Market data / CMO · Updated October 2026 · by Simon Cook

CMO salary benchmarks for consumer brands, UK 2026

At a consumer brand the CMO has to build the brand and make paid acquisition pay back, usually from one budget. London salary ranges for consumer brands from Series A to scale-up, with seed alongside, plus equity by stage and fractional day rates at seed and Series A. If you're about to make this hire, here's how Suma runs a search.

Compensation ranges

Chief Marketing Officer

Acquisition, retention, brand building, performance marketing, growth strategy.

Full-time

Series A

£110,000 - £150,000

per year + equity

Series B

£150,000 - £185,000

per year + equity

Scale-up

£176,750 - £306,000

per year. London. Source: Robert Half, Chief Marketing Officer salary in London

Seed

£75,000 - £110,000

per year + equity

Scale-up means Series C and beyond, profitable, or £20m+ revenue.

Fractional

Series A · 1 - 2 days/week

£600 – £1,300

£2,400 – £10,400/month

Seed · 1 - 2 days/week

£450 – £1,000

£1,800 – £8,000/month

Consumer CMOs who can operate across brand and performance are rare and price accordingly. Equity at seed typically 0.5 - 1.25%.

Equity benchmarks

Role	Series A	Series B	Seed	Note
Chief Marketing Officer	0.2% - 0.75%	0.15% - 0.5%	0.5% - 1.25%	Consumer CMOs with proven DTC or subscription experience command the upper end.

Equity figures represent percentage of fully diluted share capital on grant.

Typical notice periods

Role	Full-time	Fractional
CMO	3 - 6 months	2 - 4 weeks

Notice periods affect your search timeline. Factor in 4-8 weeks for a typical hiring process on top of notice. Senior candidates at large companies may have 6-month notice clauses - garden leave is sometimes negotiable.

What drives the range

Stage experience

Candidates who have done the specific job at your stage before - not just at a bigger brand - command a premium. A CMO who has taken a consumer business from its first paid channel to a repeatable acquisition engine at seed is worth more to you right now than one who ran a £5m budget at a business that already had brand awareness.

Equity appetite

Candidates willing to take meaningful equity in lieu of cash compress the salary range. At seed, a CMO taking a 20-30% salary reduction for additional equity is common and makes sense for both sides if the startup has real upside. Marketing leaders tend to be offered less equity than finance or ops at the same stage, so the ones who ask for it are usually the ones who have seen it pay off before.

Brand and performance

Consumer CMOs who can run both sides - brand building and paid performance - sit at the top of the range. Pure performance marketers who have never built a brand, and brand marketers who cannot read a CAC payback chart, sit at the bottom. At seed and Series A you usually cannot afford two people, so the one you hire has to do both.

Company pedigree

Candidates who have built the same thing you are building - at a company that did it well - command a meaningful premium. A CMO who scaled subscription acquisition at Huel or Gousto has seen the channel saturation, the CAC creep and the retention problems you are about to hit. The value isn't the brand on the CV - it's that they know what good looks like on the other side of the problems you haven't met yet.

In more detail

CMO salary in London vs the rest of the UK

Most of the consumer brands Suma works with are in London, and so are most of the CMO candidates, so the ranges on this page are London ranges in practice. A consumer CMO who can run both brand and performance at your stage comes from a small national pool, and that pool prices itself against London wherever the company is based. Remote and hybrid working have narrowed the gap further.

How CMO compensation works: cash vs equity

The salary and equity ranges on this page work as a trade. A candidate at the bottom of the cash range should expect to be towards the top of the equity range, and the reverse. Taking a lower salary in exchange for additional equity is a common trade at seed, and it makes sense for both sides if the business has real upside.

Marketing leaders tend to be offered less equity than finance or operations leaders at the same stage: 0.5% - 1.25% at seed and 0.2% - 0.75% at Series A, against 0.75% - 2.0% and 0.4% - 1.0% for a CFO or COO. CMOs with proven DTC or subscription experience negotiate towards the upper end, and the ones who ask for more equity are usually those who have seen it pay off before.

Vesting at this stage is nearly always four years with a one-year cliff, granted under an EMI scheme where the company qualifies. The guide on executive equity covers the terms in full.

What a CMO costs all-in

Base salary is only part of the cost. Employer's National Insurance at 15% above the secondary threshold, an employer pension contribution and the dilution from the option grant all sit on top, before any bonus or search fee. A CMO also needs a budget, a team and access to data to do the job, so the hire commits the business to more than the package. A fractional CMO at one to two days a week is a day rate and nothing else, which is part of why the fractional route can look cheaper than it turns out to be.

Fractional or full-time CMO

Fractional CMOs at seed charge £450 – £1,000 a day, or £1,800 – £8,000 a month at one to two days a week, rising to £600 – £1,300 a day at Series A. Fractional cover can set direction and audit spend. The day-to-day work of running brand and paid performance together, which at seed and Series A usually has to sit with one person, is where a full-time hire earns its cost.

UK vs US CMO salaries

Founders benchmarking against US data will find the numbers on this page low. US executive pay runs higher across the board, and US rounds are larger. Equity percentages are closer between the two markets than cash is. It's worth raising that early with any candidate who has worked in the US.

Series B and beyond

At Series B the CMO range moves up to £150,000 - £185,000, with equity of 0.15% - 0.5%. By this stage the CMO is usually running a team across brand, performance and CRM, and the job is to grow a brand that already works into new markets or channels without breaking what customers already love.

For scale-up and established consumer brands, Robert Half, Chief Marketing Officer salary in London puts a CMO at £176,750 - £306,000.

Interview guide

Ask

“What's your approach to the first 90 days?”

Why it matters

A good consumer CMO will want to audit before they spend. Anyone who immediately pitches a campaign hasn't done this before.

Ask

“Tell me about your best acquisition channel. Why did it work and would it work here?”

Why it matters

Tests whether they understand why things worked, not just that they did. The transfer question separates genuine insight from luck.

Ask

“How do you think about the relationship between brand and performance?”

Why it matters

At seed you usually can't afford to separate them. You need someone who can hold both simultaneously.

Ask

“What's the worst-performing campaign you've run and what did you do about it?”

Why it matters

Every CMO has failures. The ones who won't discuss them are the ones who haven't learned from them.

Ask

“Tell me about a time you took a brand that was already working into a new market or channel. What did you have to change?”

Why it matters

At a scaling brand the CMO inherits something that works. You want someone who can grow it without breaking what customers already love.

Common questions

What is the CMO salary range at seed stage?

A full-time CMO at a seed-stage consumer startup in the UK typically earns £75,000 - £110,000 per year. Consumer CMOs who operate across both brand and performance marketing sit at the upper end of this range.

What is the CMO salary range at Series A?

At Series A, full-time CMO salaries at consumer brands in the UK typically range from £110,000 - £150,000 per year, with specialists in subscription, DTC, or marketplace growth commanding a premium.

What is the CMO salary range at Series B?

At Series B, full-time CMO salaries at consumer brands in London typically range from £150,000 - £185,000 per year, with equity of 0.15% - 0.5%. By this stage the CMO is usually running a team across brand, performance and CRM rather than doing the work themselves.

What does a CMO earn at a scale-up consumer brand?

For scale-up and established brands (Series C and beyond, profitable, or £20m+ revenue), Robert Half, Chief Marketing Officer salary in London puts a CMO at £176,750 - £306,000 a year (London).

What does a fractional CMO charge per day?

Fractional CMOs at seed-stage consumer startups typically charge £450 – £1,000 per day, rising to £600 – £1,300 per day at Series A. Engagements usually run one to two days per week.

How much equity does a CMO receive at a consumer brand?

CMO equity at seed stage typically ranges from 0.5% - 1.25% of fully diluted share capital. At Series A the range is 0.2% - 0.75%. At Series B it comes down again, to 0.15% - 0.5%, as the cash moves closer to market. CMOs with proven DTC or subscription experience tend to negotiate toward the upper end.

What drives a CMO's salary at a consumer brand?

Stage experience, equity appetite, the ability to run brand and performance together, and having done the job at a comparable brand. Pure performance marketers who have never built a brand, and brand marketers who can't read a CAC payback chart, sit at the bottom of the range.

Do CMOs get less equity than CFOs or COOs?

Yes, at the same stage marketing leaders are usually offered less equity than finance or operations leaders. A CMO at seed typically receives 0.5% - 1.25% of fully diluted share capital, against 0.75% - 2.0% for a CFO or COO.

What notice period does a CMO usually have?

A full-time CMO typically has a notice period of 3 - 6 months, and a fractional CMO 2 - 4 weeks. Factor in 4-8 weeks for a typical hiring process on top of notice.