Head of Marketing

wagamama; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A popular Asian-inspired restaurant chain in London is seeking a Head of Marketing to oversee brand communications and team management. The ideal candidate will have over 8 years of experience in marketing, with a strong focus on customer growth and campaign management. This role offers a hybrid work environment, competitive salary, and benefits including a £200 monthly food allowance and private healthcare.

Benefits

Competitive salary + 20% bonus

Hybrid working

£200 monthly food allowance

Private healthcare

3% pension contribution

25 days holiday plus bank holidays

Qualifications

• 8+ years of marketing experience with proven customer growth.
• Ability to motivate and mentor a marketing team.
• Experience managing multi-channel campaigns effectively.

Responsibilities

• Lead the marketing team to ensure brand visibility and growth.
• Oversee marketing activities and execution aligned with brand goals.
• Manage budgets effectively to maximize ROI on marketing spend.

Skills

Leadership skills

Campaign management

Strong commercial thinking

Attention to detail

Storytelling

Job description

London | Hybrid 3 days a week | Competitive salary + 20% bonus

At Wagamama, food is life and we’re here to make every bite count. With over 165 restaurants across the UK (and growing fast) we’ve been dishing up vibrant, fresh Asian-inspired flavours since ‘92. It’s all about good food, good vibes, and good company.

We’re looking for a Head of Marketing to join us on our journey, ready to dive in and stir things up?

What we need:

This role ensures Wagamama remains top of mind, talked about, relevant, and visible by leading a team, agency partners, and senior managers to deliver impactful brand communications and memorable experiences.

You will manage regional sales and marketing teams to achieve consistent LFL growth through local initiatives, strengthening both our national and community presence.

As Head of Marketing, you'll oversee all marketing activities and communications nationally and regionally / locally, ensuring seamless execution, ensuring alignment with brand guidelines and objectives. Your work will boost brand awareness, guest numbers, frequency, spend, and brand love, clearly linking these efforts to commercial outcomes.

What you’ll do:

• Manage, coach, and develop a team of 5 direct reports, creating high-performance collaboration and industry-leading team engagement.
• Lead the overarching Wagamama brand communication strategy, having clear oversight of how all marketing channels and campaigns work together to achieve the business JTBDs. Always be salient and distinctive through 'Food is Life' with a relatable, bold, and playful tone of voice.
• Lead, refine, and monitor national and regional communications across all paid and earned channels, guiding the strategy and key touchpoints for all campaigns aimed at driving footfall nationwide.
• Step change our communication strategy to lead on earned, leading through a significant transformation across social and PR.
• Oversee the day-to-day running of pan-agency partners as an extension of our internal team, ensuring our plans are executed brilliantly. Lead MBRs and attend QBRs with the Marketing Director/CMCO.
• Strategize and deploy key levers & oversee the wider communications activation for both in-restaurant and external campaigns.
• Ensure that brand campaigns and commercial promotions are embedded to the highest possible level with teams to maximize their impact.
• Deliver 1% LFL growth per quarter through local sales and marketing activation.
• Track performance post-go-live and optimize to ensure continuous improvement of initiatives across both customer and commercial lenses.
• Manage the marketing budget effectively, delivering plans to the agreed budget and measuring the effectiveness of spend to ensure activities are prioritized according to ROI effectiveness, with year-on-year improvement in marketing communication effectiveness.
• Create a more personal experience through guest-led service, perfect for mood and moment.
• Be favorite for more occasions by developing compelling marketing communication plans to create fame through food and regain share at lunchtime and win back share for informal sharing / tapas occasions.

What you’ll need:

• 8+ years of marketing roles with a proven track record of delivering customer-led growth.
• Strong leadership skills: The ability to motivate, upskill, coach, and mentor and support five highly capable direct reports is crucial.
• Campaign management experience: deep media campaign experience of activating multi-channel, multi-media campaigns to drive footfall and brand buzz.
• Experience in making small budgets punch above their spend to cut through (marketing spend % of revenue only at 1.4% so we need to outsmart not outspend the competition).
• Strong experience in creating high-buzz campaigns that drive talkability and fame that in turn drive covers in restaurants.
• Strong commercial thinker: Understanding the commercial impact of marketing activities and ensuring ROI effectiveness is vital.
• Attention to detail: Ensuring that all communications are tight, aligned with brand guidelines, and executed brilliantly.
• Highly cross-functional team player: Strong communication skills to work effectively with internal teams and agency partners.
• Strong storytelling ability: Translating data and insight into compelling presentations for teams.
• Confidence and experience in presenting: The ability to present strategies and results effectively.
• Agency management experience: Overseeing the day-to-day running of pan-agency partners and creating strong partnerships and ensuring plans are executed brilliantly.

Who you’ll be working with:

• CMCO + Marketing Director + Marketing team.
• Ops teams + Central Ops.
• Customer Insight + Commercial team.
• Food team.

What’s in it for you:

• Competitive salary + 20% bonus potential.
• Hybrid working.
• Come as you are culture, with modern offices, fresh fruit, and soft drinks.
• £200 monthly Wagamama food allowance — enjoy all your favorite dishes on us!
• Private healthcare.
• 3% pension contribution.
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays.
• Further discounts across retail, hospitality & leisure — perks that make life sweeter.
• Supporting you every step of the way! Family-friendly pay: 26 weeks full pay + 13 weeks half pay for expectant or adopting parents.

Nothing brings people together like great food. No matter where you’re from or who you are, you’ve got a seat at our table | because food is the ultimate connector, and here everyone belongs.