Marketing Recruiters for Consumer Goods & Retail
Marketing directors, brand leaders, consumer insights and digital marketing heads who build demand for consumer brands and retailers.
A senior marketing hire in a consumer goods or retail business carries unusual weight. The person you place in that seat shapes how your brand appears on shelf, on screen, and in the minds of buyers who have endless alternatives. When the role sits vacant, or worse, when it is filled by the wrong person, the cost becomes visible quickly. Campaigns stall, positioning blurs, and commercial targets are missed. Recovering from a failed senior hire typically takes far longer than running the search properly in the first place.
SundryHall is a specialist recruitment agency focused on the consumer goods and retail sector. Our marketing recruiters help brands, manufacturers, and retailers identify and hire senior marketing talent through structured executive search, on retained, exclusive, and contingent terms across the United States.
Our work covers senior marketing leadership below the C-suite, from vice presidents of marketing through to brand directors, heads of digital, category marketing managers, and insights and customer experience leaders; CMO and chief growth officer searches have their own page. Because we focus on a single sector, we understand the difference between a marketer who has grown a brand through retail distribution and one whose experience sits entirely in direct-to-consumer, and we can tell you which profile fits the commercial problem you are trying to solve.
Each search is run as a structured process rather than a speculative résumé send. We begin by agreeing the brief in detail, covering the commercial context, the reporting line, the budget and team the hire will inherit, and the measures of success in the first twelve months. From there we map the relevant market, approach candidates directly, assess them against the agreed criteria, and present a shortlist with written appraisals rather than a list of names. We stay involved through interview scheduling, feedback, offer management, and onboarding, because the risk of a search unraveling is often highest in the final week.
If you are planning a senior marketing appointment, or reviewing a search that has not produced the shortlist you expected, we are happy to talk it through and give you a candid view of what the market will support.
What our marketing executive search covers
Our marketing recruitment practice concentrates on leadership and senior-level appointments. We work with hiring managers, founders, and talent acquisition leaders who need marketers with real consumer sector experience, not generalists learning the category on the job. That distinction counts because consumer marketing has its own grammar. Trade spend, retail media, promotional calendars, and buyer relationships all shape what a strong marketing leader looks like.
Typical mandates include vice presidents and directors of marketing, heads of brand, and senior marketing management roles across the functions that matter most in consumer businesses. The areas below are a selection of what we cover, not an exhaustive list, so if your requirement sits outside what is described here, contact us to discuss it.
Brand and product marketing leadership
We recruit senior brand leaders and product marketing managers who understand portfolio strategy, positioning, and how to translate consumer insight into commercial plans that survive contact with retailers and budgets. These are the people who own the brand P&L, decide where innovation effort goes, and hold the line on pricing and promotional architecture when the pressure to discount arrives. Typical appointments in this area run from brand managers stepping up to their first leadership role to marketing directors taking ownership of a full portfolio.
Growth marketing and digital leadership
Our digital marketing recruitment work covers heads of growth marketing, performance marketing directors, and digital directors for ecommerce, D2C, and omnichannel retail businesses where acquisition economics and channel mix are board-level questions. The leaders we look for are fluent in customer acquisition cost, lifetime value, and retention, and they can hold a credible conversation with a finance director about payback periods as easily as they can brief a media agency.
Content, social, and communications
We recruit experienced marketing leaders who build content marketing and social media functions, including senior managers responsible for brand voice, audience development, and owned channel strategy. This covers heads of content and communications directors who manage influencer and creator partnerships, PR, and the editorial standards that keep a brand consistent across every channel it owns.
Marketing operations and capability
We recruit leaders who own marketing automation, analytics, and the operational backbone that lets modern marketing teams measure what works and scale it. Typical remits include CRM and lifecycle marketing, martech stack ownership, data and insight functions, and the planning and budgeting disciplines that turn a marketing plan into something a board can track quarter by quarter.
Who we work with
We work with consumer-facing businesses: CPG and food and beverage manufacturers, beauty and personal care brands, fashion and apparel labels, and grocery, specialty, and multi-site retailers. We also support ecommerce and D2C companies, wholesalers, and distributors, whether they are building senior marketing capability for the first time or replacing a long-serving incumbent.
What these businesses share is a need for marketing expertise grounded in the realities of consumer goods: seasonality, retail and buyer relationships, promotional pressure, margin discipline, and the speed at which category dynamics shift. A brand director who has navigated a line review, defended shelf space against private label, or rebuilt a D2C channel after a channel conflict has a very different profile from one whose experience sits outside the sector.
Because we recruit exclusively within consumer and retail, we can assess a candidate's record against those pressures directly, instead of leaning on generic leadership credentials that say little about performance in a consumer environment. That focus also means we know which brands develop strong marketers, which roles carry real P&L accountability, and where the genuine talent sits across the category, not just who is visibly looking.
How a SundryHall search runs
Every engagement follows a structured recruitment process built around the quality of the shortlist rather than the volume of résumés. From the first scoping conversation to post-placement follow-up, you will know exactly where your search stands at every stage, and you will only meet candidates who have already been tested against your brief.
Role scoping
We start by working with you to define the role properly: the outcomes it must deliver in its first twelve months, the scope of the team and budget it owns, and the profile of the marketing executive most likely to succeed in your particular environment. Getting this right is what makes every later stage faster and sharper.
Market mapping
We then map the relevant talent pool across competitor organizations and adjacent consumer categories, identifying both active candidates and the passive ones who are not looking but would move for the right opportunity. The result is a clear view of who exists in the market, where they sit, and what it would take to attract them.
Approach and engagement
We approach those candidates directly and discreetly, representing your business and the opportunity accurately from the first conversation. That direct approach counts most when the search is confidential, the hire is senior, or the best people are not responding to advertised roles.
Screening and assessment
We interview and assess candidates against your brief, testing sector experience, leadership style, and commercial results before anyone reaches your desk. Anything that does not stand up at this stage does not make the shortlist, which is why the shortlists we send are short.
Shortlist and interviews
You receive a focused shortlist with detailed profiles explaining why each person fits the brief and where the risks lie. From there we manage the interview process end to end: scheduling, briefing, and honest feedback in both directions so momentum is never lost between stages.
Offer and aftercare
We manage offer negotiation, handle counter-offer conversations, and support onboarding once the appointment is agreed. We then follow up after the placement to make sure the hire is working for both parties, because a search is only successful if the person is still delivering months later.
Why consumer brands choose SundryHall
There is no shortage of recruiters willing to take on a marketing brief. The practical difference lies in reaching the people you need. Our searches run inside consumer goods and retail, which means we can surface senior marketers who are performing well in their current roles and are not visible on job boards or responding to advertisements. Reaching that passive majority is where most of the value in a specialist search sits.
We also bring evidence to the commercial side of hiring. Salary benchmarking, competitor organization analysis, and talent mapping come as part of the conversation, so you enter the market with realistic expectations on compensation and availability before a single candidate is approached. That transparency continues through the engagement.
Discretion is standard on senior and confidential searches. Whether you are replacing an incumbent chief marketing officer or appointing your first head of growth marketing, the market does not learn about it from us.
Engagement terms and scope
Our executive search services are delivered on contingent, retained, or exclusive terms, depending on the seniority, confidentiality, and urgency of the appointment. Retained and exclusive models suit senior marketing leadership and sensitive mandates, where dedicated resource, structured reporting, and full market coverage matter most. Contingent terms can work well for clearly defined senior hires where the candidate pool is broader and the brief is unlikely to shift. We agree the model with you at the outset, so fees, timelines, and responsibilities are transparent before the search begins.
We concentrate on managerial, leadership, and executive appointments. We do not handle entry-level, junior or staff-level positions or internships, and we do not place temporary, hourly or staff-level contract workers; contract and interim appointments at manager level and above run through our interim practice. Where a mandate falls outside our scope, we will say so early and, where we can, point you toward a more suitable route rather than take on work we are not best placed to deliver.
Frequently asked questions
What seniority levels do you recruit for?
We focus on senior marketing management through to executive appointments. That includes head of marketing and marketing director roles, vice president of marketing, senior vice president, and, through our CMO search, chief marketing officer and chief growth officer appointments. If a role carries budget ownership, team leadership, or a seat at the leadership table, it sits within our remit.
Do you recruit marketing specialists as well as generalist leaders?
Yes, provided the role is at a senior level. We recruit leaders across brand, product marketing, growth, digital, performance, ecommerce, content, insights, and communications functions within consumer businesses. Some clients need a broad generalist who can own the whole marketing function; others need a deep specialist to lead a single discipline at scale. We scope the brief around which of those you actually need before we approach the market.
How long does a typical marketing executive search take?
Timelines depend on the seniority of the role and the scarcity of the profile. A structured search with clear scoping at the outset consistently moves faster than an unstructured one, because the brief, the target pool, and the decision process are agreed before outreach begins. We set milestones with you at the start of the engagement (longlist, shortlist, interview stages, and offer), so progress is measurable rather than open-ended. Where a search runs longer than planned, it is usually because the specification shifted mid-process or interview availability slowed; both are issues we flag early so they can be resolved.
Can you help us understand the market before we commit to hiring?
Yes. Talent mapping and salary benchmarking can be delivered as standalone market intelligence, giving you a clear picture of the available talent and competitive compensation before you open a search. This is often the right first step when you are weighing whether to hire externally or promote internally, considering a new location, or building a business case for a role that does not yet exist. The output also feeds directly into a live search later, so nothing is wasted.
Where do you operate?
We recruit across the United States, with offices in Atlanta, Georgia; Marlborough, Massachusetts; Parsippany, New Jersey; and Cheyenne, Wyoming. Our consultants work with clients nationally rather than being limited to the markets immediately around those offices, and searches are run remotely or on site depending on what the hiring process requires.
Start a conversation about your next marketing hire
If you are planning a senior marketing appointment, or simply want to understand what the current market looks like for the profile you need, talk to us. A short conversation is usually enough to tell you whether a structured search is the right route, how long a brief like yours typically takes to fill, and what kind of candidates you can realistically expect to meet. There is no obligation attached to it.
It helps if you can share the basics: the scope of the role, whether it sits in brand, growth, trade or category marketing, the team it will lead, and the timeline you are working to. If the brief is still taking shape, that is fine too; we can help before a role is fully defined, and that early input usually makes the eventual search faster and more focused.
Call us at +1 888-202-9809 or email [email protected]. SundryHall connects consumer goods and retail businesses with the people who drive them.
Brief us on the role you need to fill
Tell us about the position, the location and the timeline. A consultant who works your sector will follow up to talk through how we would run the search.