Marketing Automation & Demand Generation Lead - Senior Manager

Grant Thornton UK; Manchester; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading professional services firm in Manchester is seeking a Marketing Automation & Demand Generation Lead to drive the marketing automation strategy. This role involves leading a team to integrate automation into business initiatives while ensuring compliance with data privacy regulations. The ideal candidate will have strong analytical skills and experience in marketing automation platforms like Microsoft Dynamics 365 and HubSpot.

Benefits

Flexible working options

Inclusive culture

Opportunity to contribute to social causes

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading marketing automation and demand generation strategy.
• Experience in a complex, matrixed organization, ideally B2B or professional services.
• Ability to manage teams across different time zones.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of a comprehensive marketing automation strategy.
• Champion an “automation-first” mindset across teams.
• Collaborate with senior stakeholders to embed automation in initiatives.

Skills

Leading marketing automation strategy

Strong analytical skills

Stakeholder engagement

Project management

Digital marketing understanding

Tools

Microsoft Dynamics 365

HubSpot

Marketo

Google Analytics

Job description

Alternatively, Grant Thornton

At Grant Thornton we do things differently - looking to the future, driving ambitious growth and pioneering positive change in our industry. Providing audit, tax and advisory services, we empower clients through strategic insight, curiosity, and genuine partnership. And we empower our people with real opportunity, an inclusive culture and work life balance. A true alternative.

With over 5,000 people in the UK, and a presence in 150 global markets, we’re on an ambitious journey, from great to exceptional, and we need the best people to help us achieve our potential. And with that comes the opportunity to help redefine what our industry looks like, and what you want from your career.

Job Description: We’re on a mission to put our clients at the heart of everything we do. To help us meet our ambitious growth targets, we’re hiring a Marketing Automation & Demand Generation Lead—a leader who will drive the adoption and evolution of marketing automation across the business.

This is a pivotal new role within our Marketing team. You’ll lead the development and execution of a firm-wide marketing automation strategy, enabling smarter, data‑driven engagement and supporting our “One Firm” growth ambition.

We’ve unified our data and are ready to deliver a differentiated client experience based on behavioural triggers—not assumptions. Now we need a leader to bring this vision to life.

A look into the role

• Lead the development and execution of a comprehensive marketing automation and demand generation strategy aligned with business growth objectives.
• Champion an “automation‑first” mindset across marketing, BD, and client teams—coaching and influencing stakeholders to adopt new ways of working.
• Identify and prioritise automation opportunities across the sales and marketing lifecycle, ensuring measurable impact.
• Own and evolve our campaign framework, lead management processes, and governance—including lead scoring models and qualification criteria.
• Drive the integration of automation into our ABM strategy, ensuring personalised, scalable client engagement.
• Collaborate with senior stakeholders across Marketing, BD, Digital, and Data, to embed automation into strategic initiatives.
• Ensure compliance with GDPR and other data privacy regulations, embedding best practices into all automation activities.
• Leverage client insights and behavioural data to inform campaign design, content strategy, and investment decisions.
• Build and lead a high‑performing marketing automation team, while mentoring colleagues across the business on best practices.
• Stay ahead of the curve on marketing technology, AI, and automation trends—bringing forward recommendations to enhance our capabilities.

Knowing you’re right for us

Joining us as a Marketing Automation & Demand Generation Lead - Senior Manager, the minimum criteria you’ll need is:

• Proven experience leading marketing automation and demand generation strategy in a complex, matrixed organisation—ideally within professional services or B2B.
• Deep expertise in platforms such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Journeys (and/or HubSpot, Marketo, Pardot, Eloqua).
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate data into actionable insights.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and influencing skills, with a track record of driving change.
• Strong project management capabilities—able to juggle multiple priorities and deliver at pace.
• Solid understanding of digital marketing, including SEO, SEM, and performance measurement.
• Experience working with offshore or distributed teams, with the ability to manage collaboration, communication, and delivery across time zones.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience embedding marketing automation into ABM and demand generation strategies.
• Familiarity with web analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics) and A/B testing methodologies.
• Certifications in marketing automation platforms (e.g., HubSpot, Marketo) are a plus.

Knowing we’re right for you

Embracing uniqueness, the culture at Grant Thornton thrives on the contributions of all our people, we never settle for what is easy, we look beyond to deliver the right thing, for everyone. Building an inclusive culture, where we value difference and respect our colleagues helps our people to perform at the best of their ability and realise their potential.

Our open and accessible culture means you’ll interact with leaders who are interested in you and everything you bring to our firm. The things that set you apart, we value them. That’s why we give you the freedom to bring your whole self to work and pursue your passions inside and outside of work.

Beyond the job

Life is more than work. The things you do, and the people you’re with outside of work matter, that’s why we’re happy to look at flexible working options for all our roles, and we’ll always do our best to keep your work and life in balance.

The impact you can make here will go far beyond your day job. From secondments, to fundraising for local charities, or investing in entrepreneurs in the developing world, you’ll be giving back to society. It’s that drive to do the right thing that runs through our every move, grounded in our firm’s values – purposefully driven, actively curious and candid but kind.

We’re looking for people who want to contribute, spark fresh ideas and go beyond expectations. People who want to be able to proudly do what’s right, for the firm, our clients, our people and themselves. It’s how it should be.

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