no invoice.
Should I choose the recruiter with the lowest percentage?
Compare proposals against the same role brief and remuneration basis, then examine the search work included. A lower rate can be appropriate, but the comparison also needs to cover candidate access and the recruiter’s responsibility for assessing suitability.
Do headhunter fees include VAT?
Check whether the quotation includes VAT or states that VAT will be added. The tables above exclude it, and your business’s ability to recover VAT determines how much becomes an additional cost.
Do I need a retained headhunter for a marketing director?
The job title alone does not require retained search. Confidentiality, the candidate market and the amount of research needed should inform the choice, with the agreed scope recorded in the contract.