Commercial Marketing Executive

Kent Students' Union; Canterbury; Hybrid; GBP 22,000 - 27,000; Full time

Job summary

A student-focused organization in Canterbury seeks a Commercial Marketing Executive to create engaging marketing content, manage social media, and capture dynamic events. The ideal candidate will have a passion for marketing, excellent creative skills, and the ability to engage with a diverse student body. This role offers a full-time position with flexible working hours, including evenings and weekends, perfect for those looking to balance work and student life.

Benefits

23 days’ annual leave

Flexible working policies

Supportive training and development

Qualifications

• Excellent creative marketing skills and experience in creating engaging content.
• Proficient photography and videography skills for content creation.
• Strong copywriting skills for emails and web articles.

Responsibilities

• Create marketing content for social media, email, and website.
• Engage with students and capture content at events.
• Conduct market research to inform marketing activities.

Skills

Creative marketing

Photography

Videography

Social media management

Content creation

Copywriting

Job description

• Commercial Marketing Executive
• £26,728 p.a. pending cost of living rise in August 2025. Grade 6.2
• Full-time, 35 hours per week
• 23 days’ annual leave (full-time equivalent)

Thank you for your interest in the position of Commercial Marketing Executive. Working in the Marketing and Communications team at Kent Students’ Union means being part of a fast-paced, student-focused environment where creativity, clarity, and purpose come together to make a real impact. We’re driven by insight and care deeply about connecting with students in authentic, inclusive, and engaging ways, whether that’s through brand storytelling, meaningful events, or amplifying student voice. We place a strong emphasis on collaboration, attention to detail, and producing work that not only looks good but feels right for the audience. We value fresh ideas, data-informed decisions, and creating experiences that are welcoming, empowering, and memorable. Our team is a place where strategy meets heart, and where every project aims to help students feel seen, heard, and part of something bigger.

The ideal candidate is an enthusiastic self-starter with a passion for marketing and content creation, possessing expertise in creative marketing and knowledge in photography, videography and general marketing administrative tasks such as creating email campaigns, proof-reading, managing relationships, etc. The Commercial Marketing Executive will support our Digital Marketing Manager, communications team and licensed trade team.

As an integral part of the communications team, your role will be dedicated to marketing the commercial side of Kent Students’ Union, which includes a nightclub, bar and restaurant, coffee shop, clothing store, nursery and event space hire.

This role works in partnership with all outlets and services to promote our events, provide information and guide students during their time at the University of Kent. We’re looking for someone who can efficiently create high-quality content, who’s eager to enhance their creative skills, and thrives in a dynamic work environment. We would encourage any candidate to check out our social media channels before applying; @kentstudentsunion, @venuekent, @woodys.kent, @ukclibrarycafe and @ukckentclothing.

In addition to social media content creation, this post also includes developing copy for emails and website news articles, market research data collection, and other administrative duties required by the department and organisation.

It is crucial that the successful post-holder feels confident attending events in our on-campus nightclub and student bar in the evenings/nighttime and weekends, as this will for a key part of the role.They will enjoy speaking with our diverse student body, filming with them and sometimes being in front of the camera themselves; be on top of social media trends and bring creative ideas to the table; have expert editing skills and a real eye for detail; be willing to jump into the middle of the action and capture content that reflects what it’s like to be a University of Kent student; have good copywriting skills and be able to create engaging copy for emails and news articles; be organised and able to support the team and wider organisation with admin tasks when needed. They should have a level of business development acumen and be able to contribute towards growing and managing our event space hire programme.

The nature of this role will involve evening/nighttime and weekend hours, so we would recommend having the use of a car. This is a flexible post, meaning you won’t always be working a regular 9am-5pm day, and is also hybrid. This means there will be times/days when you are able to work from home, but due to the nature of the role and needing to collect content in real time, you should expect to be onsite at the University of Kent campus in Canterbury most days during the week.

Duties and Responsibilities

Operational Duties

• Create engaging and high-quality marketing content for social media, email campaigns and website news articles.
• Capture photography and videography content across all commercial outlets and services.
• Edit and publish content with a strong eye for detail and brand alignment.
• Attend and capture content at events during evenings, nights and weekends, especially at the on-campus nightclub and student bar.
• Actively engage with students to create authentic, student-focused content, sometimes appearing on camera.
• Monitor and respond to social media trends, bringing fresh creative ideas to campaigns.
• Conduct market research and gather data to inform marketing activity.
• Proofread and edit written content for accuracy and tone.
• Support the wider communications and licensed trade teams with marketing and administrative tasks.
• Assist with the planning and delivery of email marketing campaigns.
• Contribute to the promotion and growth of the Union’s event space hire programme.
• Collaborate with commercial outlets (e.g., bar/restaurant, coffee shop, clothing store, nursery) to promote services and events.
• Maintain strong internal relationships with outlet managers and other stakeholders.
• Work flexibly, including hybrid and non-standard hours, with frequent on-site presence being required.
• Use initiative to manage workload and respond to real-time content opportunities.
• Support the overall marketing strategy and objectives of Kent Students’ Union’s commercial activity.
• To effectively communicate individual, team and organisational goals to all people. To encourage open feedback and debate from people.
• To ensure all budgets are managed effectively, ensuring full adherence to Kent Students’ Union’s financial reporting procedures.
• To be responsible for the security of all resources, including equipment, stock and cash, and to follow all Kent Students’ Union’s financial procedures.
• To attend training sessions and appropriate meetings as and when required by Kent Students’ Union.
• To contribute to the positive image of Kent Students’ Union with students, the University of Kent and the local community.
• To lead by example and demonstrate a full understanding of the organisation’s democratic structures.
• To ensure systems are in place to reduce Kent Students’ Union’s impact on the environment.

People Responsibilities (if any)

• To effectively communicate individual, team and organisational goals to all people. To encourage open feedback and debate from people.

Financial Responsibilities

• To ensure all budgets are managed effectively, ensuring full adherence to Kent Students’ Union’s financial reporting procedures.
• To be responsible for the security of all resources, including equipment, stock and cash, and to follow all Kent Students’ Union’s financial procedures.

Expected Behaviours

• To attend training sessions and appropriate meetings as and when required by Kent Students’ Union.
• To contribute to the positive image of Kent Students’ Union with students, the University of Kent and the local community.
• To lead by example and demonstrate a full understanding of the organisation’s democratic structures.
• To ensure systems are in place to reduce Kent Students’ Union’s impact on the environment.

This job description does not form part of the contract of employment. For a full job spec, person spec and to apply, please see our website.

Work-Life Balance

Kent Students’ Union is committed to facilitating a healthy work-life balance and has cutting edge flexible working policies.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

We have recently implemented our new EDI strategy 2023-28 the Strategy is here to ensure equity and inclusion are a priority for Kent Students’ Union. Please see the full document here Link

Annually we review racial diversity within our workforce and it is a key priority for us to improve racial and ethnic diversity amongst our workforce, and as such we particularly welcome applications from Racially and Ethnically Marginalised People (REMP) and have introduced a REMP Priority Interview Scheme.

Pre-employment checks

All job offers are conditional on the receipt of two satisfactory references.

We are also obliged to check your identity and obtain proof of your right to work in the UK, which you will be asked to provide at interview if you are successfully shortlisted.

Induction and training

All new staff benefit from an induction from the HR Team and their own team, as well as ongoing support and personal development.

Applications

To apply: Please submit your application on our recruitment portal at ksu.co.uk/careers, to include a copy of your CV. Please note that we do not accept CV's only for this position.

Please ensure that you pay particular attention in your application to detailing how your experience meets the requirements of the person specification and why you are interested in the position. If you have any questions about using the recruitment portal, please email [e-mail].

Website

Kent Students’ Union’s website contains further background information about Kent Students’ Union to help potential applicants. Potential applicants are encouraged to look at the website prior to applying; the website address iswww.ksu.co.uk.

Further Information and Questions

If you require further information, please contact:

Sarah Stewart

Head of Marketing and Communications

01227 824200

[e-mail]