Employment contract for a marketing executive

A marketing executive creates the content the business trades on, runs the social media accounts in the business's name, holds the customer data the campaigns use, and commits spend with agencies and platforms. The contract has to put the content and the accounts with the employer, limit the spend the employee may commit, carry the data protection and advertising rules the employee must follow, and set the covenants that a mid-level marketing role justifies. I draft that contract for the employer for a fixed fee of £595, delivered in five working days, as a template for the grade.

Who this is for

Employers in England and Wales hiring marketing executives, digital marketing managers, content and social media managers and campaign managers, in-house or in agencies.

What matters in a marketing executive's contract

The role, campaigns and the authority to commit spend

The contract should describe the role and reporting line, the employee's authority to commit marketing spend (within an approved budget, with contracts with agencies, platforms and suppliers above a stated value requiring approval and signed on the employer's terms), the obligation to follow the employer's brand guidelines and approval process for campaigns, and the right of the employer to reallocate duties as the marketing function changes; an executive who signs a twelve-month agency retainer without authority has bound the employer, and the limit should be a term the employee has agreed.

Content, accounts and intellectual property

Copy, designs, video, campaigns and content created in the course of employment belong to the employer under section 11 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, and the contract should confirm that, waive moral rights, require every social media, advertising and analytics account to be in the employer's name with credentials held in the employer's systems, prohibit the use of personal accounts for the employer's marketing, and provide for the handover of accounts and content on leaving; a brand whose social media account is registered to an employee's personal email is a brand that leaves when they do.

Confidentiality and the data the role touches

The contract should define the confidential information the role involves (customer data, campaign results, pricing, product plans), prohibit its use and disclosure, and require compliance with the UK GDPR and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 in email and electronic marketing, including consent and opt-out handling, with the employee's obligations under the employer's data protection policy; marketing is where data protection breaches happen, and the contract should make compliance a condition of the role.

Regulated marketing and the employee's compliance

The contract should require the employee to comply with the advertising codes administered by the Advertising Standards Authority, the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 as replaced by the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 in consumer marketing (including the rules on fake reviews and drip pricing), the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008 in business marketing, and any sector rules (financial promotions, health claims, alcohol), with the employer's approval process for claims and comparisons; the employer is liable for the employee's marketing, and the contract should say what the employee must check.

Hours, hybrid working and agency relationships

The contract should state the hours and the hybrid pattern where there is one, the expectation of availability around launches and events with time off in lieu, the place of work, and the rules on relationships with agencies and suppliers (gifts and hospitality within the Bribery Act 2010 policy, no side arrangements, no freelance work for competitors or the employer's suppliers without consent), because marketing executives are courted by the agencies they instruct.

Covenants, notice and the particulars

The written particulars that section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires from the first day are contained in the contract, fixes probation and notice above the section 86 minimum, contains confidentiality that survives and a non-solicitation of clients and staff for a short period where the role has client contact (an agency account role justifies more than an in-house one), with a non-compete rarely appropriate below senior level, and the usual terms on sick pay, the workplace pension the Pensions Act 2008 requires, paid holiday under the Working Time Regulations 1998, the procedures for discipline and grievances, which the handbook sets out.

What it costs

Employment contract, £595. One template you can reuse for a grade of staff. Five working days.

Staff handbook and core policies, £995. Five working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the employment contracts and handbooks page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A bespoke contract drafted for how you employ people
• Restrictive covenants drafted at a scope a court will uphold
• Confidentiality and intellectual property provisions that put ownership where it belongs
• The statutory particulars, so the document does the job section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires it to do
• Flexibility clauses where you genuinely need them, drafted to survive challenge
• Core policies: disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence, equal opportunities, data protection and, increasingly, AI use
• One round of amendments

What is not included

• Acting for employees
• Employment tribunal representation
• Payroll, pensions auto-enrolment and tax
• Immigration and sponsor licence work
• Day to day HR handling, disciplinaries, grievances and redundancy processes

Questions I am often asked

Our marketing manager set up our Instagram account in her own name. Is that a problem?

The account is the employer's asset in the employee's name, which is the problem. The contract requires accounts to be in the employer's name with credentials held by the employer, and the transfer should be done now.

Who owns the content our marketing executive creates?

The employer, as work created in the course of employment, and the contract confirms it with a waiver of moral rights. Content created before joining is addressed separately.

Can we stop a marketing executive moonlighting for an agency?

The contract requires consent for outside work and prohibits work for competitors and the employer's suppliers, which covers it. An outright ban on any outside activity is harder to justify for a mid-level role.

Related guidance and services

• Employment contracts and handbooks, £595, the service this page describes
• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595
• Settlement agreements for employers, £795
• Employment contract for a designer
• Consultancy agreement for a marketing consultant

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: October 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.