We were recently engaged by a client to conduct a search for a Senior level Product Marketing Manager. Our client is a Canadian based B2B SaaS vendor that sells their platform to enterprise customers across multiple industries. They are a Series A funded start-up, currently in the process of scaling their business in a few critical areas.
Our client was looking for a Senior Product Marketing Manager.
The ideal candidate would have extensive experience developing go to market strategies for net new products and their launches. The ideal candidate would have experience working collaboratively with a Product Management organization to understand and plan for future releases.
Of particular importance was experience with competitive analysis and market analysis to be able to identify strengths, gaps and opportunities. The ideal candidate also needed to be extremely comfortable in an agile fast paced environment with remote teams and occasional travel.
Bonus points would be given to candidates who had experience working with analyst organizations like Gartner and Forrester and who have management experience.
We presented a range of candidates to our client:
The Executive Eagle: Base Salary of $150K
- 20 years employment experience of which 11 are in Product Marketing of enterprise B2B software.
- Employment experience includes a cross section of start ups and large global companies who are leaders in their category.
- Experience in key industry verticals such as Financial Services and Manufacturing.
The Senior Strategist: Base Salary of $137K
- 20 years employment experience of which 12 were in Product Marketing roles. Most recently working with a tech company headquartered in Canada, but selling across North America.
- Reporting to a CEO and working with a Director title, this candidate functions as the sole contributor for the Product Marketing function.
- Extensive launch experience, repositioning experience and experienced working with Gartner on strategic initiatives to drive go to market activities.
The High Potential Hero: Base Salary of $115K
- 8 years employment experience of which 6 were in Product Marketing.
- Most recently working for a Series A funded B2B SaaS start up and is the most senior marketer on the team.
- Experienced developing the go to market strategy for an early stage SaaS company who is trying to answer the question: “Why should a company buy our software over the competition’s?”
The Hire: Base Salary of $135K
- 7 years employment experience, all of which has been in relevant marketing roles.
- Most recently working for a global B2B SaaS vendor, in a role with increased scope beyond Product Marketing.
- Experienced in both strategy development and tactical execution of go to market plans.
- Experienced in Account Based Marketing and client facing interactions.
- MBA
To attract the candidate they hired, our client offered a base salary of $145K + a stock option package.
As you can see, compensation for these candidates varies significantly based on the length and scope of experience.
