What to know before you hand someone the keys to your growth engine
Hiring your first Head of Growth is one of the most important—and most misunderstood—hires in an early-stage company. On paper, it sounds like a no-brainer: bring in someone who can make the numbers go up. But in reality, this role is complex, messy, and dangerously easy to get wrong if you’re not clear on what you really need.
Done well, a great Head of Growth becomes your leverage point. They amplify what’s working, run smart experiments, build systems that compound, and unlock channels you hadn’t even considered. Done poorly, they chase vanity metrics, over-engineer funnels, and leave you with dashboards full of noise and no sustainable progress.
So how do you know when it’s time to hire one? What should you expect to pay? And more importantly—what should set off alarm bells?
Let’s break it down.
First: what does a Head of Growth actually do?
Growth isn’t a channel. It’s a mindset applied across the entire user journey—from first touch to retention, upsell, and referral. A great Head of Growth isn’t just a performance marketer with a fancier title. They’re part strategist, part operator, part analyst, and often, part product thinker.
Depending on your stage and model, they might:
- Identify and scale customer acquisition channels
- Build out conversion funnels and onboarding experiments
- Track and analyze marketplace returns to improve customer experience and seller accountability
- Own core metrics like CAC, LTV, and activation rate
- Collaborate with product on features that drive engagement or virality
- Design referral or affiliate programs
- Optimize pricing, packaging, and lifecycle emails
- Tie growth efforts to actual revenue outcomes
If that sounds like a lot, it is. That’s why hiring too early—or hiring the wrong profile—can backfire quickly.
When is the right time to hire your first Head of Growth?
The temptation to hire someone with “growth” in their title kicks in early. You’re seeing some traction. You raised a round. You want to “scale.” So you post the job.
But here’s the thing: hiring a Head of Growth too soon is like hiring a CFO before you’ve made a dollar. You don’t need sophistication yet. You need proof.
Here’s a simple test. You’re probably ready if:
- You have at least one proven acquisition channel that’s working reliably
- You’ve got product-market fit (or clear signs of it)
- You have paying users and real retention data
- You’ve already tested a few growth levers on your own (and felt the ceiling)
- You can clearly articulate what needs to grow and why
The Head of Growth should be there to scale momentum, not create it from scratch. If you’re still throwing spaghetti at the wall, you’re likely better off with a few tactical freelancers or a generalist marketer who can help you find traction.
How much does a Head of Growth cost?
Ah yes, the money question.
Like most leadership roles, the range is wide—and it depends heavily on your stage, location, equity offer, and expectations. But here’s a rough framework for US-based roles in 2025:
- Early-stage startups (Seed – Series A):
$120K–$160K base + 0.5–1.5% equity - Mid-stage startups (Series B+):
$160K–$220K base + 0.3–1% equity - Late-stage (Series C+ or pre-IPO):
$200K–$300K+ base + bonus + equity (0.1–0.5%)
Remote or global hires may cost less, but experience still commands a premium —something remote job recruiters understand well.. Beware the temptation to lowball—it usually results in hiring someone underqualified, or overpaying someone who lacks stage-fit experience.
One more thing: a true Head of Growth will ask for budget. They’ll need tools, ad spend, team support, and runway to test. If you can’t afford to fund their experiments, they can’t do their job. Hiring one without a budget is like buying a race car with no gas.
What to look for in a strong Head of Growth candidate
This is where things get nuanced. You’re not looking for a résumé with big logos and vague buzzwords. You’re looking for evidence of leverage—someone who has turned insights into measurable growth.
Look for people who:
- Have operated at your stage before—not just scaled companies, but built from ambiguity
- Speak in specifics (“we increased activation by 28% by shortening the trial funnel”)
- Understand both acquisition and retention—they know that leaky buckets kill scale
- Show systems thinking—they build loops, not campaigns
- Can roll up their sleeves—especially in early-stage companies, they should be comfortable executing and experimenting, not just directing
- Are data literate, but not obsessed—they use metrics to learn, not to posture
- Can speak to trade-offs—they know when to chase growth and when to protect product experience
And if they’ve got experience working closely with product and engineering? Even better. Growth isn’t just a marketing function anymore—it’s cross-functional by nature. As your company scales, leveraging tools like a coworking space app can optimize flexible work environments, reduce costs, and enhance team collaboration.
Red flags to watch out for
Not all growth candidates are created equal. Some look great on paper but crumble under scrutiny. Here are some warning signs to pay attention to:
1. They treat growth like “just acquisition”
If all their wins involve performance marketing or paid ads, you’re not hiring a Head of Growth. You’re hiring a media buyer. Look for someone who understands full-funnel thinking, not just top-of-funnel tactics.
2. They brag about budget, not constraints
Anyone can “drive scale” with a $5M ad budget. But growth often happens under constraints. If they can’t explain how they hacked early traction, built organic loops, or ran scrappy tests, they may not thrive in your stage.
3. They overcomplicate simple systems
If they need 15 tools to run a funnel audit, or they propose a six-month onboarding revamp before fixing your email subject lines, back away. A good Head of Growth knows how to get wins fast without building empires.
4. They don’t ask about retention
If they never mention churn, activation, or product usage in your interview, that’s a red flag. Growth without retention is just burn.
5. They need a big team to be effective
If they’re too senior to get in the weeds—or too rigid to work solo—they’re not your first Head of Growth. They’re your second or third.
How to set your Head of Growth up for success
Hiring the right person is just step one. Even the best Head of Growth will struggle if you toss them into chaos without support.
Here’s what they need from you:
- Clear, focused metrics: Choose 1–2 key KPIs they can own—don’t make them the catch-all for everything that’s not working.
- Enough access to product: They need to influence or partner on changes that impact onboarding, activation, and feature usage.
- Budget for testing: Whether it’s ad spend, tooling, or freelancers, make sure they can run experiments without bottlenecks.
- Quick decision loops: Growth dies in slow orgs. They’ll need fast answers, autonomy to try, and permission to fail.
- Cultural buy-in: If growth is seen as “marketing’s job” and not a company priority, they’ll burn out fast.
Growth is a team sport. Your Head of Growth can lead, but they can’t carry it alone. It all starts at the hiring process, and using the right hiring software for small business will help you get the right person.
Do you even need a Head of Growth?
Here’s a spicy take: many startups hire a Head of Growth when they really just need a tactically brilliant generalist.
If you’re under $1M ARR, pre-Series A, and still figuring out what’s working, you might not need a growth leader. You might need:
- A content strategist who gets SEO and conversion
- A lifecycle marketer who can improve activation and retention
- A founder-led growth playbook that’s still in motion
A Head of Growth is a force multiplier. But you have to give them something to multiply. But just like effective recruiting strategies, you have to give them something to build on before expecting scalable results.
So before you post the job, ask yourself: do we have something that’s already working—and we just need help scaling it? Or are we still guessing?
If it’s the latter, you’re not behind. You’re just early. Build the fire. Then bring in someone who can throw gas on it.
Final word: hire for clarity, not hope
Growth isn’t magic. It’s not something someone else comes in and “figures out” while you wait for charts to go up. It’s a collaborative, iterative, sometimes painful process of building systems that turn strangers into customers—and customers into advocates.
Hiring a Head of Growth too early, for the wrong reasons, or with vague expectations can kill momentum. But hiring the right one, at the right time, with clear ownership and the tools to execute? That’s when things get fun.
So write the job description after you’ve written your hypothesis. Set goals before you hire someone to chase them. And when in doubt, look for the person who’s shipped before—not just scaled.
Because your first Head of Growth shouldn’t just grow your numbers. They should grow your confidence in how to build a company that lasts.
