Fractional Marketing Director JO SHAILES
Is this you…
When marketing feels busy but progress feels slow
Many growing B2B businesses reach a point where:
- Marketing activity is happening, but it is not driving a consistent pipeline
- The internal team is stretched or overly tactical
- Agencies are executing, but no one is truly leading
- Decisions are delayed because there is no clear owner at director level
That is where fractional leadership works.
I step in as your senior marketing lead — setting direction, making decisions, and creating a clear, workable plan your business can actually deliver.
What I do as a Fractional Marketing Director
Create strategic clarity
Define your ICPs, value propositions, priorities and success measures so marketing effort is focused on the right opportunities, not noise.
Build momentum and pipeline
Put structure, cadence and accountability in place so marketing starts contributing to commercial outcomes, not just activity reports.
Align brand, marketing and sales
Ensure your positioning, messaging and go-to-market activity support how your business actually sells and grows.
Reduce decision load for the MD
Take ownership of marketing decisions, trade-offs and prioritisation, freeing up leadership time while increasing confidence in direction.
Underneath this leadership, I work hands-on where it accelerates progress and bring in trusted specialist support where it makes sense.
How I work
How fractional marketing leadership works
Fractional is not “part-time marketing”. It is senior leadership, applied proportionally.
Typically:
- I start with a short audit to understand the commercial reality, not just the marketing symptoms
- We agree on clear objectives, priorities and success measures
- I embed with your leadership team, remotely or on-site
- We establish a regular cadence, clear reporting and decision-making rhythm
- Support scales up or down based on your stage, appetite for pace and internal resources
You get director-level thinking and accountability, without the cost or risk of a permanent hire.
This works best for businesses that:
- Are B2B, manufacturing, technical or engineering-led
- Have ambition to grow, but need a clearer marketing direction
- Want senior input, not junior execution
- Value structure, evidence and calm decision-making
- Are not ready — or do not need — a full-time Marketing Director
About me
I am a commercially driven Marketing Director with more than 20 years’ experience leading strategic marketing across global B2B organisations, particularly in engineering, manufacturing, energy and technical sectors. I began my career in data, analytics and database management before progressing into senior marketing leadership roles at GE Oil & Gas and later Trelleborg, where I became Vice President of Marketing with global responsibility for nine business units.
At Trelleborg, I led a major brand transformation, consolidating multiple global businesses into two externally facing brands. I implemented marketing automation and digital platforms, reduced reliance on external agencies, built and led a high-performing in-house team, and delivered measurable commercial impact — including €24m in campaign-generated sales leads and record-breaking ROMI. My focus was always on aligning marketing tightly with commercial strategy and revenue growth.
Since 2021, I have operated as a fractional and interim Marketing Director through The Marketing Centre and Shailes Consultancy Limited. I work with owners and MDs of B2B technical businesses who know marketing matters but need clarity, structure and leadership rather than just campaigns. My work spans strategic planning, brand positioning, go-to-market strategy, digital transformation and sales enablement. I have led successful market expansions, product launches, rebrands and marketing restructures, consistently delivering stronger positioning, increased lead generation and improved revenue performance.
I am a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and combine strategic leadership with hands-on execution. My goal is simple: to ensure marketing sits at the board table and operates as a commercial growth engine, not a cost centre.
Considering fractional marketing leadership?
If you are weighing up your options — full-time hire, agency support or fractional leadership, a short conversation will help you decide what is right for your business.
There is no sales pitch. Just a clear discussion about your situation and whether this model fits.
Get inspired
Reviews
Business whisper
When I heard Jo doing a presentation about how she helps businesses with their marketing, one phrase really resonated. “Most people don’t have a marketing problem, they have a clarity problem.”
As a live illustrator, my brain is a whirlwind of ideas—which is great for my art, but a nightmare for setting business boundaries.
I booked a 1-1, and with calming patience and wisdom, Jo managed to wrangle my knotted musings onto a single sheet of A4 and a few organized Post-its. I left with priority goals, a plan to remove blockers, and a clear strategy for marketing myself to new connections.
She fed my mind with clarity and my body with delicious homemade soup and eggs from her own hens! She’s the reason I’ve started sharing timelapse videos of my graphic recordings on Linked In and within two weeks I’ve increased my engagement but also got quality interactions with the specific audience I want to reach.
I highly recommend Jo as a clear-sighted marketing expert and I think she should rebrand herself as the “business whisperer”. She’s brilliant!
Bex Gilbert
Bex Creative Illustration
Refreshing presence
Jo is, quite simply, a refreshing presence in the often daunting realm of eCommerce, marketing, and SEO. She came on board during a challenging period and played a pivotal role in turning things around, building a new team from the ground up and guiding them to success. Her logical and analytical mindset, coupled with her experience, enables her to utilize a strong mental toolkit to approach any situation with composure and well-thought-out strategies. When it comes to steering the ship in a new direction, she’s the ideal leader to have at the helm.
Ben Durrant
Eclipse
Dedicated
I have worked with many professionals throughout my journey, but Jo is one of the most dedicated professionals, willing to put that extra help whenever you need it.
Her expertise and skills within Marketing is considerable. Over the last years, she’s built a global marketing teamto support our operations globally with all marketing activities needed. (exhibitions, events, campaigns, web, social media….) Her work ethics are pristine, and she is easily adjustable to a given situation. Her contribution is valuable to the side, and I highly recommend Jo and would love to work with her again.
Geir Otto Amundsen
Chief Executive Officer, Carbon Circle Holding AS