Interim Brand Marketing Director

Vertu Motors plc; Gateshead; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working environment

Company pension scheme

Colleague discounts on vehicles and服务

Job summary

Vertu Motors plc is seeking an experienced Interim Brand Marketing Director to shape and execute the strategic direction of the Vertu brand. You will lead a 20+ person team across social media, PR, content, design and AV, driving awareness, engagement and reputation in the UK.

The role reports to the Chief Marketing Officer and combines strategic governance with hands‑on leadership, requiring regular office presence at Team Valley, Gateshead in a hybrid model.

Qualifications

• Senior-level experience across brand marketing, PR, social media, content and creative leadership.
• Experience leading in-house creative and communications teams.
• Strong track record of managing agencies and delivering integrated marketing programmes.
• Extensive PR and media relations experience and ability to elevate brand reputation.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership across PR, YouTube and Social Media.
• Protect and strengthen the reputation of Vertu Motors through proactive communications and brand storytelling.
• Lead the strategic direction of how Vertu Motors presents itself across all customer touchpoints.
• Oversee production of advertising campaigns, marketing collateral, video content and branded communications.
• Ensure marketing activity remains compliant with regulatory requirements and governance standards.
• Lead, develop and coach a high-performing marketing team.

Skills

Brand marketing leadership

PR & media relations

Social media management

Content strategy

Creative leadership

Stakeholder management

Job description

Interim Brand Marketing Director

12 Month Fixed-Term Contract (Maternity Cover)

Location: Vertu House, Team Valley, Gateshead
Salary: Competitive Salary + Excellent Company Benefits

At Vertu Motors, we are passionate about delivering exceptional customer experiences and building one of the most recognised automotive retail brands in the UK. As we continue to evolve our brand and strengthen our market position, we have an exciting opportunity for an experienced marketing leader to join our team as Interim Brand Marketing Director on a 12-month fixed-term maternity cover contract.

Reporting directly to the Chief Marketing Officer, this is a high-profile leadership role with responsibility for shaping, protecting and enhancing the Vertu brand across all customer touchpoints. You'll lead a talented team of more than 20 colleagues covering Social Media, PR, YouTube, Content, Graphic Design and Audio-Visual production, helping to drive brand awareness, engagement and reputation across the UK.

This role is based at our Head Office in Team Valley, Gateshead. We operate a hybrid working model; however, due to the leadership responsibilities of the position, regular office presence is required to support collaboration, stakeholder engagement and team development.

About the Role

As Interim Brand Marketing Director, you will be responsible for defining and delivering the strategic direction for the Vertu brand. You will play a key role in ensuring our reputation remains strong, our creative output remains market-leading and all marketing activity aligns with our brand values, governance standards and commercial objectives.

Working closely with the Chief Marketing Officer and wider leadership team, you'll ensure that every aspect of our marketing presence is consistent, effective and supports our long-term growth ambitions.

Key Responsibilities

Reputation Management

• Provide strategic leadership across PR, YouTube and Social Media.
• Protect and strengthen the reputation of Vertu Motors through proactive communications and brand storytelling.
• Act as the senior escalation point for reputational, compliance or brand-related issues.
• Drive positive media coverage and increase visibility of the Vertu brand across key audiences.

Brand Direction

• Lead the strategic direction of how Vertu Motors presents itself across all customer touchpoints.
• Ensure brand positioning, tone of voice, visual identity and creative standards are clearly defined and consistently applied.
• Maintain strong brand governance across all channels and stakeholder groups.
• Ensure all activity supports the wider brand strategy and commercial objectives.

Creative Production & Content

• Lead the Studio, Content and Audio-Visual teams to deliver compelling, commercially relevant creative assets.
• Oversee the production of advertising campaigns, marketing collateral, video content and branded communications.
• Ensure work is prioritised effectively and delivered to agreed standards and service levels.
• Support SEO growth through the creation of high-quality, data-led content.

Compliance & Governance

• Ensure all marketing activity remains fully compliant with regulatory requirements and internal governance standards.
• Provide oversight of FCA compliance across marketing communications.
• Manage brand risk and ensure appropriate approval processes are followed.

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, inspire and develop a team of marketing, creative and communications professionals.
• Set clear objectives, priorities and performance expectations.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement.
• Support colleague development through ongoing coaching and mentoring.

What Success Looks Like

Working alongside the wider marketing leadership team, you will help deliver key objectives including:

• Building prompted Vertu brand awareness in England to 30%.
• Improving engagement with brand campaigns through stronger creative execution and more effective calls to action.
• Supporting SEO growth through the production of approximately 884 new pages of quality content.
• Increasing year-on-year positive PR coverage whilst maintaining strong brand sentiment.
• Delivering social media reach and engagement targets.
• Achieving YouTube performance and ROI objectives.
• Ensuring creative production is delivered on brand and within agreed service level standards.
• Maintaining strong brand governance and FCA compliance oversight.

About You

We are looking for a proven senior marketing leader who combines strategic thinking with strong operational delivery and people leadership skills.

You will ideally have:

• Significant senior-level experience across brand marketing, PR, social media, content and creative leadership.
• Experience leading high-performing in-house creative and communications teams.
• A strong track record of managing agency relationships and delivering integrated marketing programmes.
• Extensive PR and media relations experience, with the ability to elevate brand reputation and build trust with external audiences.
• Exceptional judgement when managing sensitive reputational, compliance or brand-related matters.
• Experience establishing and maintaining brand governance, creative standards and tone of voice across complex organisations.
• Strong commercial awareness and the ability to connect marketing activity to measurable business outcomes.
• A solid understanding of marketing compliance, governance and risk management within a regulated environment.
• Excellent leadership, coaching and stakeholder management skills.

Desirable Experience

• Automotive retail experience.
• Multi-site retail experience.
• Experience operating within a customer-facing, highly regulated sector.

Why Join Vertu Motors?

This is an exciting opportunity to join one of the UK's leading automotive retail groups and make a meaningful impact during a significant period for the business.

In return, you can expect:

• Competitive salary.
• Hybrid working environment.
• Company pension scheme.
• Colleague discounts across vehicles, parts and servicing.
• Ongoing professional development opportunities.
• Access to a variety of colleague benefits and wellbeing initiatives.
• The opportunity to lead an experienced and talented marketing team and influence the future direction of the Vertu brand.

If you are a commercially minded marketing leader with a passion for brand building, reputation management and developing high-performing teams, we'd love to hear from you.