Give the interim lead a narrow continuity remit: protect working channels, maintain team direction, manage near-term commitments and document the decisions the permanent hire will inherit. Avoid using the transition to start a broad new strategy without an owner for the handoff.
Identify the work that cannot pause
Inventory active campaigns, customer commitments, vendor contracts, reporting deadlines and team management needs. Separate essential operations from optional launches. The interim CMO 60-day plan covers the broader time frame; this guide is about the gap between named leaders and how to avoid losing context.
Give the interim lead bounded authority
Define which decisions they can make, which require the founder and which should wait for the permanent hire. They may need to direct a team and agency, but a temporary role should not quietly become the permanent owner of every new programme. A weekly decision log prevents repeated debates during the transition.
Build the handoff as work happens
Keep a living record of current goals, definitions, assets, vendor contacts, experiments, unresolved questions and team strengths. Let the interim leader help refine the permanent job description from observed workload. The final handoff should be usable by someone who did not attend every meeting.
A bounded example
A hypothetical company loses its head of marketing just before a product launch. The interim lead may protect launch-critical assets, check claims with product and keep the agency brief coherent. They may defer a new channel expansion until the permanent owner joins. A successful interim engagement leaves the company more stable and the next leader better informed, not merely busier.
A continuity board for the vacancy
List every active marketing workstream with its business purpose, owner, deadline, dependency and consequence of pausing. Mark it protect, finish, defer or stop. A campaign that brings qualified enquiries may need daily stewardship; an experimental channel without evidence can wait. Add the team's current capacity so the interim leader does not absorb a hidden full-time production job.
Next, create a decision log for the permanent successor. Capture what was changed, why, the evidence and the next review date. Include questions the interim lead could not settle because they require a long-term owner. During the final fortnight, review the log with the incoming leader and allow them to challenge assumptions. A good interim brief does not require the temporary person to be right about every future choice. It requires the company to preserve a working system, avoid unnecessary commitments and hand over enough context that the new leader can start making informed decisions quickly.
Make the company, rather than the interim provider, the owner of all files and accounts. Review upcoming renewal dates and contractual obligations as part of the handoff, since those may constrain the permanent leader's first choices.
Frequently asked questions
How long should an interim marketing engagement last?
Set a review date tied to the hiring timeline and the work at risk. Extend only when the continuing scope and handoff remain clear.
Should an interim lead change the strategy?
They should change harmful or unsupported work when evidence requires it, but avoid irreversible commitments that the permanent owner has not helped shape.
Is a marketing leadership vacancy putting active work at risk?
Bring the current calendar, team and open decisions. We can define an interim remit that keeps essential work moving and helps the next hire start cleanly.
Talk through the problem ↗See how we could work together
