This area investigates key areas surrounding current Executive Level Recruitment Trends. These aspects include the number of Executive Level roles that exist in industries, traits and skills needed, what recruiters are looking for, and how the roles are being filled in an internal and external context.

1. Executive Level Recruitment Insights In
Marketing
Research by
The Candidate
In partnership with
The Manchester Publicity Association
July 2017
1

2. Executive
Summary.
www.thecandidate.co.uk

3. • 73% of respondents said that there are 5 or less executive level roles (£70k+) in their organisation’s marketing,
media or creative departments right now.
• In 60% of cases there is a significant bias of men occupying these roles.
• The most important areas for people to progress into these executive level roles are seen to be People
Management (81%) and Entrepreneurial Attitude (65%).
• 65% of respondents stated that it takes between 2-3 months to fill an executive level vacancy.
• Team and culture is seen to be the most important factor that attracts people to an executive level role in their
organisation. Followed by salary and package and general attractiveness of the role.
• 42% of recruitment is sourced externally whilst 47% is split between internal and external methods.
• When externally recruiting, 47% of respondents said that none of the recruits come from outside of the region.
• Relocation packages are rarely offered with only 23% saying that they are.
www.thecandidate.co.uk

4. “As digital continues to take it’s grip on businesses across the UK, there is an increasingly
urgent demand for highly skilled executive level employees to grow revenues and create
marketing strategies to maximise returns. This is an ever growing important area relating to
the sector’s skills shortage and one which can really impact businesses at top line strategic
and planning level.
According to the Tech Nation 2017 Report, the UK’s digital tech sector grew 50% faster than
the rest of the wider economy in 2015. But to maintain this growth and add to this figure, we
will need to create a wealth of managers, leaders and directors to help sustain revenues and
grow businesses. While some companies are generically benefitting from digital growth,
others are enjoying the benefits of delivering complex marketing strategies that are generating
unprecedented levels of returns.
In this report, we partnered with the Manchester Publicity Association to look at the responses
from business owners and department heads to understand their thoughts on recruiting at
Executive level whose salaries are generally £70k+. We are keen to understand their thoughts
on what’s important whilst recruiting at this level and what Executive level candidates look for
in a role of this scale.
We will also look into the gender divide and understand whether at this level there is any
difference to the sector wide issue of an overwhelmingly male workforce. And finally, reveal
the age of employees occupying these executive level roles.”
Photo
www.thecandidate.co.uk
Brian Matthews
Managing Partner
The Candidate

5. The MPA is the leading not for profit organisation representing the
Creative Digital and Media industry within Greater Manchester. It
has been a central part of the CDM sector for the past 7 years since
relaunch and was established in Manchester City Centre over 90
years ago.
It delivers a series of events for its members from social, to
business development as well as some of the most engaging
programmes around Training and CPD. Most recently it led the Big
Debate around the 4 key mayoral candidates and has also delivered
another debate around Diversity.
It is led by Cindy Simmons its first ever MD and its voluntary board
is made up of leaders from industry.
This research gives us all, including our members, an interesting
insight into Executive level staffing in the region’s marketing sector.
www.thecandidate.co.uk
Cindy Simmons
Managing Director
mpa.org.uk

6. Methodology
For this investigation into executive level skills within marketing, media and creative departments, we talked to
over 60 industry heads from across the North West.
57% of respondents were agency professionals whilst the remainder were client side.
Respondents were asked about the numbers of executive level roles within their organisation, as well as the
demographic make up of these roles.
We sought to understand the factors that are important when employees are progressing into exec level roles as
well as what is seen to be important when attracting people into the organisation to undertake these roles.
Respondents were questioned about how they recruit, the length of time recruitment takes and to what degree
recruitment comes from inside the region.
www.thecandidate.co.uk

7. Chapter One:
How many executive level roles exist within marketing,
media and creative functions and who is in these roles?
www.thecandidate.co.uk

8. The majority of respondents (73%) stated that there were five or
less exec level roles in marketing, media and creative functions
within their organisation. 11% said there were between 6-10
positions.
At the higher end of the scale, only 6% said there were between 15-20
positions and 10% said there were 21 or more.
Looking at an age break down, younger employees are more likely
to take more of these exec level roles, especially in the agencies.
Of note, less than 5% of respondents stated that 50+ year olds make
up a majority of these roles and 68% said that 50+ year olds make up
none of the exec level roles.
At gender level, just 22% said that male and females occupy an even
split of roles. 60% stated there was a significant bias towards males
and 18% that there was a significant bias towards females.
21% stated a 100% male occupied exec level and 10% the same for
females. The most common split was 75% male to 25% female.
This is backed up by news from The Pipeline (via the FT) that the UK’s
largest listed companies have failed to improve gender diversity at
senior executive level. This research found that women made up only
16 per cent of executive committees at FTSE 350 companies at mid-
April this year — unchanged from the previous year.
60% state that men hold at
least 75% of exec level roles
18% state that women hold at
least 75% of exec level roles
22% state that exec roles are evenly split between men and women
www.thecandidate.co.uk

9. Chapter Two:
What traits or skills are needed for people to
progress to this level?
www.thecandidate.co.uk

10. Interestingly, areas such as professional qualifications (13%) and significant experience in a
similar role (21%) were some of the least important factors specified by respondents.
The areas which were deemed to be important to allow people to progress to exec level
were concerned with being able to manage and develop people (81%), having an
entrepreneurial attitude (65%) and a strong sense of personal development and knowledge
desire (60%). It seems that self motivation, a desire to succeed and a will to push
business forward is the key to promotion. Within this, the ability to develop and
manage people is essential. At this level, it’s the factors that can’t be taught which
are showing to be most desirable.
Employees are at least as interested in where an individual is right now and their intrinsic
make up as the experience and education that they’ve had.
Another area of importance was the need to have digital marketing skills (52%). As there
becomes continued emphasis on this area, this is unsurprising.
Amongst agency respondents in particular, client relationships were essential – as we might
expect, these were deemed to be more influential than a large professional network.
The ability to relocate was not seen as an important factor, especially within agencies.
Tying into findings in this same survey that the majority of roles are filled from within the
region – reducing the necessity of this.
People Management &
Development
Large Professional
Network over 5 years…
Over 10 years in similar
role
Digital Marketing Skills
Strong Client
Relationships
Professional
Qualifications
Ability to relocate
Entrepreneurial Attitude
Personal Development &
Knowledge Desire
Client Agency
Areas deemed to be important to allow
people to progress to exec level
www.thecandidate.co.uk

11. Chapter Three:
What are recruits looking for at this level and how long
does it take to find them?
www.thecandidate.co.uk

12. At this level, execs are looking for an organisation that fits with their sense of team and culture (71%), they are also ambitious
people and further progression opportunities are key to a large number (42%). A step into these exec level roles is often the start or
progression of a journey into the board room, company leadership and c-suite access.
Brand was mentioned by 45% of respondents. This could be seen in two ways – firstly it could be an external indicator of the culture,
discussed above and secondly it adds to a feeling of stature, credibility, importance or ‘cool’.
Salary and package are clearly considered (61%) but these tend to be more like hygiene factors that need to be covered off before more
personal indicators are considered.
Naturally the overall attractiveness of the role is key – taking all things into account, does the role appeal? Wrapped up in this can be
very personal reasons for choosing a position or organisation and the final decision will often be made up of both rational and emotional
factors.
Interestingly, training and development (5%) is not seen to be important at this level.
Response suggests that it often takes between 2-3 months to fill an exec level position and almost a third of respondents suggested
that the process could actually take upwards of 4 months.
Indicating both the importance of finding the right people for these positions as well as the difficulty in being able to do so.
6% 26% 39% 11% 18%
+
Time taken to fill an exec level position. One rectangle = one month.
www.thecandidate.co.uk

13. Chapter Four:
Are these roles being filled internally or externally?
www.thecandidate.co.uk

14. Only a few respondents said that recruitment is only sourced from within the organisation. The
majority either recruit externally or split recruitment between internal and external methods.
Of external hires for these roles, 47% of respondents stated that none of them come from
outside of the region.
At the other end of the spectrum, less than 2% said that all of their exec level hires have come from
outside of the region.
Manchester Digital Skills Audit Report 2017 agrees that the majority of talent in our businesses
is sourced locally but goes on to say that after local sourcing, London is the most popular
location to source staff.
They also note that there is some reliance on European talent to bolster the regional talent pool.
When it comes to recruiting, the Skills Audit Report also suggests that internal recommendation
and peer recommendation are the most popular methods of finding new talent and have been for
a number of years. After this, methods such as headhunting and LinkedIn advertising are
effective.
Relocation packages are not offered in the majority of cases (77%). Perhaps as a result of the
lack of reliance of recruiting from outside of the region.
11% recruit internally
42% recruit externally
47% use a combination of
internal and external
recruitment methods
www.thecandidate.co.uk

15. So what have we learnt?
www.thecandidate.co.uk

16. The gender bias is unfortunately alive and
kicking
The majority of our sample report a significant bias towards
men holding these exec level positions and this is backed up by
wider research looking across the digital media industry.
Businesses need to make concerted efforts to ensure that
women are equally represented on boards and that the pay gap
is closed. As this research has also found that the culture of an
organisation is an important factor when attracting recruits,
gender equality would go a long way to showing off a forward
thinking approach.
Employers are looking to keep the regional
talent pool strong and healthy
Many employees are making a conscious decision to recruit
from inside the region. Keeping good, talented professionals
motivated in the region benefits the North West digital media
industry as a whole.
That’s not to say that business won’t look outside of the region
to recruit the best and to bolster the talent pool where
necessary – most notably outside of the North West, recruits
are sourced from Greater London.
www.thecandidate.co.uk

17. Clear need for leadership skills
At the level of seniority discussed in this report, it’s clear that
the most important traits that individuals should possess are
those around the ability to drive a business forward and to
develop the team around themselves to be able to do the
same. Traits of a leader.
It’s interesting to see the lack of reliance on aspects such as
qualifications and this could be a great message to apprentice
level recruits who are entering the industry through a somewhat
less traditional journey. It could also be used to entice
apprentices into this route as an alternative to traditional higher
education.
Culture and values draw recruits
Whilst salary and package are always going to be important,
more and more we’re seeing that people are drawn to
organisations because of a like minded or desired culture.
Flexibility, equality, forward thinking or supportive. However an
individual can align their sense of team and culture with an
organisation goes a long way to enticing recruits.
There is a general understanding these days that we all spend a
long time at work and therefore those hours should be made as
pleasurable as possible. This is aided by working for a company
that is seen to be on the same page regards key elements of
business, team and culture.
www.thecandidate.co.uk

18. www.thecandidate.co.uk
Shiraz moved into the senior capacity of Head of eCommerce at PhD Nutrition in March 2015. This impressive senior marketing role is the
culmination of success at previous companies like TUI Travel PLC, Regatta Group and Music Magpie, where he progressed through junior
marketing jobs onto more senior eCommerce specific management positions. His career has been a successful one and he specifically
credits the North West with having positions that have accommodated his career development. Only too aware of the cycles within the digital
recruitment market, he has remained patient and applied for the hard-to-find roles when they’ve eventually come along, ensuring that he’s
built up enough experience first before making the move to develop further. Shiraz admits there’s a bit of luck involved though, as great
opportunities seem to have come along just as he’s hit the point where he’s been satisfied with the experience and skillset that he’s
developed. Being patient but having an eye on the job market is a top tip.
When deciding on an organisation to work at, Shiraz has been impressed by his Director’s drive and passion for the companies that they own
with the most successful ones having an infectious impact throughout the company when he’s joined. Also remembering that you spend more
time with these people than your own families is important, advising you to make sure that you get that right as it should be a pleasure to
work where you are, being proud of both your work and the team’s work all results in a very happy employment.
He is looking forward to progressing into a Director level role in the future and admires employers who give him this opportunity through
increased responsibilities. He sees that as the number one way to enhance your career and ensure personal development. Climbing the
ladder means having more people to manage too and the more different types of people and personalities you oversee, the more you’ll be
prepared to operate at this level and make things a success.
His expectation time wise in finding a new role are between 1 and 2 months when actively looking. He advises a healthy mix of your own
searches and using a recruiter. He advises that you work with a recruiter who knows the roles that they are selling and you get to know them
well, your career is in their hands after all! Communication throughout the whole process is key and if you’re not rating your recruiter 5 stars
then they’re likely not going to find you the right role.
Case Study – Candidate’s Experience
Shiraz Butt, Head of eCommerce, PhD Nutrition

19. Copyright © 2017
The Candidate
St. Johns Court
19b Quay Street,
Manchester, M3 3HN
t: 0161 833 1044
www.thecandidate.co.uk
twitter: @thecandidateuk