Briefing a Client: Interim CEO with Fractional CMO

Some interim CEO candidates can also cover the CMO seat at a fractional cadence during the mandate. This is a real advantage for a founder-led scale-up or a PE portfolio company with a marketing vacancy, and it needs to be briefed clearly so the client does not undervalue it.

Why it matters

For a company with a CEO vacancy and a stalled marketing function, hiring two operators separately is slow and expensive. A single operator holding both seats for six to twelve months collapses the timeline and simplifies governance.

What to write in the brief

Scope: the CEO role is full time, the CMO role runs at one day a week inside the mandate
Pricing: a single monthly retainer, not two invoices
Exit: the CEO seat is handed to a permanent hire, the CMO seat is handed to a permanent CMO or an in-house head
Risk: name the trade-off - the CEO cannot deep-dive into marketing execution, only lead it

https://niklaslindahl.com/guides/brief-client-on-interim-ceo-fractional-cmo-overlap