A head of growth is the leader who owns a company's growth targets across the whole customer journey (acquisition, activation, conversion, retention and expansion) and decides which channels, experiments and systems get the budget to hit them. Where a traditional marketing leader owns a function, a head of growth owns a number, usually pipeline or new revenue, and works across marketing, product and sales to move it.
I am a growth lead myself: currently Growth Lead at Appear, and before that I owned end-to-end go-to-market at Xylo AI, where pipeline grew 3x in six months. This guide combines the published research on the role with the 90-day structure I follow when starting a growth role. A free template is included.
Download the free 90-day plan template (CSV)
The head of growth role by the numbers
Eight data points explain why the first 90 days matter so much, and what a growth leader walks into:
| Finding | Number | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Average CMO tenure at S&P 500 companies | 4.1 years, against 5 years for the C-suite overall | Spencer Stuart analysis of 218 CMO departures, 2021 to 2025, via Marketing Week |
| Departing CMOs who went on to become CEO | About 9% | Same Spencer Stuart analysis (Marketing Week) |
| Marketing budgets as a share of company revenue | 7.7%, flat on the previous year | Gartner 2025 CMO Spend Survey |
| Marketing leaders who say their budget is insufficient | 59% | Gartner 2025 CMO Spend Survey |
| B2B buyers who prefer a rep-free buying experience | 61% | Gartner survey of 632 buyers, 2025 |
| B2B buyers in market at any one time | Around 5% (up to 95% are not) | Ehrenberg-Bass Institute with the LinkedIn B2B Institute |
| Google visits with a click on a traditional result when an AI summary appears | 8%, against 15% without one | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Average SDR ramp to full productivity | 3.0 months, with 60% of reps hitting quota | The Bridge Group, 2025 |
What this means for a new head of growth:
- The clock is short. Senior marketing leaders average about four years in role at large companies, and expectations are set in the first quarter.
- Budgets are tight. With most leaders saying they are underfunded, the first plan has to show where each dollar goes and when it pays back.
- Buyers decide before they talk to you. With most buyers preferring to research alone and AI answers reducing clicks, the growth plan must cover search, AI visibility and content, not only sales outreach.
- Most of the market is not buying yet. A plan built only on capturing in-market demand misses the 95% who will buy later; see demand generation vs lead generation.
What does a head of growth do?
| Area | Responsibilities |
|---|---|
| Strategy | Sets growth targets with leadership; chooses the ICP, channels and motion; owns the growth roadmap |
| Acquisition | Runs and scales channels: outbound, paid, SEO and AI search, partnerships, content |
| Conversion and activation | Improves website, demo and trial conversion, onboarding and time to value |
| Retention and expansion | Works with product and customer success on churn, upsell and net revenue retention |
| Experimentation | Runs a weekly experiment cadence with clear hypotheses and stop rules |
| Data and systems | Owns tracking, attribution and the growth stack; often works with GTM engineers |
| Team and budget | Hires and manages growth marketers, agencies and freelancers; allocates the budget with tools like the marketing budget calculator |
Head of growth vs CMO vs VP of marketing vs growth lead
| Role | Owns | Typical stage | Main metrics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Head of growth | Growth outcomes across the funnel | Seed to Series C | Pipeline, new ARR, CAC payback, activation, retention |
| CMO | The whole marketing function, brand and positioning | Series B and later, enterprise | Pipeline contribution, brand, market share |
| VP of marketing | Marketing execution and team | Series A to C | Pipeline, MQLs or opportunities, campaign ROI |
| Growth lead | Growth experiments and channels, often hands-on | Seed to Series B, or a senior IC in larger teams | Experiment velocity, channel targets |
| Fractional head of growth | The head of growth role, part-time | Pre-seed to Series B | Same as head of growth, scoped in writing |
The titles overlap, so judge the role by what it owns, not by its name. For the part-time version, see fractional CMO and fractional head of growth and the fractional CMO cost guide.
Head of growth job description (copy and adapt)
Role summary: Own [company]'s growth targets from first touch to expansion. Decide where the growth budget goes, build the channels and systems that create pipeline, and report results to the leadership team.
Responsibilities
- Set quarterly growth targets with the CEO and own the growth roadmap.
- Define and refine the ideal customer profile and positioning with sales and product.
- Build and scale two or three acquisition channels, such as outbound, paid, SEO and AI search, or partnerships.
- Run a weekly experiment process across acquisition, conversion and onboarding.
- Own tracking, attribution and reporting on pipeline, CAC, payback and retention.
- Hire and manage growth marketers, agencies and freelancers.
Requirements
- Has owned a revenue or pipeline number at a similar deal size and buyer.
- Comfortable with data: funnel analysis, attribution, unit economics.
- Hands-on with at least two channels and the tools behind them.
- Clear written communication with leadership and the board.
Success in the first 90 days: a diagnosis, an agreed growth plan, two or three channels live with targets, and the first measurable results.
The head of growth 90-day plan
The structure follows a principle from Michael D. Watkins's The First 90 Days (Harvard Business Review Press): learn before acting, match your approach to the situation, and secure early wins that build credibility. Watkins's STARS model names five situations: start-up, turnaround, accelerated growth, realignment and sustaining success. Decide which one you are in during week one, because a turnaround needs faster cuts than a company that is already growing.
Days 1 to 30: listen and diagnose
| Week | Focus | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | People and context | Meet founders, sales, customer success, product and finance. Get access to the CRM, analytics, ad accounts and billing data. Ask the ten questions below. |
| 3 to 4 | Data and funnel | Rebuild the funnel from first touch to closed-won. Check that tracking is trustworthy. Review CAC, CAC payback, churn and spend by channel. Read at least ten won and ten lost deals. |
Deliverable: a one-page diagnosis covering what works, what does not, and the three biggest bottlenecks.
Ten questions to ask in the first two weeks
- Which customers do we most want more of, and why did they buy?
- Where do our best customers first hear about us?
- What is our target for this year, and how was it set?
- Which channels have we tried, and why did they stop?
- Where do deals stall or die?
- What do customers say when they churn?
- What can sales not get enough of: leads, meetings, content or proof?
- Which metrics does the board look at every month?
- What budget do I control, and what needs approval?
- What would make this quarter a success for you?
Days 31 to 60: prioritize and launch
| Week | Focus | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 5 to 6 | Strategy and bets | Confirm the ICP and positioning. Choose two or three channels by deal size and buyer behavior, each with a budget, a leading indicator and a stop rule. Agree targets with leadership. |
| 7 to 8 | Early wins | Fix the biggest conversion leak found in the diagnosis. Launch the first experiments. Start a weekly growth meeting and a simple scorecard. |
Deliverable: a growth plan and scorecard the leadership team has agreed to.
Good early wins are visible, fast and low-risk: fixing broken tracking, speeding up response time to demo requests, rewriting the top landing page around the buyer's outcome, or launching a cold email sequence to the top tier of accounts.
Days 61 to 90: prove and scale
| Week | Focus | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 9 to 10 | Results and learning | Double down on what converts, cut what does not, and write down each experiment's result and decision. |
| 11 to 12 | Plan the next quarter | Present a 90-day review: results against targets, what you learned, the next quarter's plan, budget and hiring needs. |
Deliverable: a 90-day review and a next-quarter plan.
KPIs to report at day 30, 60 and 90
| Checkpoint | Report on |
|---|---|
| Day 30 | Baseline funnel and unit economics; the three bottlenecks; tracking fixed |
| Day 60 | Channels live; leading indicators (meetings, sign-ups, reply rates, traffic); first experiment results |
| Day 90 | Pipeline created against target; conversion changes; CAC and payback by channel; next-quarter plan |
Common mistakes in a head of growth's first 90 days
- Launching channels before diagnosing. New activity on a broken funnel produces more waste, faster.
- Trusting the dashboard. Check the tracking yourself before you report a single number.
- Spreading the budget across every channel. Two channels with enough budget to learn beat six that cannot.
- Ignoring sales and customer success. They hold the best data on why customers buy, stall and leave.
- No early win. Credibility built in the first 60 days buys the time needed for slower channels like SEO.
Free head of growth 90-day plan template
The template covers the six two-week blocks above, each with the focus, key actions, deliverable, owner, due date and status columns. It opens in Excel or Google Sheets.
Download the 90-day plan template (CSV)
If you need the role filled before you can hire full-time, see fractional head of growth, or start with a go-to-market strategy sprint.
Frequently asked questions
What does a head of growth do?
A head of growth owns the company's growth targets across the customer journey: acquisition, activation, conversion, retention and expansion. They decide which channels and experiments get budget, build the systems and team to run them, and report pipeline, revenue, CAC and payback to leadership.
What is the difference between a head of growth and a CMO?
A CMO usually owns the whole marketing function, including brand, communications and positioning. A head of growth is narrower and more quantitative: they own measurable growth outcomes, often across marketing, product and sales handoffs, and run growth as a system of experiments. Early-stage companies often hire a head of growth before a CMO.
What should a head of growth do in the first 90 days?
Spend days 1 to 30 listening and diagnosing (stakeholders, data, funnel, deals), days 31 to 60 choosing two or three channels and launching the first experiments with clear targets, and days 61 to 90 proving what works, cutting what does not and presenting a plan and hiring roadmap for the next quarter.
What KPIs should a head of growth own?
Typically pipeline created, new revenue or ARR, conversion rates through the funnel, customer acquisition cost, CAC payback period, activation and retention or net revenue retention. Agree on three to five headline metrics in the first month rather than reporting everything.
Is head of growth a marketing role?
It sits across marketing, product and sales. Many heads of growth come from growth marketing, but the role is defined by owning growth outcomes rather than by a channel, so it often includes onboarding, pricing experiments and lifecycle work that traditional marketing does not own.
What is a growth lead?
Growth lead is a common title for the same role in smaller teams or for a senior individual contributor who owns growth experiments and channels, sometimes reporting to a head of growth or directly to founders.
Should a startup hire a head of growth or a fractional one?
Hire full-time when you have repeatable channels and need someone every day to scale them and build a team. Before that, a fractional head of growth can set the plan, launch the first channels and prove what works at a lower fixed cost.