Hybrid roles in Serbia: how creativity, service and IT get along

Why there are so many “mixed” roles in Serbia

The Serbian market is relatively small, plus many companies are in “we are growing, but without extra people” mode.

As a result, instead of three people they hire one “generalist”:

• a marketer who runs social media, tracks the funnel and sometimes launches ads
• an account manager who sells, onboards and does a bit of support
• a project manager who writes specs, sets up the CRM by hand and talks to clients

Globally the trend is similar. The World Economic Forum notes that by 2027 almost half of workers’ core skills will have changed, and at the top you see analytical thinking, creativity and working with AI and data at the same time. Marketing and digital are described as a “hybrid discipline” where analytics and creativity go in one bottle.

In Europe demand is growing for people with cross disciplinary profiles who understand the tech, the industry and the client. Serbia is no exception, it just feels stronger here because of market size and budgets.

How to tell you are looking at a hybrid role

Signals in the job description:

• “you will be responsible for both strategy and operations”
• “we are looking for someone who is not afraid to talk to clients and dig into data”
• “you need to be able to write copy, run campaigns and analyse the results”
• “experience with CRM, basic reports and communication with the dev team is a plus”

Often these are mixes:

• creativity + service: marketing plus customer service or account management
• service + IT: support that understands the product and can do basic diagnostics
• creativity + IT: product marketing, content plus analytics plus a bit of no code

The main thing is not to be scared by the “one man band” wording. It is important to understand what is at the core of the role and what is “would be nice if”.

What to ask an employer about hybrid roles

To avoid burning out in three months, it makes sense to calmly dig into the details at the interview.

1.Which 3–4 tasks take up 70 percent of the time

Ask exactly that. If the employer cannot formulate this, that is a red flag.
An answer like “well, a bit of everything” means the role has no clear focus.

2. What the KPIs are and how they will be measured

• for marketing plus service: leads, conversion to deals, client NPS
• for service plus IT: speed and quality of solutions, CSAT, share of self service
• for creativity plus IT: product or feature growth, user engagement, retention

It is important to understand whether they expect simultaneous growth on all fronts.

3. Who you are paired with

Is there a separate analyst, designer, developer or is everything on you.
A good sign is when there is at least a small team, not just “you and the founder for all processes”.

4. What a typical workday looks like

Ask them to describe it step by step. For example: “in the morning you check requests, during the day you have calls with clients, two or three times a week you set tasks for developers and at the end of the week you prepare a report”.
This helps you feel whether there is any time left to think and learn.

5. Which tools are already in place

CRM, helpdesk, analytics, knowledge base. If there is nothing and “you will build it from scratch”, think honestly if you want to be the one doing exactly that.

6. Whether there is a budget for learning and expertise

Can they bring in external vendors, consulting, courses. Without this a hybrid role easily turns into “figure it out yourself but we need the result yesterday”.

How to package yourself for hybrid vacancies

Show your core “axis” and one or two strong extra skills

You need a clear base. For example:

• “I am a marketer with strong analytics and support experience”
• “I am an account manager who understands the product and basic no code”
• “I am a content specialist who tracks funnels and understands ads”

This is easier to read than a list of 20 random skills.

Rewrite your CV in the “we crossed a hedgehog with a snake” format

Focus not on job titles, but on combinations:

• “Set up CRM and created scripts for managers so conversion from lead to deal grew from 12 to 21 percent”
• “Ran Instagram and replied to clients in DMs and messengers, resolving up to 80 percent of questions without involving managers”
• “Launched ad campaigns and built reports myself, optimising budgets based on data”

In every example try to show at least two types of tasks: creativity plus numbers, service plus processes and so on.

Put your “combo skills” in a separate block

For example:

• communication with clients plus conflict handling
• ability to set tasks for developers in a clear way
• basic work with data: reports, dashboards, hypotheses
• building simple processes: instructions, checklists, knowledge bases

This is exactly what makes hybrid roles different from narrow ones.

Prepare a couple of stories for the interview

Short cases where you:

• solved a task that needed both talking and calculating
• took over a piece of work that formally was not part of your role
• built a clear process where there was chaos before

The format is simple: context → what you did → result as a number or specific effect.

Do not be afraid to voice your boundaries honestly

A hybrid role does not mean “I do everything”.
At the interview you can calmly say:

• where your strong zone is
• what you are ready to grow into
• which tasks you definitely do not want to drag alone

For a sane employer this is a plus, not a minus.

Conclusion

Hybrid roles in Serbia have already become the norm, especially in creativity, service and IT. It is a chance to grow faster and see the business as a whole, not just your little corner. The main thing is not to agree to an abstract “one man band” and to consciously choose the combinations that are interesting for you and where you can show results.