Latest / The Marketing Career Podcast with Fexingo: Marketing Jobs, Skills, and Career Growth / How Marketing Managers Use Career Contracts for Role Clarity
Transcript
- Lucas: So I want to start with a number that's been rattling around in my head. A survey from the American Marketing Association last year found that almost sixty percent of marketing managers say their actual day-to-day work has 'little to no relation' to the job description they were hired under. Luna: That's a huge disconnect. I feel like every marketer I know has a story about scope creep or being asked to do something that wasn't in the original plan. Lucas: Exactly. And that's where the idea of a career contract comes in. It's a short written agreement between you and your boss that spells out exactly what you're responsible for, what resources you get, and how success is measured over a defined period—say six months. It's not a legal document, but it's more formal than a verbal conversation. Luna: I've heard of people doing something like this for project kickoffs, but never for their whole role. How does it actually work? Lucas: Let me give you a concrete example. There's a B2B SaaS company—I'll call it OptiFlow, not its real name—where a content marketing manager named Jenna was getting frustrated. She'd been hired to write blog posts and case studies, but within six months she was also running webinars, managing an agency, and doing basic demand gen. Her performance review said she wasn't hitting her targets, but those targets had never been updated. Luna: Classic. She's getting evaluated on a role that doesn't exist anymore. Lucas: Right. So Jenna drafted a one-page career contract. She listed three things: first, her core deliverables—four blog posts and two case studies per month, plus one webinar per quarter. Second, the support she needed—a five-thousand-dollar monthly budget for freelance writers and a junior designer assigned two days a week. Third, decision rights—she wanted to approve all content before it went to legal, and she wanted veto power over any last-minute requests that would derail her calendar. Luna: That third part is the one most people skip. We focus on the task list but not the boundaries. Lucas: Exactly. Her manager initially balked—said it felt like she was 'asking for permission to say no.' But Jenna reframed it: this isn't about saying no, it's about making sure the things we say yes to actually get done well. And she pointed out that without the contract, she was already saying no accidentally by missing deadlines. The manager agreed to a three-month trial. Luna: And I'm guessing it worked, or we wouldn't be talking about it. Lucas: It did. After three months, her output was more consistent, her stress levels dropped, and she even got a small budget increase because the manager could see exactly what the resources enabled. The contract became a tool for advocacy, not just protection. Luna: Look, if this conversation is sparking something you might actually use, I want to mention something. These episodes stay ad-free because of listener support. If today was useful, you can help keep it that way at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, just a way to keep the conversations going. Lucas: Yeah, that's exactly right. Every contribution lets us focus on the content instead of sponsors. And honestly, knowing people find it valuable—that's the real fuel. Luna: Okay, back to the contract. One thing I wonder about is pushback. A lot of managers might see this as a lack of trust. How do you frame it so it's a collaboration instead of a demand? Lucas: That's the key. You don't send it as a 'here are my demands' email. You say something like, 'I want to make sure I'm aligned with your priorities and that I have what I need to deliver. Can we spend fifteen minutes mapping out what success looks like for the next six months?' Then you draft the contract together. The act of writing it down surfaces assumptions both sides hold. Luna: And if the manager still resists? I've heard stories where the response is 'we don't do formal role definitions here, we're agile.' Lucas: That's a common objection. My response would be: agility doesn't mean chaos. Even agile software teams have a backlog and a sprint goal. A career contract is just a six-month sprint goal with guardrails. You can still pivot—but you pivot deliberately, not by accident. If the manager refuses to clarify scope, that's a red flag about the culture. Luna: So it's also a diagnostic tool. If they won't agree to clarity, maybe the problem isn't you. Lucas: Exactly. Let's talk about what goes in the contract. I recommend three sections. Section one: scope of work. List the major projects or responsibilities, and be specific about volume and frequency. Not 'create content' but 'publish two blog posts per week and one gated ebook per quarter.' Section two: resources. Budget, headcount, tools, access to data. Whatever you need to deliver that scope. Section three: decision rights. What can you decide alone, what requires input, and what needs approval. Luna: And how do you decide what to include? I imagine some people might overspecify and make it too rigid. Lucas: Good point. You don't need to list every tiny task. Focus on the highest-leverage activities—the twenty percent that drives eighty percent of impact. For a marketing manager, that might be campaign strategy, budget allocation, and team coordination. The rest is detail. Also, leave room for one 'strategic wildcard'—a placeholder for an unexpected opportunity that might come up. That way you're not boxed in. Luna: I like that. It acknowledges that you can't predict everything. Let's talk about the review cycle. How often do you revisit the contract? Lucas: Every quarter is a good cadence. You sit down, look at what you committed to, what changed in the business, and adjust. Maybe a new product launch means you need to shift content priorities. You update the contract instead of just absorbing the change. That way, changes are intentional. And at the six-month mark, you use it as evidence for your performance review. You can say, 'I delivered on everything we agreed, plus I handled X unexpected project.' Luna: That's a powerful promotion tool. It's not just 'I worked hard'—it's 'here's the baseline we set, and here's what I exceeded.' Lucas: Exactly. One thing I want to emphasize: the contract is a living document. It's not a cage. If you sign it and three months later the company pivots, you update it. The goal is alignment, not rigidity. But the act of writing it down forces clarity. And clarity is what most marketing careers lack. Luna: What about someone who's brand new in a role? Should they wait until they've proven themselves before proposing a contract? Lucas: I'd say propose it after ninety days. By then you've seen how things work, you've built some rapport, and you can say 'based on what I've learned, here's how I think we can best structure my contribution.' It shows initiative. Newer marketers often worry it's presumptuous, but managers generally appreciate someone who thinks about structure. Luna: And if you're a manager yourself, you could use this with your direct reports too. Lucas: Absolutely. I've seen managers implement team-wide career contracts. Each person writes their own, then the manager reviews them for alignment. It surfaces mismatches early—like a content writer who wants to move into strategy but the team needs production. You can then have a honest conversation about timeline or skill-building. Luna: It sounds like it transforms the manager conversation from evaluation to coaching. That's a huge shift. Lucas: It does. And it reduces the emotional weight of performance reviews because you're measuring against a document you both agreed to, not a vague memory. I think that's the real value: it turns career growth from a reactive process into a proactive one. Luna: So if someone wants to try this, what's the first step? Should they just start writing? Lucas: I'd start with a simple template. Write down your current responsibilities as you see them. Then ask your manager to do the same. Compare notes. The gaps will jump out. Then draft a one-page contract based on the three sections we talked about. Schedule a thirty-minute meeting to review it. Keep the tone collaborative: 'I want to make sure I'm focusing on what matters most to you.' Luna: And if they say no? Flat out? Lucas: Then you have important information. Either the manager doesn't value clarity, or they prefer to keep you in a flexible state where they can assign anything. That's a risk for your career. I'd consider whether that environment supports your growth. The contract is as much about testing the soil as it is about planting seeds. Luna: That's a good way to put it. So we've covered the what, the how, and the why. Any final thoughts? Lucas: Just that this isn't about being difficult. It's about being professional. Every other function—engineering, finance, legal—has formal scoping documents. Marketing has historically operated on vibes and trust. A career contract brings the same rigor that other functions already use. And that's good for everyone. Luna: Alright, next episode we'll dig into another tool for marketing career growth. Until then, maybe draft that contract. Lucas: See you next time.