Marketing Director

Location: Chicago, IL

Pay Range: $55-60/hr.

Hours: Will vary!

Employment Type: Contract / Interim (Potential Contract-to-Hire)

Industry: Retail / Consumer Goods

About the Opportunity

We are seeking a hands-on Interim Marketing Director to build, lead, and manage the marketing function for an established, family-owned retail organization in Chicago. This individual will own both strategy and execution, developing integrated marketing initiatives that drive customer traffic, acquisition, and revenue growth.

The ideal candidate is an entrepreneurial marketing leader who thrives in a hands-on environment and has experience building marketing functions, establishing processes, and delivering measurable business results.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and oversee the marketing function, with accountability for customer acquisition, store traffic, and revenue growth.
• Develop and execute integrated marketing strategies across social media, digital advertising, content, community partnerships, events, and direct marketing.
• Manage day-to-day marketing initiatives, ensuring campaigns are executed effectively, on time, and within budget.
• Build relationships with local businesses, community organizations, and external partners to support customer engagement and brand awareness.
• Oversee external agencies, freelancers, vendors, and marketing resources.
• Establish marketing processes, budgets, reporting structures, KPIs, and performance measurement systems.
• Analyze campaign performance and optimize initiatives to improve ROI and business impact.
• Recruit, train, and mentor a Marketing Specialist/Coordinator to support ongoing marketing execution.
• Build a scalable marketing infrastructure that can eventually transition to an internal team.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of marketing experience, including leadership experience within retail, CPG, B2C, or small-to-mid-sized businesses.
• Proven experience building, restructuring, or scaling a marketing function.
• Strong background in both marketing strategy and hands-on campaign execution.
• Experience driving customer acquisition, retail traffic, brand awareness, and revenue growth.
• Knowledge of social media, digital advertising, local marketing, promotions, events, and community engagement.
• Experience managing marketing budgets, external vendors, agencies, and cross-functional teams.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to measure campaign performance and ROI.
• Entrepreneurial, resourceful, and comfortable working in a hands-on, fast-paced environment.

Engagement Details

• Interim / contract opportunity with potential for contract-to-hire.
• Chicago-based role supporting an established retail business.
• Focused on building a sustainable marketing function and driving measurable business growth.

Ideal Candidate: A hands-on marketing leader who has successfully built a marketing department from the ground up, can balance strategic direction with day-to-day execution, and knows how to drive measurable results in a consumer-facing business.