Marketing Jobs Over $200K

We all know it’s an employer-led market out there - even for CMOs. But how do we actually know?

At Taligence, we speak with over a thousand senior marketers each year. Sure, there are wins and champagne-worthy milestones. But lately, there's been a distinct uptick in tales of frustration: layoffs, endless job hunts that go nowhere, rejections for being “too experienced” and of course, ghosting.

So yes, anecdotally, it’s tough. But what does the data say?

As of this week, there are 34,489 marketing job openings in the U.S.- that’s 1,401 fewer than the same week last year, a 2.9% dip YoY. So yes, the marketing job market has cooled a bit.

But zoom in on the senior end: director level and above, and the picture changes. There are 4,339 senior marketing roles currently open, up 11.3% year-over-year. That’s 442 more senior-level jobs than this time last year. So for seasoned marketers, the market doesn’t look too shabby, providing you are in the geo where these roles are clustered - consistently NY, SF, LA, FL, TX.

But, we’re only seeing one side of the equation. What’s missing is the supply side: how many marketers are actively job hunting? What’s the real competition?

Take CMOs, for instance. Here at CMO Ladder, we track between 20 and 40 new CMO hires each month. On any given day, you’ll find 40 to 70 CMO roles posted publicly on company career pages across the U.S. - and that’s not counting the stealth searches handled by firms like ours. But how many CMOs are actually out there? Where are they based? What’s their pedigree? And crucially, how many are plotting their next move behind the curtain?

We did some sleuthing on LinkedIn Recruiter. Here's what we found. I hope this doesn’t breach our T&C with them.

As of Thursday, May 29th, there are over 9,300 people in the U.S. who currently hold the title of Chief Marketing Officer at a company with 200+ employees and have 10+ years of experience (a set of criteria we use to get to the real picture). Among them, more than 2,700 have ticked that subtle little “open to work” box - not the photo adapt, but the box that only recruiter license holders have. That’s 29% actively looking. Not exactly a needle-in-a-haystack situation.

Break it down by company size, and the trends get interesting. Mid-sized companies (201–500 employees) have the most CMOs, while giants in the 5,001–10,000 range have the fewest with the title. But the real flight risk? CMOs at companies with 10,001+ employees are the most eager to jump ship. Nearly a third of them are looking for next.

Where do CMOs live? Geographically, California is home to the most CMOs, followed by New York, Texas, Florida, and Massachusetts. But if you’re holding on to your current CMO in Washington, California, or Georgia, watch out. That’s where CMOs are most likely to be polishing their resumes. Even in Illinois, one quarter of CMOs are looking for new options.

And then there’s the wildcard: relocation. LinkedIn lets users mark states they’d move to for the right role, and for some reason, Pennsylvania is lighting up. Anyone know why? Taxes? Cheesesteaks? The weather? (Surely not the weather.)

Experience-wise, the majority of CMOs are seasoned vets, with 30+ years in the game. That could include a few digital ghosts, but the trend lines up with what we’ve seen in recent CMO hires.

And MBAs? About 2,700 of the 9,300 CMOs have one - roughly in line with our CMO Moves report, which found that 38.4% of 2024’s new CMO appointees have an MBA tucked in their briefcase. We also noticed BSc’s continue to rise as the mandate keeps getting more and more scientific, but still some way to go to eclipse BAs.

* The job data are provided by our partner, Aspen Technology Labs, who monitor over 8 million jobs across 160,000 career sites in real time. The talent pool data is sourced from LinkedIn Recruiter.

This is our first foray into the supply-side data on the talent pool of Senior Marketers. Please let us know if you'd like us to do more digging around in skills, gender mix or anything else.

Now, back to the demand side.

JPMorgan Payments is hiring a CMO. On paper, it’s a career pinnacle: a global brief, $450K base, and ownership over one of the most commercially potent brands in finance. But read the JD and you’d barely know what’s at stake. It’s sterile, vague, and weirdly underpowered for the scale of the challenge.

This is where CMO Ladder earns its keep: reading between the lines.

With former payments head Takis Georgakopoulos out and co-leads Max Neukirchen (12yrs in the bank, ex McKinsey) and Umar Farooq (16yrs in the bank, also ex McKinsey) in the house - the stack is reshuffling.

Dustin Sedgewick looks like the previous role holder, according to his Linkedin he’s still in role. Prior to JPM Payments, he was in a senior, global integrated role that swung Comms at Microsoft. Your takeaway here is that they will favour candidates with global ‘matrix navigating’ chops.

It should be noted that JPM have a CMO for every division. Probably 10+, so at least you’ll have a large peer group! And no, this is not a CMO seat in the traditional sense. If you’re running marketing at a fintech unicorn or leading brand at a top-tier consumer platform, you’re probably not leaving for a legacy bank unless there’s real weight to the work.

It’s also a beast you’ll be asked to tame in-office. JPMorgan has made its five-days-a-week stance very clear. There’s a Reddit poem making the rounds from an exhausted employee titled "Back to the Office (And Straight to Hell)," and honestly, it’s good. It’s funny, it’s tragic, and it’s painfully on-brand. If you’re applying to this job, bring strategy, yes. But also resilience. And a very comfortable pair of shoes.

Payments at JPMorgan is a $18 billion business, spanning B2B, merchant, cross-border, embedded, and increasingly, platform services. That’s an operating system. And the competition in payments is absurd. Stripe. Wise. Chime. Paysend. Remitly. Adyen. Ripple. Visa. Mastercard. PayPal. Payoneer. Coinbase. Deel. Airwallex. Klarna, plus a host of Web3/Blockchain companies. Even Shopify is in the ring. And many of these firms actually have brands.

Which raises the obvious question: what is JPMorgan’s brand in payments? WePay is still a sub-brand. The broader entity has reach, and it has cash. But it doesn’t have presence. I reckon that’s the job.

If Taligence were filling this seat, we’d be looking for leaders who’ve scaled platform businesses with institutional demands, places like ServiceNow, SAP, AMEX, and so on -where trust is earned at every layer.

And we’d look for grit. Because the culture at JPMorgan isn’t always easy. Ask anyone who’s worked the account from inside a holding company or been an employee there. GroupM insiders will remember: The asks swung from the sublime to the ridiculous. Deadlines that defied time zones. Stakeholders that drained whole teams. JPMorgan work got done, but rarely with joy.

That said, this is the kind of role where ambition and ability get rewarded. If you want to own the strategy that defines how JPMorgan sells trust at scale and you can do it while dodging fish sticks and Slack pings in a Midtown war room, then take the call. This isn’t a job ad. It’s a brief. And you already know what to do with that.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Jägermeister somehow became a rite of passage for a generation of partygoers in the U.K. and U.S.  Born in Germany in 1934 as a digestif, it found its way into shot glasses and student bars. Even those who swore it off still remember the taste. And hangovers so bad you thought you might go blind.

That memory is now a brand asset. And Mast-Jägermeister is betting on it. The company is hiring a new Chief Marketing Officer for the U.S., replacing Charles Littlefield, who’s been with the brand for almost 7 years. The job will require more than nostalgia. You’ll be making Jäger relevant in a spirits market that now prizes authenticity and premium cues over stunts.

I read this as “own the U.S. growth strategy and serve as a bridge to the German HQ”. The brief: keep Jäger distinct for the bar crowd, polished enough for upscale shelves, and present in a market chasing agave and wellness. Not easy.

The brand is stable but not surging. Growth is modest. Distribution isn’t the issue, cultural relevance is – and at a time when the government is swinging for (checks notes) other countries like Germany and regions like the EU. Competitors have adapted. Jäger needs its own strategy.

I think the role requires a leader who can turn identity into business. Who can push digital, DTC, retail, and on-premise without slipping into cliché or nostalgia-for-nostalgia’s sake. Jäger needs its own strategy. And yet, it still commands a small but fervent cult following, as evidenced by r/jagermeister diehards customising tap machines, debating label fonts, and sharing rituals like they’re sacred rites – each to their own, I guess!

If Taligence were filling this role, we’d target people who’ve rebuilt iconic brands without gutting their core. So, veterans from Diageo, Campari, or Rémy Cointreau. We’d also look at those who’ve revived categories: craft beer leaders who weathered decline, or the minds behind non-alc challengers like Seedlip and Athletic Brewing. Maybe even Poppi marketers will be looking out now that Pepsi swooped in for the acquisition. And talent from Live Nation or Red Bull, who understand nightlife as commerce.

Also: this is another on-site role in White Plains, NY. No remote/hybrid setup. Well, there are some good Asian fusion places on the Main Street, I suppose.

This one will be tough. The spirits shelf is crowded. Taste is changing. What’s the occasion for shooting or sipping this drink? Jäger needs a marketer who can do more than make it cool again. They need someone who can make it matter.

Donald Trump may want to bulldoze every “woke” climate regulation, but the oceans aren’t taking orders. Storms are gathering strength, sea levels are shifting, and the Red-state coastlines that backed him hardest are often the first to flood.

Meanwhile, climate tech isn’t waiting. From satellite sensing to marine AI, a new generation of companies is building the infrastructure for a future where ocean data can inform.

So, are you right for the Head of Marketing at Sofar Ocean? I hope so! Because if we want to survive the next decade, we will need better weather models and brands that make people believe in them.

Sofar has built a vast, privately owned network of floating ocean sensors - think smart buoys. These floaters collect real-time marine weather data that’s 10–100x denser than government sources. That data feeds into their forecasting engine, Wayfinder, which helps shippers choose safer, faster, lower-emission routes. It’s part logistics optimizer, part climate resilience tool.

In plain terms: Sofar is doing for the ocean what satellite imaging and GIS did for land, turning a black box into a map you can actually plan around.

This isn’t your typical brand job. It reports directly to the CEO and will shape how the world perceives not just Sofar, but the entire idea of ocean intelligence. The comp range ($190K–$240K), which for a 116-person company, signals ambition without extravagance.

You’ll need to move easily between strategy and execution. Explaining climate data to policymakers and equipping the sales team with assets that convert. You’ll help define a category in a space where public understanding lags behind the stakes.

The buyer set also seems more complex than the spec suggests. Shippers, governments, analysts - each requires a tailored message. If you can speak to multiple high-context audiences without diluting the story, that’s a huge edge.

I’d also push on how committed they are to category education. If the job is to make ocean intelligence matter, you’ll need to influence not just customers, but analysts, media, and regulators, I presume? Ask how far they’re ready to go.

And there’s no mention of budget control. That could mean lean marketing ops, or a test-and-learn mindset. Either way, get clear.

Above all, this is a job for someone who brings shape to ambiguity and wants a job with purpose.

And yes, if you come from one of the now-dismantled federal data or climate agencies? You might be exactly who they need next.

Wayfair’s luxury offshoot is entering physical retail.

Perigold is hiring a Chief Marketing Officer at a critical time. The brand, known for high-end furnishings and white-glove delivery, is preparing to expand beyond digital. This is the first true CMO role we’ve seen them post, large budget, broad remit, and a clear stake in shaping the brand’s future.

The role owns a $50M+ media budget and leads a 20+ person team across brand, performance, content, and channel marketing. It reports to the General Manager of Perigold, not Wayfair’s CMO, which suggests a standalone mandate. I’d say that structure gives the hire more room to operate, and maybe more to prove?

Wayfair itself is under pressure. Revenue is flat, active customers are down, but spend per customer is up. The company is focused on profitability and watching costs closely. So the fact that Perigold is hiring at this level suggests the business sees real upside in the luxury segment.

Culturally, Wayfair has a preference for insiders. I’ve heard from former leaders that new thinking can face headwinds. Whoever takes this seat will need to balance a luxury sensibility with the urgency and execution speed Wayfair expects.

And then there’s the question the JD doesn’t answer: What kind of luxury brand is Perigold trying to be? I think defining that clearly will be the real work here.

If Taligence had the search, we’d be looking at RH, Design Within Reach, and Farfetch for candidates with retail and aesthetic chops. I’d also look at Away or Moda Operandi - people who know how to scale premium positioning with growth discipline.

Here are a couple more CMO roles that you may want to take a look at. Our valued paid subscribers get to access and download a list of 322 highest-paying senior marketing jobs, created within the last 30 days.

Have a lovely weekend!

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