Interim Leadership — operational GTM leadership with full mandate. Not just advisory.
Thorsten Rhode takes ownership of the function — decisions, team building, operational execution — from inside.
Full accountability for a defined period — with the goal of leaving the organization able to run independently.
Schedule an Interim Leadership conversationWhat Interim means at Marqueteer
Interim at marqueteer means: I own the function. Not as an advisor on the sidelines — but actively inside the business.
That means Thorsten Rhode doesn't sit at the table to give recommendations. He sits at the table to take accountability — with a clear mandate and the goal of leaving the organization stronger. Stakeholder interviews, diagnostic, board presentation, phased plan, team building, process installation, results — one person, accumulated context, no handoff briefing.
The difference from a consultant is structural: a consultant delivers recommendations that another team has to implement. An interim operator is accountable for the outcome — and stays until the outcome is in place.
What an interim engagement covers
No two interim mandates are identical. But the pattern is consistent:
- Diagnostic first — first, assess the full Go-To-Market Value Chain - then: plan. What's the actual problem — and where does it really sit?
- Phased plan in board language — not a marketing deck. A growth plan with priorities, timelines, resource requirements, and measurable outcomes that holds up in front of investors and advisory boards.
- Operational execution — Thorsten Rhode makes decisions a reality, coaches the team, coordinates agencies and external partners, and ensures the plan survives contact with operational reality.
- Team building and succession — where needed, roles are (re-)defined, positions are filled, and internal capabilities are built. The engagement is designed to make itself unnecessary.
- Measurement and reporting — dashboards, KPIs, and reporting structures the internal team can run independently after the engagement ends.
In practice
PE-backed manufacturer (Medical Aids), 6 countries
Almost two years on the executive board. The engagement began with a diagnostic: a B2B distribution system that was fundamentally unsuited to a new product category — a consumer product competing against electric stairlifts. What followed was a complete B2B-to-B2C transformation: new sales channels, digital lead generation, consumer engagement team build, marketing coordination across multiple European countries, and an ROI-positive digital lead model within twelve months of building an entirely new product category from scratch.
Global Premium tea brand, 200+ years
Fifteen months of interim leadership in product management. The function had no strategic direction, no innovation pipeline, no data-driven decision-making. The engagement delivered: rebuilt innovation pipeline with active product initiatives, data-based portfolio analysis on a contribution-margin basis, restructured product team with clear roles and KPIs — and as a structured close, a senior product manager hired as successor to continue the transformation independently.
Interim vs. permanent hire — the decision logic
A CMO search takes four to six months. A bad hire at that level costs €250–350K — including severance and lost time. And a permanent hire makes sense when the organization needs a stable, long-term marketing function — and already knows what that should look like.
That's not always the situation. For companies in transition — market entry, acquisition integration, product category launch, go-to-market realignment — the interim model fits the shape of the challenge better. The need is acute, the window is defined, and the engagement should build the capability for the organization to continue independently.
This isn't a cheaper substitute for a permanent hire. It's a risk-adjusted alternative with a defined outcome — and a methodology designed to make itself unnecessary.
The engagement is designed for its own exit from day one
Every interim engagement at marqueteer is built so the organization no longer needs it when it ends. That's not a side effect — it's the design principle.
That means: new hires are made to continue the work after the engagement closes. Processes are installed so decisions can be made without the external operator in the room. Teams are developed, roles defined, KPIs embedded. The engagement builds the structure, installs the tools, develops the people — and then exits.
For PE investors, this translates directly: the engagement increases enterprise value — it doesn't become a recurring cost line.
Fee
Interim engagements are usually structured as a project fees or retainers — defined scope, agreed outcome, fixed price. Scope and fee are agreed together in the first conversation.
Now is rarely the wrong moment.
Interim engagements start when the need is acute — not when it's convenient. The first conversation establishes whether the situation matches what marqueteer is able to deliver, and in what timeframe an engagement could begin.