Hiring
The Job Description That Attracts Senior Marketers
Most senior marketing JDs read like a checklist of buzzwords. Here is how to write one that actually pulls applicants.
The job description for a senior marketing role (Director, VP, CMO) is the single most important recruiting asset, and most are written badly. The standard format is 'responsibilities and requirements.' Senior marketers do not read those sections. They scan for three things: who you are, what is interesting about the role, and whether you have thought hard about what success looks like.
The JD that pulls senior applicants leads with a paragraph about the company and the moment (the funding stage, the customers, the trajectory, the unique opportunity), then a paragraph about the founder and the leadership team, then a clear description of the marketing problem this hire is solving (what is broken, what is missing, what needs to be built), then the success criteria (12-month, 24-month outcomes), and only then the responsibilities and requirements.
Cut compliance language ('we are an equal opportunity employer' belongs in the application form, not the JD). Cut buzzword stacking ('looking for a strategic, hands-on, data-driven, AI-native rockstar'). Cut salary range mystery (state a real range; senior candidates filter on this and silence is interpreted as below-market).
If the JD is hard to write because the role is unclear, that is a useful signal. Do not post until the role is clear. Senior candidates pattern-match on JD quality. A muddled JD signals a muddled company. The best candidates self-select away. The wrong candidates apply in volume. Spend the time to get the JD right.