Head of Marketing, Communications and Recruitment

Bluetownonline; Manchester; On-site; GBP 59,000 - 71,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading university seeks a Head of Marketing, Communications, and Recruitment to shape its brand and drive engagement at an exciting time of growth. This pivotal role involves leading a talented team, overseeing all marketing activities, and aligning strategies across faculties to enhance recruitment and reputation.

Benefits

Generous annual leave allowance

Pension scheme membership

Well-being programme

Learning and development opportunities

Season ticket loans for public transport

Cycle to Work Scheme

Workplace nursery scheme

Staff recognition schemes

Staff discounts on products and services

Qualifications

• Experience in integrated strategic marketing within complex organizations.
• Ability to build and motivate teams.
• Deep understanding of media relations and strategic PR.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and delivery of marketing strategies.
• Oversee marketing and recruitment activities ensuring alignment with strategic goals.
• Manage the Marketing, Communications, and Recruitment team and budgets.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Analytical skills

Problem-solving skills

Copywriting

Communication

Education

Degree level education or extensive experience

Marketing communications qualification

Job description

Job Title: Head of Marketing, Communications and Recruitment

Location: Manchester

Salary: £59,139 to £70,579 per annum, depending on relevant experience

Job type: Full Time, 24 months Fixed Term

Closing date: 16/06/2025.

This University's Business School at is seeking to appoint a dynamic and experienced Head of Marketing, Communications and Recruitment to join the senior leadership team at a truly exciting time for the School and University.
2025 marks its 60th anniversary - a milestone that celebrates our legacy of innovation, impact, and global influence. As we look to the future, we are also contributing to the University's ambitious 2035 strategy, which will shape the next decade of the University's development.

This is a pivotal leadership role for an ambitious professional who wants to make a lasting impact - building our reputation, driving engagement, and enhancing recruitment at a time of celebration, reflection, and bold vision.

As a key member of both the School's senior leadership team, our professional services leadership team and Humanities Marketing, Communications and Recruitment leadership team, you will lead a talented team in shaping our voice, vision, and brand - both internally and externally.

Against a highly competitive business education market, you will oversee all marketing, communications, and recruitment activities for our MBA & Global Programmes, Executive Education, and ensure coherence with undergraduate and postgraduate taught (Masters) strategies across the Faculty.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the development and delivery of our internal and external communications and marketing strategies, including clear objectives, priorities, and evaluation metrics.
• Oversee all marketing and recruitment priorities, ensuring alignment with School, Faculty and University strategic goals, and establish robust mechanisms for performance evaluation.
• Direct and manage the Marketing, Communications and Recruitment Team, including target setting, staff development, workflow management, and budget oversight.
• Champion evidence-based marketing, using insight, benchmarking, and ROI analysis to inform planning and evaluate campaign success.
• Maximise our reputation through strategic communications and media activity.
• Oversee the activity of the school's external PR agency and media relations strategy to promote the school's work and manage reputation.
• Provide professional advice on communications and marketing strategy to the Head of School, Director of School Operations and other senior stakeholders.
• Collaborate with sales colleagues to support Salesforce CRM development, ensuring marketing and recruitment alignment and improved data-driven decisions.
• Explore and integrate artificial intelligence (AI) tools into marketing activities to drive innovation, engagement, and personalisation.
• Shape pricing, discounting, and international market priorities; coordinate with international centres to support global recruitment.
• Nurture prospective students through structured lead scoring and engagement.
• Collaborate with Faculty and University teams to support strategic marketing and identify opportunities for joint activity and intelligence gathering.
• Act as brand manager and custodian of our visual identity across all materials.
• Oversee the corporate events strategy, supporting corporate relations and reputation.

Essential skills:

• Educated to degree level or with extensive experience, ideally combined with a marketing communications qualification.
• Extensive experience in integrated strategic marketing and communications within complex organisations.
• Proven interpersonal and communication skills to build and motivate teams and external partners.
• Resilient under pressure, with effective issue and crisis handling skills.
• Deep understanding of media relations and strategic PR.
• Persuasive, tenacious, highly visible, and comfortable operating across departments and at senior levels.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Experience of leading teams and managing budgets.
• Excellent copywriting, proofreading, and IT skills.
• Ability to represent us professionally at all times.
• Awareness of the international business school landscape is desirable.

As one of the leading Universities our employees enjoy exclusive access to excellent benefits and schemes including:

• Generous annual leave allowance, including Christmas/New Year closure.
• Pension scheme membership to provide benefits for you and your family.
• Well-being programme with counselling, fitness, and leading sports facilities
• Learning and development opportunities
• Season ticket loans for public transport.
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Workplace nursery scheme
• Staff recognition schemes
• Staff discounts on a range of products and services including travel and high street savings

Our purpose is to advance education, knowledge, and wisdom for the good of society, putting our three core goals of research and discovery, teaching and learning, and social responsibility at the heart of everything we do.

Please click APPLY to be redirected to our website to complete an application form.

Candidates with experience or relevant job titles of; Head of Marketing, Head of Comms, Head of Recruitment, Recruitment Lead, Marketing Lead, Academic Head of Marketing, Academic Head of Recruitment, may also be considered.