I have watched marketing leaders leave after about four years, often after delivering what they were hired to do. Spencer Stuart’s January 2026 CMO tenure study puts average S&P 500 CMO tenure at 4.1 years.
This happens at well-funded businesses with patient boards too. This is a structural signal that boards too often treat as a hiring problem.
How long does a CMO typically remain in post?
CMOs at S&P 500 companies stay in post for 4.1 years on average, according to Spencer Stuart’s January 2026 CMO tenure study.
The study covers 346 named CMOs in role on 30 June 2025 at large listed US companies. Average tenure across every C-suite role at those companies was 5.0 years, the same study found.
Consumer companies had the shortest CMO tenure at 3.5 years, followed by healthcare at 3.9 years, according to Spencer Stuart’s January 2026 CMO tenure study. These are US data on S&P 500 companies, not a measure of UK executive tenure.
Where does CMO tenure sit among C-suite roles?
CMO tenure is shorter than CEO and CFO tenure in Spencer Stuart’s December 2025 S&P 500 C-suite snapshot.
The snapshot puts CEO tenure at 7.6 years, chief legal officer tenure at 6.1 years and CFO tenure at 4.7 years. My calculation shows that the 4.1-year CMO average is just over half the 7.6-year CEO average in the same snapshot.
COOs had the shortest average tenure in Spencer Stuart’s January 2026 CMO tenure study, at 3.3 years. Spencer Stuart says the role often goes to executives aspiring to become CEO.
Why do CMOs move on so soon?
In my view, CMOs leave early because the mandate moves faster than the contract.
Spencer Stuart’s January 2026 CMO tenure study identifies expanded CMO-plus roles under titles such as chief commercial officer, chief revenue officer and chief customer officer. Channels, tools and AI are changing which tasks require a senior leader.
Of 218 S&P 500 CMO exits between 2021 and 2025, 62% were promotions or moves to similar or bigger roles, while 9% became CEOs, according to Spencer Stuart’s January 2026 CMO tenure study. Those departures are not mainly a failure story.
A role may begin with brand, then absorb customer experience, commercial planning, data or revenue operations. Boards refill the seat rather than renegotiate the mandate. They appoint against an old job description, then ask the new leader to solve a different problem.
What does CMO turnover mean for a UK board?
For a UK board, every permanent replacement now carries the higher employer National Insurance set by the National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Act 2025.
Each departure also restarts the learning curve on customers, category and internal politics. A new leader must build trust, identify the real decision-makers and understand where stated strategy diverges from daily practice.
Section 1 of the Act raised employer National Insurance from 13.8% to 15% from 6 April 2025. Section 2 cut the annual secondary threshold from £9,100 to £5,000. The rise applies to every employee earning above the threshold, whatever the role.
IR35, the off-payroll working rules, also requires care. Since 6 April 2021, the Finance Act 2020 has made a medium or large private-sector client legally responsible for deciding an outside leader’s employment status for tax, and, inside IR35, a client contracting directly with the leader’s company deducts tax and pays employer National Insurance.
What is a fractional CMO, and when is one suitable?
A fractional CMO is a senior marketing leader engaged part-time on an ongoing basis, not as a full-time employee.
The seniority and accountability can match those of a full-time CMO, with a different time commitment. The engagement can be heavier during a rebrand or market entry, then lighter once positioning is embedded.
At Mateerz, I see the central question as whether the business needs a fixed role or a leadership capability it can resize. A full-time CMO fits when the mandate is stable and the team needs daily leadership.
What should a board test before appointing its next CMO?
A board should establish whether the mandate is durable enough for a permanent role before starting a search.
I would ask:
- Which parts of the mandate will still hold in eighteen months?
- Is that uncertainty reflected in the contract terms and review points?
- Is the business hiring for a fixed role, or a capability it must be able to resize?
Short CMO tenure gives the board a governance signal. Define the leadership need clearly before appointing someone to meet it.
Nawfal Laghzali is CEO and founder of Mateerz, a European fractional marketing leadership firm.
Leave a Comment