Digital Marketing Director Recruiters for Consumer Brands
Digital marketing directors and VPs who run paid media, social, CRM and ecommerce marketing for consumer brands and retailers, and can show what the spend returned.
A vacant digital marketing director seat costs more than the salary you are saving. Campaigns stall, agencies drift without senior oversight, and the managers sitting below the gap start taking calls from other employers. Momentum built over years of brand investment can unwind in a single quarter.
SundryHall is a specialist recruitment agency focused on the consumer goods and retail sector, and our digital marketing searches run at director and executive level. We connect brands with the marketing leaders who keep growth plans on schedule: people who can own performance marketing, ecommerce, brand, CRM and data under one remit, and who understand the commercial realities of selling to consumers through retail and direct channels.
Because we work exclusively within consumer goods and retail, a search starts from a working knowledge of the senior marketers delivering results in your category, including those who are not actively looking. That sector focus is what turns a long, uncertain search into a shortlist of credible, proven candidates.
What our digital marketing executive search covers
Digital marketing director recruitment sits within our executive search practice. We run structured searches for senior digital marketing positions, from director to vice president, and chief marketing officer appointments run through our CMO search. Every search is scoped around the specific demands of consumer-facing businesses, where seasonality, trade spend, and channel mix shape what a director actually needs to deliver in their first year.
Our digital marketing executive search work covers leadership across the full digital remit. That includes demand generation, ecommerce and D2C marketing, SEO and paid media, marketing automation, CRM and lifecycle marketing, brand and content, and the analytics function that ties spend to revenue. We recruit directors who can shape marketing strategies, build and lead a marketing function, manage agencies and budgets, and report credibly to founders, boards, and investors.
These hires usually take one of three shapes. The first is a growth hire, where a business has proven product-market fit and needs a digital marketing director to scale acquisition profitably across paid, organic, and owned channels. The second is a transformation hire, where an established consumer brand is shifting spend from traditional media into digital and ecommerce and needs a leader who can rebuild the team, the tech stack, and the measurement framework. The third is a succession or backfill hire, often confidential, where an incumbent marketing leader is moving on and continuity matters as much as capability.
Who we work with
We serve hiring managers, HR and talent acquisition leaders, founders, and executives at consumer goods and retail businesses across the United States. Those businesses include CPG manufacturers, food and beverage brands, beauty and personal care companies, fashion and apparel labels, grocery and specialty retailers, and ecommerce and D2C businesses.
In these organizations digital marketing answers for revenue. A director hire in this environment has to understand product launches, retail calendars, and the pressure of quarterly sell-through, because digital plans live or die on what happens at the shelf and in the cart. That industry experience shapes every shortlist we present.
What these organizations share is a need for leaders who can hold both halves of the role at once: the commercial accountability that comes with owning revenue targets, and the technical fluency to direct performance media, ecommerce platforms, retail media networks, CRM, and brand teams. We screen for that combination before a single name reaches your desk.
Why senior digital marketing hires are hard to get right
The digital marketing talent pool is broad at the delivery level and narrow at the leadership level. Plenty of candidates can run paid media, SEO, lifecycle email, or social channels. Far fewer can build a marketing strategy from scratch, hold their own in a P&L conversation with a CFO, and develop a team while doing both. The strongest marketing leaders are usually employed, performing well, and not reading job boards, which means a posting alone rarely reaches them.
There is also a measurement problem. Senior digital marketing roles are judged on pipeline, customer acquisition cost, retention, and revenue contribution. A candidate who looks strong on paper may have operated inside a mature demand engine that someone else built, and the interview process often fails to surface that distinction until the hire is already in seat.
Digital marketing recruiters who understand the sector close that gap. We map the market before we approach it, identifying qualified candidates inside competitor and adjacent organizations and engaging them discreetly. We assess for the things that actually predict success in a leadership seat: commercial judgment, the ability to build and retain a team, comfort with ambiguity, and a record of owning numbers rather than activity.
Marketing roles we recruit at director level and above
The positions below are a selection of the digital marketing leadership searches we run, and the list is not exhaustive, so contact us about any senior digital marketing position not shown. Brand, insights and other senior marketing roles are covered by our marketing recruiters.
Digital marketing director
Leadership of the full digital channel mix (paid media, SEO, email, content, and social) alongside budget ownership and team management for brands selling into retail or direct to consumer. These searches typically call for a leader who can balance brand building with performance accountability and translate digital activity into commercial results.
VP digital marketing
Our VP digital marketing search work covers multi-brand and multi-market remits, often reporting directly to a CMO or chief executive. At this level, candidates are expected to set digital strategy across regions, build and develop senior teams, and act as a credible voice in executive and board discussions.
Ecommerce and D2C marketing leaders
Marketing directors for ecommerce and D2C brands who own customer acquisition, retention and lifetime value, often through subscription or loyalty programs, in close partnership with merchandising and marketplace teams. Leaders who own the online P&L and the storefront itself are covered by our ecommerce recruiters.
Marketing operations director
Leadership of marketing operations, technology stacks, attribution, and the processes that make a marketing function measurable. Searches at this level often focus on candidates who can bring rigor to planning, reporting, and martech investment while improving the speed and consistency of campaign delivery.
How our search process works
Our search process is built for senior digital marketing appointments in consumer and retail businesses. Each stage is designed to give you visibility, control, and a shortlist you can act on with confidence. The six steps below set out what happens from first briefing through to a successful start in the role.
Role scoping
We work with you to define the role, the reporting line, the commercial objectives, and the profile of a qualified candidate. This is where we agree what success looks like in the first year, which skills are genuinely essential versus desirable, and how the role fits into your wider marketing and leadership structure. A precise brief at this stage saves time at every stage that follows.
Market mapping
We map the talent market across relevant consumer and retail organizations and build a target list of senior candidates. This includes people who are not actively looking but would consider the right move, which is where many strong senior hires come from. You see the map, so you know exactly which businesses and which levels of seniority we are covering before any approach is made.
Direct approach
We approach candidates directly and discreetly, presenting your opportunity with the context senior people expect before they will engage. Senior digital marketing leaders are rarely moved by a job description alone, so we lead with the commercial story, the scope of the role, and the reasons the move makes sense for their career. Confidentiality is protected throughout for both you and the candidate.
Screening and assessment
We interview and assess candidates against your brief, testing both digital marketing expertise and leadership capability. That means probing hands-on knowledge across areas such as performance marketing, ecommerce, CRM, brand, and data, alongside how the candidate builds teams, works with the wider business, and operates at pace. Only candidates who stand up to that scrutiny go forward.
Shortlist and interviews
We present a focused shortlist with clear candidate summaries and manage your interview process end to end. Each summary explains why the candidate fits the brief, where the gaps are, and what motivates them to move, so your panel can prepare properly. We coordinate scheduling, brief candidates before each stage, and gather structured feedback after every interview.
Offer and onboarding
We handle offer management and negotiation, then follow up after placement to support a strong start. Managing the offer conversation carefully reduces the risk of counter-offers and late-stage drop-outs, particularly with senior candidates who are in demand. After the appointment we stay in contact with both you and the new hire through the early months to make sure the role is working as intended.
What sets our approach apart
Sector depth is the core differentiator. Finding a marketing executive who understands promotional cycles, retailer relationships, and consumer brand economics takes a recruiter who works in that world every day. Because we recruit exclusively in consumer goods and retail, our industry expertise lets us test a candidate's commercial claims properly (probing how they actually built a brand plan, won distribution, or defended margin), and we can give you a candid view of the talent pool available at your salary point before the search begins.
We also prioritize shortlist quality over volume. You receive a small number of well-qualified marketing candidates, each assessed for cultural fit as well as technical skill, because a director who clashes with company culture rarely survives the first year. Salary benchmarking and talent mapping are built into the engagement, so your offer is grounded in the current talent market and lands where it needs to. These industry insights give your hiring manager a realistic view of the competition for talent before the first interview takes place.
Engagement terms and fit
We deliver digital marketing director recruitment on contingent, retained, or exclusive terms, and we will recommend the structure that fits the seniority and confidentiality of your search. Contingent terms suit open, competitive hires. Retained and exclusive terms suit confidential replacements, newly created leadership roles, and briefs that need committed research time and an agreed shortlist schedule.
If a brief sits outside our scope, we will tell you plainly so you can move quickly to a better-suited route. That candor applies at every stage: if a search is unlikely to succeed at the budget, title, or location you have in mind, we will say so before you commit.
Searches run nationally across the United States from our offices in Atlanta, Georgia; Marlborough, Massachusetts; Parsippany, New Jersey; and Cheyenne, Wyoming. Whether you are hiring in a major metro market, in a secondary market, or for a remote or hybrid digital marketing director role, we map the talent pool wherever the right leaders are based.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a digital marketing director search take?
Timelines vary with seniority, specialty, and market conditions. During role scoping we agree a realistic schedule with you, covering research, approach, interview stages, and offer, so you know what to expect at each point.
Can you run a confidential search?
Yes. Discretion is a standard part of our executive recruitment work. That includes replacements for a sitting incumbent who has not yet been told, leadership roles created ahead of an unannounced restructure, and searches where competitors should not learn about a change in direction. Candidates are approached without the hiring organization being named until there is mutual interest and an agreed point at which to disclose it.
Do you recruit below director level?
Our focus is director, VP, and executive-level digital marketing positions, where the search benefits from deep market mapping and direct approach, and we also recruit senior managers who lead a channel or a team. 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.
What does the engagement cost?
Fees depend on the engagement structure and the scope of the search. Contact us for a direct conversation about your brief, and we will set out the fees, terms and deliverables in writing before you commit to anything.
Start your digital marketing director search
If you are hiring a digital marketing director or planning several senior marketing appointments in a consumer goods or retail business, talk to our team. We will help you define the brief, map the market, and move quickly on the candidates who matter.
Call us at +1 888-202-9809 or email [email protected], and we will scope the search with you, including the remit, reporting line, compensation benchmarks, and the timeline you need to hit.
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.