Best Jobs For Former Marketing Managers [2026]

In 2026, the landscape for marketing managers is constantly evolving, with many professionals transitioning away from traditional roles. This shift has left many former marketing managers questioning their career paths.

Despite a steady number of graduates entering marketing-related fields, fewer individuals are pursuing long-term careers as marketing managers. The evolving job market has prompted many to consider new opportunities.

This raises an important question:

What career paths are former marketing managers exploring?

To find out, we analyzed the resumes of thousands of former marketing managers to discover the types of jobs they transitioned into after leaving the field. We compiled a list of the top 100 careers they pursued.

In this article, we will highlight some surprising and intriguing roles from that list.

Best Jobs For Former Marketing Managers

While some of these roles are undoubtedly more appealing than others, they certainly represent diverse opportunities for former marketing managers.

The complete list of jobs can be found below.

Detailed Ranking of the Most Common Jobs of Former Marketing Managers

Rank	Job Title	%
1	Marketing Director	5.24%
2	Marketing Consultant	2.06%
3	Vice President	1.98%
4	Project Manager	1.14%
5	Product Manager	1.14%
6	Consultant	0.93%
7	Marketing Communications Manager	0.91%
8	Owner	0.84%
9	Business Developer	0.84%
10	Account Manager	0.83%
11	Account Executive	0.78%
12	Business Development Manager	0.76%
13	Product Marketing Manager	0.69%
14	Sales Manager	0.69%
15	Senior Manager Of Marketing	0.68%
16	Digital Marketing Manager	0.65%
17	Marketing Specialist	0.64%
18	Senior Manager	0.63%
19	Marketing Coordinator	0.63%
20	Principal	0.6%
21	General Manager	0.6%
22	Brand Manager	0.54%
23	Manager	0.54%
24	Office Manager	0.53%
25	Program Manager	0.52%
26	Operations Manager	0.49%
27	Director	0.47%
28	Director Of Communications And Marketing	0.47%
29	Director Of Sales	0.45%
30	Communications Manager	0.45%
31	President	0.45%
32	Sales Representative	0.43%
33	Senior Product Manager	0.41%
34	Communications Director	0.37%
35	Sales Associate	0.35%
36	Graphic Designer	0.35%
37	Administrative Assistant	0.35%
38	Senior Project Manager	0.35%
39	Sales/Marketing	0.35%
40	Account Director	0.35%
41	Marketing/Business Development	0.34%
42	Senior Product Marketing Manager	0.33%
43	Founder	0.32%
44	Marketing Program Manager	0.32%
45	Chief Executive Officer	0.32%
46	Director Of Sales And Marketing	0.31%
47	Senior Account Manager	0.29%
48	Regional Sales Manager	0.29%
49	Assistant Manager	0.29%
50	Regional Marketing Manager	0.29%
51	Managing Director	0.28%
52	Social Media Manager	0.28%
53	Customer Service Representative	0.28%
54	Executive Director	0.28%
55	Sales And Marketing Manager	0.27%
56	Store Manager	0.27%
57	Senior Director Of Marketing	0.27%
58	Chief Marketing Officer	0.26%
59	Director, Product Marketing	0.26%
60	Event Manager	0.25%
61	Marketing And Communication Consultant	0.25%
62	Freelance Marketing Consultant	0.25%
63	Owner/Operator	0.24%
64	Marketing Communications Specialist	0.24%
65	President/Owner	0.23%
66	Marketing Strategist	0.23%
67	Director Of Strategy	0.22%
68	Head Of Marketing	0.22%
69	Director Of Digital Marketing	0.21%
70	Territory Manager	0.21%
71	Internship	0.21%
72	Operations Director	0.2%
73	Principal Consultant	0.2%
74	Sales Consultant	0.19%
75	Senior Director	0.19%
76	Account Supervisor	0.19%
77	Director, Global Marketing	0.19%
78	Senior Consultant	0.19%
79	Senior Brand Manager	0.18%
80	Media Consultant	0.18%
81	Marketing And Operations Manager	0.17%
82	Co-Founder	0.17%
83	Marketing Internship	0.17%
84	Business Consultant	0.17%
85	Business Manager	0.17%
86	Online Marketing Manager	0.17%
87	Writer And Editor	0.17%
88	Brand Marketing Manager	0.17%
89	Marketing Associate	0.16%
90	Search Engine Optimizer	0.16%
91	Marketing Assistant	0.16%
92	Vice President, Business Development	0.16%
93	Executive Assistant	0.16%
94	Communications Specialist	0.16%
95	Team Leader	0.16%
96	Creative Director	0.15%
97	Marketing Contractor	0.15%
98	Marketing Analyst	0.15%
99	Communications Consultant	0.15%
100	Senior Account Executive	0.15%

Most Common Jobs For Former Marketing Managers

These positions represent viable career options that leverage the skills of former marketing managers or serve as stepping stones to new career trajectories.

Notably, these roles align closely with the expectations of many transitioning from marketing management.

How We Determined the Best Jobs of Former Marketing Managers

We analyzed resume data from our extensive database, which includes over 7 million entries, focusing on those that noted marketing manager in their work history. We tracked the subsequent job titles they held, ranking them by frequency.

To curate our list of the most interesting roles, we sifted through the ranked list to identify positions that:

Appeared in fewer than 1% of all new jobs
Were not included in the top 100 common roles in our database

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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