The first senior marketing hire after Series A

What changes at Series A

A Series A brings a plan with growth targets, and usually a hiring plan to match. The pressure is to hire a head of marketing or a CMO quickly and hand them the number. If pipeline still runs through the founder and nothing is written down, that person inherits a target without the system behind it.

That leader then spends the first months auditing, building and recruiting, on a senior salary, before anything produces.

What the first senior hire should inherit

• A message that has booked meetings with the target buyer.
• At least one channel producing meetings, with the numbers to show it.
• A CRM that records where every deal came from.
• A written sales process, from first reply to close.
• Content and a founder presence that buyers already see.
• A weekly rhythm for reviewing what works and stopping what does not.

Hire now, bring in a fractional leader, or build first

There are three common routes. Hire a senior marketer now and let them build. Bring in a fractional CMO for direction while your own team executes. Or have a team build and run the system first, then hire someone to lead it. The right one depends on whether people and a system already exist. The case for and against a CMO now is in should we hire a CMO.

What a full team would cost

As a worked example, five UK marketing roles (a head of marketing, a growth marketer, a content lead, an SDR and a marketing operations person) come to around £250,000 a year in London base salary, before employer National Insurance, pension, commission and recruitment fees. Not every Series A company needs all five, and the leader you hire will shape which ones you do need. The working is in what an in-house marketing team costs in the UK.

How Forte Growth works with Series A companies

Forte Growth builds and runs go to market and marketing for B2B startups and scale-ups, from strategy to sales. It starts with a pipeline audit inside the first month, then the go to market strategy, then the build, with the first outbound live inside three weeks. You own what it builds, and you either hand it to your team or keep Forte Growth running it. When the system works, Forte Growth helps write the role and hire the person who will lead it, so they inherit something that already produces.

Aether, a legaltech company with no marketing function, had a full one in one month, built instead of hired. To talk through what your own hire should inherit, book a 30-minute call with Alper Yurder.

Common questions

When should a Series A startup make its first senior marketing hire?

When there is a working system to lead: a message that books meetings, a channel producing them, a CRM people trust and a written sales process. Before that, a senior hire spends their first months building instead of leading.

Should we hire a CMO or a head of marketing after Series A?

It depends on what exists. A head of marketing can run and grow a working system; a CMO earns the cost when there is a function to lead and a plan to set with the board. If neither the system nor the team exists, build first.

What should a first senior marketing hire inherit?

A proven message, at least one channel producing meetings, a CRM that records where deals come from, a written sales process and a weekly review rhythm. That is the system Forte Growth builds before a hire.

Can we build the marketing function before hiring a team?

Yes. Forte Growth builds and runs go to market and marketing, from strategy to sales, with the first outbound live inside three weeks, then hands it to the team you hire or keeps running it. Aether had a full marketing function in one month.

Sources

• Aether: Forte Growth's live case study, read 14 October 2026.
• The £250,000 worked example uses the Robert Walters UK Salary Survey 2026, with exclusions as stated on Forte Growth's in-house team cost page.

Last reviewed October 2026.