CMO

Talentfoot Executive Search; Westport (CT); On-site; USD 250,000 - 350,000; Full time

Job summary

Talentfoot Executive Search is seeking a strategic Chief Marketing Officer for our fast-growing ETF issuer client. You will define brand architecture across product lines, build a disciplined marketing organization, and lead the operating systems and messaging for rapid growth among financial advisors, institutions, and retail investors.

You will partner with the CEO and executive team to shape market expansion, including Asia, and align marketing output with sales and product needs across

Qualifications

• 15+ years of progressive marketing leadership in financial services.
• Direct experience with ETFs, asset management, wealth management, brokerage, or fintech investment platforms.
• Proven ability to build and elevate brands in a highly regulated industry.
• Experience marketing to financial advisors/institutional audiences and retail investors.
• Strong track record leading a marketing organization and driving growth.
• Experience establishing operating discipline, KPIs, and accountability in marketing.
• Collaborates with C-suite and leads strategic brand initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a comprehensive marketing strategy aligned with growth objectives across all lines of business.
• Own brand strategy, positioning, messaging, and visual identity for potentially one or multiple brands.
• Build awareness and credibility among financial advisors, RIAs, broker-dealers, institutions, and retail investors.
• Partner with sales leadership to generate measurably engagement and asset flows, especially in advisor-facing business.
• Lead digital strategy across paid media, search, social, content, email, and web; implement data-driven marketing systems.
• Establish scalable marketing processes to support rapid product launches without sacrificing quality.
• Translate complex concepts into clear, audience-appropriate messaging for product launches.
• Oversee PR, communications, and professional brand presentation to external audiences.
• Recruit, develop, and lead a high-performing marketing team with organizational discipline.
• Set KPIs and operating rhythm across all marketing functions.
• Serve as a thought partner to the CEO on market expansion and growth planning.
• Lead brand presence and go-to-market strategy for international markets, including Asia.

Skills

15+ years marketing leadership

Job description

Our client is a fast-growing exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuer with several billion dollars in assets under management, known for innovation and speed in bringing new products to market. The firm has built its reputation on two distinct lines of business: high-velocity, retail-facing trading products built for viral, digital-first distribution, and a growing suite of income-oriented, advisor-facing portfolio solutions aimed at a more institutional audience. Backed by a strong founder-led culture and an expanding international footprint, including a fast-growing presence in Asia, the organization is entering its next phase of growth and is investing in the leadership and infrastructure needed to scale its brand.

This is a high-impact executive role responsible for building and leading the marketing function from the ground up. The Chief Marketing Officer will define brand architecture across the firm's distinct product lines, professionalize a marketing organization that has outgrown its current leadership, and create the operating discipline, systems, and messaging needed to support a rapidly scaling, multi-billion-dollar platform. This role blends hands-on brand-building with strategic organizational leadership, offering the opportunity to shape how the firm is perceived by financial advisors, institutional partners, and retail investors alike, while building the team and infrastructure to sustain that growth. It is an opportunity for a seasoned marketing executive to take ownership of a brand at an inflection point and have a measurable, lasting impact on the business's next chapter.

Position Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a comprehensive marketing strategy aligned with the firm's growth objectives across all lines of business
• Own brand strategy, positioning, messaging, and visual identity, and determine whether one unified brand or multiple distinct brands best serves the firm's different product lines and audiences
• Build awareness and credibility among financial advisors, RIAs, broker-dealers, institutional investors, and retail investors
• Partner closely with sales and distribution leadership to generate measurable engagement and asset flows, particularly within the advisor-facing business
• Lead digital strategy across paid media, search, social, content, email, and web, and build data-driven systems for acquisition, conversion, and attribution
• Create scalable, repeatable marketing processes to support fast-moving product launches without sacrificing quality or consistency
• Develop clear, differentiated positioning and go-to-market materials for new product launches, translating complex concepts into compelling, audience-appropriate messaging
• Oversee public relations, communications, and institutional-grade presentation of the brand
• Recruit, develop, and lead a high-performing marketing team, while working through the transition of existing team members into a more structured organization
• Establish KPIs, accountability, and operating rhythm across all marketing functions
• Serve as a thought partner to the CEO and executive team on brand strategy, market expansion, and long-term growth planning
• Build brand presence and go-to-market strategy for international markets, including a fast-growing presence in Asia
• Bridge the gap between marketing and sales, ensuring marketing output supports the distinct needs of both a retail-driven business and a more institutional, advisor-facing business

Position Qualifications

• 15+ years of progressive marketing leadership experience
• Direct experience within ETFs, asset management, wealth management, brokerage, or fintech investment platforms
• Demonstrated success building and elevating brands in a highly regulated industry
• Experience marketing to both financial advisors/institutional audiences and retail investors
• Proven ability to build and lead a marketing organization, including team development and change management
• Experience establishing operating discipline, KPIs, and accountability systems within a marketing function
• Strong track record partnering with executive leadership on brand strategy tied to business growth

Preferred

• Experience at an ETF issuer, asset manager, wealth management firm, broker-dealer, or financial media organization
• Experience building brand infrastructure in a founder-led or entrepreneurial environment
• Familiarity with international market expansion, particularly in Asia
• Comfortable operating as a hands-on builder as well as a strategic leader, not solely an oversight role
• Strong executive presence and the ability to earn credibility and buy-in across sales, product, and leadership teams
• Entrepreneurial mindset with high intellectual curiosity and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, evolving environment

If you are a strategic, execution-oriented marketing leader who thrives on building brand infrastructure from the ground up and driving measurable growth in a fast-paced, multi-channel financial services environment, we would welcome the opportunity to connect.