Marketing Jobs Over $200K

The U.S. job market kept cooling in May. According to our data partner Aspen Technology Labs’ most recent US Job Market Update, in May, total job postings slipped another 1.3% month-over-month and 2% year-over-year, with new job creation falling 5.2% YoY. Two months of declines have some sectors wondering how bad it can get.

But marketing? Still sipping its Aperol spritz. This week, total marketing job postings in the U.S. actually crept up to 34,538 - a smidge higher than the 34,489 we reported just two weeks ago, and only a marginal -0.7% dip year-over-year. In a market where most sectors are shrinking, flat suddenly feels like a bonus.

And some of the CMOs we know well who are job-seeking or job-curious are telling us that they have seen a major pickup in both the volume and quality of the roles they are being pitched, and that most are coming through headhunters vs. in-house HR.

Aspiring CMOs are having a moment. There are now 4,430 director-level-and-above roles up for grabs: a sturdy 10.9% increase YoY and a small but welcome 0.3% bump from last quarter. Better yet, over half of these listings (53.4%) now include salary ranges, and here are the median salaries by seniority:

• Chief Marketing Officer: $249,995

• SVP/Head of Marketing: $199,992

• VP/Director of Marketing: $162,500

• Marketing Manager: $118,498

• Marketing Specialist: $71,001

Geographically, New York continues to hoard nearly 20% of senior marketing roles, but it is not winning the salary race. San Francisco holds the crown at $185,578, with Boston and Seattle hot on its heels.

In short: while the wider economy tiptoes nervously, marketing still has its dancing shoes on. In fact, we’re seeing an even wider spread of industries, businesses, and institutions snapping up senior marketing talent. One sector that’s made us sit up and take notice this week? Higher education.

The Rise of CMOs in Higher Education

In 2023, U.S. universities spent $2.3 billion on advertising, and by 2025, that figure’s projected to hit $3 billion. Not marketing in general, mind you. Just ads.

Naturally, this surge is pulling senior marketing roles into the spotlight across higher ed. Yale recently filled its Chief Communications and Marketing Officer post. Oakland University is hiring for the same role, while Austin Peay State University is on the lookout for a Chief of Marketing and Strategic Comms. University of North Texas is searching for a VP of Marketing and Comms. Over at Johns Hopkins, they're offering up to $220K base for a Senior Director of Marketing and Communications focused on enrollment management. And Stanford, having brought in a new CCMO last year, is now building out its director bench with roles like Growth Marketing Director and Marketing Director. And this week, upstate New York is entering the limelight, with local universities dangling CMO salaries that outmuscle even the likes of Stanford and Yale.

Rensselaer is appointing its first Chief Marketing Officer, with a clear brief: to strengthen the institute’s profile and influence in areas that matter: research, talent, and capital.

RPI already commands real depth in science, engineering, and quantum computing and maintains an influential alumni network.

Yet its brand does not yet match its capabilities. At least, not yet.

This is a newly created, cabinet-level role reporting to President Martin Schmidt. The CMO will help shape how RPI tells its story, externally and internally and strengthen its institutional voice. I think the president sees brand as a lever to accelerate outcomes across admissions, recruitment, and public and private funding.

Timing matters. RPI now hosts the first IBM Quantum System One on any university campus - a system valued in the tens of millions, secured through a major philanthropic gift from trustee Curtis Priem. Very few institutions globally have direct, on-premise access to such hardware; most rely on shared cloud platforms. For RPI, this is a rare opportunity to differentiate itself in a field poised to reshape sectors from pharmaceuticals to defence.

In today’s political climate, making quantum research a signature initiative could attract as much scrutiny as acclaim, particularly as federal attitudes toward academic freedom continue to harden. The CMO will need to navigate this balance with discipline and foresight.

Higher education today faces real external pressures. Demographics are shifting. And the sector now finds itself a direct target in national political battles, with universities portrayed alternately as elite outposts or ideological adversaries. I would expect the CMO here to invest considerable energy in defending institutional values and reputation in an environment where public funding, accreditation, and even the right to enrol international students can turn into political flashpoints.

RPI’s location in Troy, NY, offers both focus and constraint. The institute can double down on its academic and technical strengths without major-market distraction, but projecting global relevance will require sustained brand leadership. I think the mandate here is clear: position RPI as an essential voice in quantum computing, AI, materials science, and the technical disciplines driving the next industrial era.

This is not a role for a marketer seeking to impose a corporate template. The language in the JD - “relationship-oriented,” “creative,” “team-oriented” suggests an institution that will expect its marketing leader to build trust across the academic community.

If I were filling this seat, I would begin with marketers who have built brand and reputation strength in elite academic settings, leading research hospitals, or mission-driven scientific organizations. Select agency leaders with deep institutional experience could be strong candidates, but only those able to partner with academic leadership and culture with genuine respect.

One practical note: the Capital Region offers more range than many may assume. We have lived in Saratoga Springs, commutable to this role, and found it an excellent base. The right neighbourhood choice matters, and the train to Penn Station remains a reliable option. Troy has great food options, too, FYI.

Cornell is hiring a CMO to lead marketing for eCornell, its fast-growing online learning arm. The role comes with a clear ambition: Cornell aims to make eCornell a dominant player in executive and professional education, and it is structuring this seat to deliver on that goal. The CMO will oversee a $25M marketing budget, a global portfolio, and a direct revenue mandate.

The brief is sophisticated. The CMO will own strategy across both B2B and B2C channels, marketing to corporate clients and individual learners. The portfolio spans online certificates, executive education, social impact programs, and hybrid offerings. The new hire will be expected to drive measurable growth, not simply brand awareness. This aligns with a broader trend: nearly half of university CMOs now report directly to the president, and marketing is expected to drive not just visibility, but enrollment, revenue, and even product strategy.

I would read this as an opportunity for a product-minded marketer who knows how to marry premium brand and performance marketing. The CMO here will not be starting from scratch: eCornell is already a $100M+ business, and they are scaling and refining the marketing engine. The university wants to see stronger positioning in a crowded market, sharper go-to-market execution, and improved ROI across channels.

The role also requires political fluency. Cornell’s institutional brand must be protected even as eCornell markets aggressively in the commercial space. This is no abstract concern: the university is already grappling with a $1 billion federal funding freeze, proposed endowment tax hikes, and new limits on campus speech. I would expect the CMO to manage positioning with delicacy, ensuring that eCornell’s growth story supports the university’s efforts to defend its values and funding in a volatile political climate.

The fact that this role reports into eCornell, not central university marketing, is also telling. Cornell is giving the CMO operational latitude and holding them accountable for results. It is a smart structure, but one that demands a leader who can navigate both entrepreneurial expectations and Ivy League governance.

If I were filling this seat, I would look hard at marketers from executive education, scaled SaaS, and professional services firms, people who understand premium B2B marketing and long-consideration consumer journeys. Corporate online education veterans (Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, 2U) might surface here, but I would also watch for CMOs from high-end content brands who reach a discerning reader.

America is losing its tourist appeal.

Expedia’s CEO warns Europeans are skipping the U.S. entirely. Airbnb’s CFO sees the same trend.

Inbound travel is stalling, brand America is wobbling, and U.S. marketing leaders are now navigating a real perception problem. This is the backdrop for American Dream’s EVP Marketing search and the role’s true stakes.

What is American Dream? For the uninitiated: it’s a 3-million-square-foot hybrid mall-meets-theme-park complex just outside NYC, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It has a full water park, ski slope, giant Ferris wheel, Nickelodeon theme park, luxury shopping wing, mass retail, and a rotating cast of entertainment events. It was an audacious pre-pandemic bet by developer Triple Five.

Now? It’s a paradox. Last year, rides were busier than at any time since its 2019 soft-opening: 2024 attendance hit 2.5 million guests, up 16% year-over-year (TEA/AECOM league table).

But American Dream is still dragging a mountain of expensive debt. Triple Five has repeatedly missed bond payments, and until that changes, Wall Street will keep calling the complex a “white elephant” - even as families line up for Shrek-branded slides.

And the competition isn’t standing still. Regional players like Six Flags, fresh off its merger with Cedar Fair and armed with a $1 billion capital spend pledge, are rolling out new rides and marketing hard to keep locals from defecting to American Dream’s year-round indoor attractions. In other words, you’ll be competing for attention, visits, and loyalty in a very crowded, well-funded market.

As I see it, this role is a fight for relevance in a global leisure market. They need a marketer who can sell the experience, not just the square footage, at a time when international visitors are thinking twice, and domestic ones have an abundant choice.

Worse yet, they score a weak 3.1/5.0 on Glassdoor and only 51% of employees would recommend to a friend. We talked to a couple of insiders in the marketing team for the scoop and both indicated they were actively looking for an out.

The JD hints at this urgency to fix things: “new market penetration,” “scaling paid traffic,” “event launches,” “drive visitation numbers.” I read as: the status quo is not enough. This is clearly brand repositioning, team motivator and growth challenger.

American Dream’s audience spans local repeat visitors, regional luxury shoppers, destination tourists, and TikTok-driven Gen Alpha flows. The EVP must create a narrative that works across these layers while proving out the commercial impact.

And there is one more layer of difficulty in this moment: America itself. The brand this EVP will be asked to market is called “American Dream” at a time when many minorities (including my wife) in this country feel vulnerable, unwanted, and unsafe.

The company clearly understands this, with roles like SVP of Asian Marketing already in place. But no amount of segmentation will mask the central tension: can you sell joy, belonging, and welcome in a cultural moment when trust is frayed or even broken? This will take more than campaigns, and it will require someone who can navigate this with courage.

If Taligence were filling this seat, we’d look beyond traditional mall marketing talent. The best candidates will likely come from experiential commerce (AREA15, Meow Wolf), global attraction operators (Disney, Merlin), or large-scale event marketing (Live Nation, AEG). Experience scaling paid media and driving yield across partnership ecosystems will matter, and so will staff motivation. That’s a lot to ask for the salary, tbf!

A final note: this is an on-site, weekend-heavy role. You’ll be marketing American Dream as the place where Hermès shoppers and water-park thrill-seekers cross paths, sometimes in the same hour. Resilience and a relentless focus on revenue will be essential.

Professional Services firm Portage Point Partners is hiring its next Head of Marketing to help cement its place as the blue-chip fixer of America’s middle-market problems. Private equity-backed, fast-growing, and unusually blunt about pace and pressure, Portage Point is not trying to look like McKinsey. It is trying to look like the people who show up when McKinsey has already left, and the house is still on fire.

Portage Point took fresh investment from New Mountain in late 2024 and is building fast. The firm now ranks four years running on FT’s Fastest-Growing list and shows double-digit YoY revenue gains. The Head of Marketing will be expected to help turn that growth into an outsized brand presence and pipeline momentum.

Curiously, this is not a greenfield marketing build. Portage Point’s current Marketing Director, Heidi Becker, has already architected a full brand platform, modernised digital performance, and built a scalable marketing operation, with YoY gains that would turn heads even in top-tier agencies. But it’s a small team. The incoming Head of Marketing will need to lead it, protect what’s working, and personally drive the next stage of growth. This is a player/coach role, not an ivory-tower seat.

You’ll be stepping into a firm where the culture is strong. Recent employee reviews show 87% would recommend working at Portage Point to a friend, which is a telling signal in a business where intensity often comes at a human cost.

If Taligence were filling this seat, we’d tap talent from high-performing PE marketing teams, leading restructuring shops (AlixPartners, Alvarez & Marsal), and the rare class of agencies like Accenture Song, Just Global, that know how to sell complex services without resorting to brand theatre. This is not a traditional CMO title, but it is a CMO brief in all but name.

We hope you enjoyed this week’s insights. Institutions are playing the long game: education, advisory, and actual strategic firepower. 

These types of hires are deliberate moves by operators who plan to still be standing - and winning - 5 or 10 years down the line. If you know how to hold your own when the strategy gets serious, this might be your time.

But with high stakes, that comes at a price. On the one hand, it’s great that marketers have these massive challenges unfolding, but these high-intensity jobs can come at a high personal cost. Several people in our talent community have noted that they are interviewing to replace a CMO who burned out and had to take a leave of absence.

So go careful out there. As my old boss Jennifer Remling wisely said, “Work should be a part of life, not the other way around”

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But before we call it a day, here are a few more roles worth a look, because your next play might just be sitting quietly below.

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