Marketing and creative recruitment: the people who make your brand worth choosing

MARKETING & CREATIVE VACANCIES

Every customer sees your marketing, and so does every competitor. The right marketer puts the right message in front of the right people, and the right designer makes it look like you meant it. The best are usually busy delivering for someone else, which is why finding them takes more than an advert.

Cathedral Appointments is a recruitment agency based in Exeter, with a presence in Plymouth and Taunton, recruiting for South West organisations since 1988. We recruit marketing and creative people for in-house teams and agencies, on permanent, contract and temporary terms.

Talk to Charlotte Coke on 01392 304784.

What we recruit

The whole marketing mix, in-house and in agency.

• Marketing management and campaigns. Marketing managers, marketing executives, marketing co-ordinators, acquisition specialists and e-commerce roles. The people who plan the campaigns and make them happen.
• Digital and performance. Digital marketing, SEO, PPC, Google Analytics, email marketing, CRM and social media roles. The people who find customers online and show what is working.
• Content, communications, PR and events. Content and copywriters, communications, PR, events and media professionals. The people who tell your story and put it in front of the right audience.
• Design and creative. Graphic designers, art workers, web designers, multimedia designers and creative managers. The people who make it look right, wherever it appears.
• Agency roles. Account directors, agency managers, account managers, account executives, project managers, production managers and creative directors, for marketing and creative agencies.

Software developers sit on our IT & Tech page, and engineers on our Engineering page.

Who we recruit for

In-house marketing teams in professional services, manufacturing, travel, engineering, retail, leisure, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and charities, and marketing and advertising agencies.

What’s shaping marketing hiring

Three things are shaping who employers need.

Marketing budgets are rising. The IPA Bellwether Report for the third quarter of 2026, published on 15 October 2026, found a net 14.3% of UK companies raising their marketing budgets, with 25.6% increasing them and 11.3% cutting. It was the third quarter of increases in a row, and every category the report tracks rose: PR (+15.3%), events (+15.1%), sales promotion (+13.1%) and main media (+9.8%). Marketers were still cautious about their industry’s prospects, with a net balance of -20.3%.

Teams are short of AI skills. Marketing Week’s 2026 Career & Salary Survey, answered by 2,350 marketers, found 66.5% had identified an AI skills gap in their team over the past 12 months. Many employers now want people who can use AI tools well alongside the craft skills they already hire for.

The South West has a large freelance creative workforce. A 2025 report, Creative Industries in the Great South West: Leading from the Edge, counted more than 15,870 creative businesses employing about 35,000 people, alongside an estimated 40,000 freelancers, and £2.7 billion in annual economic output. With more freelancers than employees, contract and project hiring is an everyday option as well as permanent.

However you need to hire

Permanent. A marketer or designer to join the team for the long term. See permanent recruitment.

Contract. Specialist skills for a campaign, a launch or a rebrand, for as long as the project runs. See contract solutions.

Temporary. Cover for leave or a busy period, so the work carries on. See temporary support.

Senior and leadership roles

The people who lead marketing and creative are leaders too, and Cathedral Appointments recruits them. These searches are often confidential.

• Marketing leadership. Marketing directors, heads of marketing and heads of communications.
• Creative and agency leadership. Creative directors, account directors and agency managers.

Talk to Charlotte Coke on 01392 304784.

How we work with you

• We start with what you need the marketing to do. More customers, a stronger brand, a new channel, or a team that works better together. The role follows from that.
• We look at the work as well as the CV. For design and creative roles, that means portfolios and campaign results alongside the interview.
• We brief you honestly on each candidate. What they have delivered, what they want next, and how they would fit the team.
• We stay in touch through the offer and the first weeks. A hire only counts once they are in the role and working.

Questions we get asked

Do you recruit for agencies as well as in-house teams? Yes. We recruit for in-house marketing teams, and for marketing and creative agencies, from account executives and designers to account directors and creative directors.

Should we hire a marketing generalist or a specialist? It depends on what the business needs most. A generalist can cover a range of tasks and work with outsourced specialists. A specialist is the right hire when one channel, such as SEO, email or paid social, is where the growth is. We can help you decide before you write the job description.

Should we hire permanently, or use contract or freelance help? A permanent hire suits work that goes on all year. Contract help suits a campaign, a launch or a gap in skills. Many teams use both, with a permanent core and contract specialists for peaks.

Do you recruit web designers and developers? Web designers and digital marketing roles sit on this page. Software developers sit on our IT & Tech page.

Your contact

Charlotte Coke, Senior Consultant.

Charlotte leads our marketing and creative team and works with marketing leaders and agencies across Devon, Somerset & Cornwall.

Charlotte Coke: 01392 304784 | charlotte@cathedralappointments.co.uk