Head of Creative & Digital Experience

The National College

Sheffield

On-site

GBP 90,000 - 120,000

Full time

3 days ago

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Benefits offered by this job

Life assurance

Enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption

24/7 online GP access

Mental health and wellbeing support

One paid charity day per year

25 days' holiday

Professional study support

Plus more

Job summary

The National College is seeking a Head of Creative & Digital Experience to lead a multidisciplinary Marketing team spanning content, website, email and graphic design. Reporting to the Senior Marketing Director, you will shape the big creative idea and messaging architecture that drives customer impact across the journey.

You will partner with Programme Marketing to shape briefs from the outset, turning commercial objectives into distinctive experiences. EdTech or SaaS exposure is desirable.

Qualifications

Strong track record turning customer and commercial challenges into distinctive ideas.
Strategic partner on audiences, propositions and go-to-market programmes.
Experience leading multidisciplinary creative, content or digital teams.

Responsibilities

Act as the senior creative voice within Marketing and develop the big idea for major campaigns.
Partner with Programme Marketing from planning stages to strengthen briefs.
Own the quality and coherence of the marketing experience across website, email, content and social.
Lead and develop a multidisciplinary team and manage agencies and partners.

Skills

Creative leadership

Marketing strategy

Digital marketing

Campaign management

Strategic partnership

Stakeholder management

Job description

Job Description

About The National College

At The National College, we empower education professionals to transform children's lives.

Our all-in-one platform helps schools, trusts, and nurseries stay compliant, raise standards, and reduce staff workload through intuitive, impactful technology.

If educators need it, we build it.

We've created a unique platform that combines the world's largest CPD and policy library with innovative software tools, developed in collaboration with thousands of schools and more than 1,000 education experts.

The Role

The National College is looking for an exceptional Head of Creative & Digital Experience - a senior creative and strategic leader in our Marketing team. Reporting to the Senior Marketing Director, you will lead a multidisciplinary team spanning content, website, email and graphic design.

You will bring the big creative idea - the creative territory, campaign concept and messaging architecture that turns a commercial objective into something distinctive - then lead specialists to translate it into connected experiences across the customer journey.

You will work in strategic partnership with our Programme Marketing team, which owns audience priorities, propositions, go-to-market programmes and commercial objectives. This is a partnership rather than a client/service relationship: you shape and challenge briefs from the outset. Experience from EdTech, SaaS or another digitally led subscription business is ideal.

Job Requirements

Essential

A strong track record of turning customer and commercial challenges into distinctive creative ideas, with a focus on the idea and customer response rather than simply the assets required
Strong marketing strategy capability, and comfort operating as a strategic partner on audiences, propositions, positioning and go-to-market rather than waiting for a brief.
Broad digital marketing knowledge across website, email/CRM, content, SEO, social, paid media, brand and CRO - enough to challenge and lead specialists without operating every platform yourself
Integrated campaign and always-on experience across multiple channels and stages of the customer journey
Commercial acumen: you think in outcomes rather than outputs, and understand how marketing drives acquisition, conversion, engagement, retention and revenue
Experience leading multidisciplinary creative, content or digital teams, with the ability to articulate and sell a creative vision to senior stakeholders.

Highly Desirable

EdTech or education technology experience, or experience marketing to schools, trusts/MATs and education leaders
B2B SaaS, subscription or digital platform experience across both B2B and B2C models, including experimentation, personalisation and conversion optimisation

Measures of Success

Stronger creative concepts underpinning our major marketing programmes, with a visible lift in quality, distinctiveness and ambition
More connected customer experiences across website, email, content and campaigns - and stronger always-on performance between campaigns
A genuine strategic partnership with Programme Marketing in place of transactional asset requests, and a high-performing team delivering faster from strategy to market
Clear evidence of the customer and commercial impact of our marketing, including improved campaign engagement and conversion

Job Responsibilities

Creative Strategy & Partnership

Act as the senior creative voice within Marketing, developing the big idea behind major campaigns, propositions and product launches
Operate as a strategic counterpart to Programme Marketing from the earliest stages of planning, challenging and strengthening briefs rather than executing completed ones

Integrated & Always-On Marketing

Own the quality and coherence of the marketing experience across website, email, content, social and paid media, considering the whole journey rather than individual assets
Ensure our marketing works as an always-on system rather than a sequence of campaign bursts, owning the standard of evergreen marketing: core website content, organic search, lifecycle communications, social presence and recurring content programmes

Content, Brand & Storytelling

Set the strategic direction for marketing content and messaging, guiding thought leadership, campaign content, video, social and digital storytelling, plus lead magnets and gated content that attract and nurture demand
Own and evolve how The National College brand is expressed, building distinctiveness while maintaining the trust and authority required in education

Website, SEO & Email Experience

Provide senior marketing leadership for the website as one of our most important commercial channels, and own the creative and customer-experience standard for email and lifecycle communications with CRM and Engagement specialists
Lead our approach to SEO, ensuring search visibility, site structure, content and messaging work together to grow qualified organic traffic

Team Leadership & Creative Operations

Lead and develop a multidisciplinary team spanning content, graphic design, website and email, setting a high bar for creative quality and execution
Establish an operating model and briefing process with Programme Marketing that encourages collaboration over transactional asset requests, and manage agencies, freelancers and production partners where required

Performance & Continuous Improvement

Build a culture where creative judgement is strengthened by customer insight and performance data
Establish a structured test-and-learn approach across creative, content, website and email, using insight to inform future work

Job Benefits

At The National College, we're passionate about helping organisations grow and thrive through knowledge and connection. You'll be part of a business that values its people, supports continuous development, and celebrates success.

You'll also be able to benefit from: