Recruiting a Growth Marketing Director for a U.S.-based B2B SaaS company – Big Time case study

Executive Summary

As part of an executive search process for Big Time—a Chicago-based U.S. SaaS company offering B2B tools to support project and service team management—we recruited a Growth Marketing Director responsible for the operational leadership of the global marketing department, the execution of lead generation processes, and the management of the New Business, Expansion, SEO/LLM, SDR, and external agencies.

The project was carried out within a unique organizational context. Big Time, which had historically operated exclusively in the U.S. market, underwent a transformation over the course of a few years in which the Polish marketing team assumed global responsibility for lead generation for the entire company —and is now responsible for approximately 90% of the sales pipeline generated. The direct sponsor of the recruitment was the Growth Director—the person who built the Polish marketing team from the ground up and was subsequently promoted to VP of Global Marketing. The search for his successor as Growth Director required finding a leader with the skills to match a team that is already achieving above-average results.

The key challenge of the project was to combine three criteria that rarely occur together: proven, documented expertise in generating leads from LLM and SEO channels — a skill possessed by only a small group of specialists in Poland — operational experience in building and executing growth processes in a B2B SaaS environment, and a trust-based leadership style capable of establishing a leadership position within a team with high professional standards. During the recruitment process, we repeatedly observed that candidates from reputable companies claimed to have expertise in generating leads from LLM, but a thorough review revealed that this competence was only superficial—which, in the context of the Big Time team project, would pose a high risk of a poor fit.

The newly hired Growth Marketing Director brings to Big Time a combination of several years of experience in B2B SaaS growth marketing, along with practical expertise in LLM and SEO, and a proven track record in managing mid-level and senior teams—which directly supports the further scalability of the company’s global marketing operations and allows Arek to focus on strategic challenges at the level of VP of Global Marketing.

The recruitment challenge

The recruitment process for a Growth Marketing Director at Big Time involved several overlapping challenges that significantly narrowed the pool of genuinely suitable candidates in the Polish job market.

1. Niche technical expertise — generating leads from the LLM channel

The most important—and most difficult to meet—criterion was proven, documented proficiency in generating leads from LLM platforms. While paid search campaigns and traditional SEO are standard practice in Poland and expertise in these areas is widely available, lead generation from language models — including, among other things, optimizing content for responses generated by large language models, designing a content taxonomy tailored to how LLMs operate, and measuring the effectiveness of this channel — is an area that is still taking shape in the Polish B2B SaaS ecosystem.

In practice, this meant that the pool of specialists in Poland with practical, documented experience in building a content publication process for the LLM channel and in measuring its effectiveness is very small—numbering in the tens rather than the hundreds. At the same time, this expertise was a hard and non-negotiable criterion for the client, as the LLM channel is one of the key areas of development for Big Time’s pipeline in the coming years.

2. Hybrid profile: an operational executor, strategist, and team leader all at once

The Growth Marketing Director at Big Time was expected to combine three areas of responsibility that, in practice, rarely fall under a single person’s purview:

• the operational layer — direct management of Paid Search campaigns, oversight of the SEO/LLM publication process, collaboration with external agencies, and execution of the team’s day-to-day activities,
• the strategic layer — building and developing the "Growth OS" operating system (processes, meeting schedules, dashboards, playbooks), providing decision-making reports to the management board, and optimizing conversion rates in the sales funnel,
• leadership team — managing a team responsible for New Business, Expansion, SEO/LLM, SDR, and coordinating collaboration with external agencies.

Most candidates on the market focus on just one of these areas—they are experienced growth marketers with no managerial experience, strategic marketing directors who have distanced themselves from day-to-day channel execution, or team leaders without deep expertise in LLM/SEO. Big Time needed a profile that truly combined all three dimensions—without compromising on any of them.

3. The need for credibility from an experienced, knowledgeable team

A unique challenge of this project was the high level of expertise within the team that the new Growth Marketing Director was to lead. The team built by Arek achieved results so far surpassing previous U.S. performance that they led to the relocation of global marketing operations to Poland. This means that every member of this team operates at a level significantly above the market average, and work standards are clearly higher than in typical Polish SaaS organizations.

In this context, a leader who lacks genuine, in-depth expertise in key marketing channels—and particularly in generating leads through LLM— would not be able to establish the authority necessary to effectively lead a team. Experienced professionals quickly assess their manager’s competence during daily discussions about tactics, metrics, and operational decisions. A candidate without genuine expertise would face substantive challenges within the first few weeks on the job, which could destabilize the entire department responsible for 90% of the company’s leads.

4. The barrier of verifying declared competencies

The fourth major challenge of this project was the discrepancy between candidates’ stated and actual competencies in the area of LLM. We observed this repeatedly during the recruitment process: candidates from well-known tech companies, with impressive LinkedIn profiles and strong résumés, claimed to be proficient in generating leads through the LLM channel.

However, upon closer scrutiny—including questions about specific projects, metrics, tools used, process decisions, and mistakes made and corrected—it became clear that their competence in this area was only superficial. Candidates could describe the general concept, but were unable to provide specific figures, discuss their own playbooks, or justify their methodological choices. In a Big Time environment, such superficial knowledge of the subject would not be sufficient—the role required someone who, from day one, could engage in substantive discussions with the team at the operational level.

This meant we had to design a verification process that went beyond standard competency-based interviews—by bringing in-depth technical questions to the early stages of the interview to avoid the client spending time on candidates who would not pass the technical verification.

Our Approach

Our Approach to Recruiting a Growth Marketing Director

Given the niche technical expertise, the hybrid nature of the role, and the high level of expertise within the team the new leader was to lead, the process was designed as a targeted executive search focused on directly reaching out to selected candidates within the B2B SaaS ecosystem and conducting an in-depth assessment of key competencies early in the interview process.

1. Clarifying the candidate’s actual profile

We began the process with a workshop led by the VP of Global Marketing—the former Growth Director, who had been promoted to a global role and was responsible for recruiting his successor—to jointly distinguish between hard, non-negotiable criteria and those that could be approached flexibly. This was crucial because the job description included a wide range of requirements, and without a clear hierarchy of priorities, there was a risk of searching for a profile that, in practice, does not exist on the market.

During the workshop with the client, we agreed that the following are non-negotiable criteria:

• proven, documented expertise in generating leads through LLM and SEO —not just claims, but specific projects, playbooks, and measurable results,
• 5–8 years of experience in B2B SaaS demand/growth marketing —with a focus on an environment comparable in scale and dynamism to Big Time,
• At least 3 years of experience managing a team of 5 or more people at the mid-to-senior level —with actual responsibility for the team’s performance,
• fluency in English (minimum C1 level) — due to the nature of the work within a global organization and daily communication with the team and management in the United States,
• a leadership style based on trust and a collaborative approach —tailored to the work culture of the team built by the previous Growth Director.

We considered the following to be “nice-to-have” qualities: experience in a specific SaaS vertical, familiarity with specific tools from the client’s list (HubSpot, Salesforce, GA4, Surfer, Ahrefs, Semrush, Jira, Asana, Gong), and being based in Wrocław.

2. Targeted Direct Search within a niche B2B SaaS market

Given the niche nature of the required expertise and the high experience requirements, the process did not rely on job postings but rather on directly reaching out to identified candidates. We conducted a mapping of the Polish B2B SaaS market, focusing on candidates working at organizations that met one of the following criteria:

• Polish branches of global B2B SaaS companies where growth teams operate on an international scale and are held accountable for hard pipeline metrics,
• Polish B2B SaaS scale-ups with a proven track record of growth and mature marketing processes, where growth marketing is treated as a key business function,
• specialized growth and performance agencies serving SaaS clients in Western markets—as a source of candidates with deep expertise in SEO and LLM channels,
• technology companies investing in the LLM channel as a strategic source of leads—an area in which there are very few active specialists in Poland.

We have deliberately chosen not to recruit from traditional B2C marketing sectors or from companies where marketing plays a supporting rather than a leading role in generating the sales pipeline—the experience gained in such organizations does not translate to the specific nature of the work at Big Time.

3. In-depth assessment of LLM/SEO skills during the initial interview

The most important methodological decision in this project was to move the in-depth assessment of technical skills to the very beginning of the recruitment process. Having observed that a significant portion of candidates only superficially claim to know how to generate leads using LLM, we began asking technical questions within the first few minutes of the initial interview—before investing time in a full assessment of managerial experience and motivation.

Instead of general questions like “Do you know how to generate leads using LLM?”, we asked about:

• specific projects completed in the LLM field—with a focus on context, scale, metrics, and the candidate’s role,
• tools, processes, and playbooks used —with a particular focus on content publishing, taxonomy, and quality control,
• numbers and results —concrete metrics that the candidate was able to recall off the top of their head, and how they interpreted them,
• errors and process-related decisions — situations in which the candidate had to adjust their approach or challenge their previous assumptions.

This approach has allowed us to:

• save the client time — we didn’t present candidates who would have been eliminated within the first 15 minutes of a substantive interview with the Global VP of Marketing,
• quickly narrow down the pool of candidates to those with proven, documented expertise,
• spot red flags — we screened out candidates who relied on generalizations rather than specific experiences early on, rather than subjecting the client to superficial interviews.

4. Assessment of managerial competencies and cultural fit

Candidates who passed the technical screening were then evaluated in an in-depth video interview conducted by a Fast Forward Solutions consultant. During the interviews, we assessed:

• specific management experience —team size, structure, working methods, examples of employee development, and the implementation of operational processes,
• the ability to build trust within an experienced team —with a focus on situations in which the candidate had to take on a leadership role among specialists with strong subject-matter expertise,
• leadership style in situations of substantive pushback — how to respond when team members challenge decisions and the ability to lead a discussion based on arguments,
• experience working with external agencies —defining KPIs and SLAs, quality control, and retrospectives,
• motivation to take on the role and a good fit for a collaborative partnership with the Global VP of Marketing —willingness to work within a structure where the VP is responsible for strategy and the Growth Marketing Director for operational execution.

Only candidates who passed both stages of the screening process—technical and managerial—were included on the shortlist presented to the client.

5. Close collaboration with the Global VP of Marketing and an efficient decision-making process

A key factor in the success was the direct collaboration with the Global VP of Marketing, who served as the recruitment sponsor, as well as the client’s efficient decision-making process. As the person who built the Polish marketing team and has a thorough understanding of the expertise required for the role, the VP was able to accurately assess the candidate’s true fit—both in terms of skills and cultural fit—after just a brief conversation.

The client-side recruitment process consisted of a series of interviews that progressively delved into greater technical detail, allowing the VP of Global Marketing and the Big Time team to evaluate the candidate in conditions similar to those of day-to-day work. Thanks to clearly defined stages of the process and a rapid feedback loop between Fast Forward Solutions and the client, the project was successfully completed at a pace that matched the dynamics of the SaaS organization.

The selected candidate

The selected candidate — a Growth Marketing Director with over 13 years of experience in B2B growth marketing

The candidate we ultimately hired is an experienced marketing leader with over 13 years of experience building growth systems in tech organizations—ranging from B2B SaaS scale-ups, through deep tech and AI, to multinational corporations. His career path—from digital marketing specialist, through successive managerial roles (Head of Marketing, Head of Growth), to Head of WOW Marketing at a hyper-growth B2B SaaS company—demonstrates the gradual development of both operational proficiency in acquisition channels and mature leadership skills.

Experience and expertise

In his most recent role, which he held for nearly three years at CloudBest, the candidate was responsible for bringing discipline, structure, and a strategic approach to the marketing department of a hyper-growth B2B SaaS organization. He managed a team of 12 marketing experts and an annual budget of approximately $2 million, and his key areas of responsibility included designing a company-wide measurement program to identify trends and sources of results, as well as leading a marketing strategy encompassing lead and demand generation, product and solutions marketing, customer acquisition, PR, and events.

The candidate’s performance in this role directly translates to the requirements for Big Time:

• a sales pipeline of $3.73 million generated over a 19-month period,
• a doubling of ARR —from $2 million to over $4 million,
• a 2,300% increase in visibility across AIO/GEO/SEO channels over two years —precisely the area that represents one of Big Time’s most important strategic directions for pipeline development.

Previously, the candidate served as Head of Growth at Livestorm —a global SaaS company—where he was responsible for growth programs that integrated marketing, sales, product, and customer success. He built a comprehensive operational playbook and developed a go-to-market strategy for the Southeast Asia region, which doubled the customer base within 11 months. His previous role as Head of Marketing at KYP.ai involved designing marketing strategies for an AI-first company, building predictive growth models, and working across the full spectrum of acquisition channels—from PPC and SEO/GEO, through content marketing and ABM, to marketing automation.

In terms of skills, the candidate combines deep, proven expertise in SEO, GEO, and AIO with experience managing cross-functional growth teams in a B2B SaaS environment, as well as the strategic maturity needed to design comprehensive marketing systems—exactly the profile Big Time was looking for.

Why this candidate?

The decision was based on a combination of proven, measurable expertise in generating leads from SEO/GEO/AIO channels and several years of managerial experience leading teams comparable in scale to the Polish Big Time team. In a project where a significant number of candidates were eliminated due to superficial knowledge of the LLM channel, this candidate stood out with concrete numbers—a 2,300% increase in visibility across AI-driven channels is not a claim, but a documented result of operational work on content publication processes, taxonomy, and optimization for language models.

Another key factor was the candidate’s operational maturity. Bringing “discipline, structure, and a strategic approach” to a hyper-growth organization, managing a $2 million budget, and building a company-wide metrics program are exactly the kind of experience required for the role of Growth Marketing Director at Big Time—which involves building and developing the “Growth OS” operational system, providing decision-making reports to the executive board, and executing processes within the team responsible for 90% of the company’s pipeline.

The third key factor was the candidate’s leadership style —one based on data-driven decision-making, collaborative partnerships with cross-functional teams, and building lasting relationships with internal and external stakeholders. In the context of the Big Time team, whose high professional standards required the new leader to establish credibility from day one, a profile combining strategic vision with practical, hands-on execution—as the candidate himself describes: “strategic visionary, tactical executioner, hands-on builder”—was a natural fit for the collaborative partnership model with the VP of Global Marketing.

Testimonial from a client and the Growth Marketing Director