As we started growing the marketing team, we had to get on the same page about expectations for new hires, as well as what their growth path was at the company. We went from a seed fund company with a small marketing team to a unicorn company that needed a marketing team to keep fueling that growth.

In the smaller version, we had one product marketer, me running all UA & retention, one brand marketer, and then some design & content talent. Since then, the marketing team has roughly doubled, and we're continuing to hire. We need to shift from single people owning entire functions to teams of specialists who are truly focused on tasks, problems, functions, and opportunities.

Each team leader adopted this progression as a starting point, and it's allowed us to collaborate on key processes like hiring, onboarding, evaluations, and career mapping. However, it's important to remember that this is JUST a starting point.

I can't remember where I heard this framework, but there are 3 E's of professional development: Education, Experience, and Exposure. We can look at each team member by where they are now and where they want to go with their career, and then we look at the delta to identify the things we need to do to build their 3 E's to get to a point that is great for the company AND gets them (personally) where they're trying to go.

We were not looking to hire marketing generalists, but we wanted our levels to be relatively uniform across all marketing disciplines (with the exception of the creative team which has some unique considerations).

A very early draft of this document focused heavily on time in role rather than expertise. I don't care about years of experience; I care about results, so I adjusted these expectations to reflect that.


We still aren't at a point where we're hiring for entry-level positions, but defining the expectations of an entry-level candidate is still an important step because it gives you something to compare against.


I believe one of the biggest travesties in the modern workplace is the idea that you are capped on professional growth simply because you aren't good at being, or don't want to be, or the company doesn't need you to be a people manager.

Senior-level ICs are so important and so powerful. And people deserve managers & leaders who WANT to be managers & leaders. So we try to delineate the two at almost every level.

I didn't create this document until after my promotion to VP. And this one is especially lofty. It's pretty damn-near impossible for every VP to be one of the top practitioners in their field...but what's wrong with aspirational descriptions?

For me personally, bullets 2, 6, and 7 were the ones that really hit home, and were reflections on what I've learned from the best leaders I've worked with.

Sean Collins

I built this career progression map to align our marketing leaders on hiring, onboarding, and evaluations as we scaled our team.

 For each team-member, you can use this as a starting point, but you need to take the bullets and figure out how to build a plan to give them...

Marketing Career Progression at Bilt Rewards

Marketing Career Progression

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