Following the success of our first event dedicated to our CMO community on the same topic, o...
Following the success of our first event dedicated to our CMO community on the same topic, our Executive Search team held another event discussing how CMOs can become Non-Executive Directors.
This time, we brought together a different panel of Chief Marketing Officers turned Non-Executive Directors, to share their insights into how they found their first Non-Executive role.
Celia Pronto, Non-Executive Director at South East Water, Samworth Brothers and Moto Hospitality, formerly Managing Director of Love Home Swap and Chief Customer and Digital Officer at Casual Dining Group
Gareth Helm, Non-Executive Director at Purplebricks and Higgidy, formerly Global CMO at HomeServe and formerly SVP, CMO at McDonald’s
Rahul Welde, Non-Executive Director at Entain and The Parentinc, formerly EVP Digital at Unilever
Led by our Executive Search Partner, Rowan Fisk, they discussed a range of topics, including:
Read on to discover their thoughts on these points and more.
Everyone’s journey to becoming a Non-Executive Director looks different. Your route to becoming a Non-Executive Director depends on several factors.
Our panellists have had unique journeys that led them to the Non-Executive Director role. Here is just a snapshot of their personal journeys.
Rowan kicked off this discussion by asking our panellists what attracted them to the Non-Executive Director role in the first place.
As we found out at our event in March, it’s important to understand your personal aspirations before searching for a Non-Executive role. Often, this might mean identifying what industry and/or business type you’re interested in working with, which was the case for Gareth Helm.
Gareth has always been passionate about supporting small businesses, having previously helped scale innocent drinks and Bear Snacks as their Marketing Director. So, when the opportunity came to play a part in the launch of tails.com, Gareth found his first Non-Executive Director job.
Celia Pronto first joined the board as an Executive. Having collaborated closely with Non-Executives, she knew that the role would be a good fit for her. While Gareth found his first Non-Executive Director job more passively, Celia’s search was more deliberate and focused.
Networking played a significant role in Celia’s job search:
“You’ve got to stay the course.”
Rahul Welde shared how lengthy the job search can be. Moving from CMO to NED is not a simple step up, finding your first Non-Executive Director job can take time (2-3 years is expected) as you are starting afresh again. You need a new CV, network and approach to a NED job search.
It’s important to stay the course and trust the process, maintaining your confidence in your knowledge and ability. But you should also be prepared for rejection, as you will face more of it in your search for a NED job than a search for a CMO job.
When a board appoints a new Non-Executive Director, they’re looking for unique contributions from that individual.
Rahul shared that there is a growing demand for marketers on boards. So, what skills and knowledge are businesses expecting to see from them?
We see the desired skills and knowledge change over time depending on business needs. In the past, companies have previously sought out marketers with digital transformation experience, for instance, and they’re now largely looking for sustainability and ESG knowledge.
If you missed out on this event, don’t panic! We're holding a series of discussions about how CMOs can become Non-Executive Directors, speaking to a range of experienced NEDs about how they have developed their careers and how you can do the same.
To find out about future events for CMOs and receive more advice about furthering your marketing career, register your interest below.
3Search is digital marketing recruitment agency, working with CMOs to develop their careers and build their teams.
Our Executive Search team are creating a community of CMOs where we can come together to share career and recruitment insights. Find out more about our next events and latest advice here.
