Marketing Manager (Wales)

The Open University UK; Cardiff; Hybrid; GBP 36,000 - 48,000; Full time

Job summary

The Open University in Wales is seeking a talented marketing professional to join the Marketing, Communications and Digital team and deliver engaging campaigns that drive student recruitment and brand awareness across Wales.

You will contribute to campaign planning, support monitoring and evaluation, ensure brand compliance, and use data to inform decisions. This 12‑month fixed-term role is hybrid, with two days in Cardiff and three days remote each week.

Qualifications

• Degree in marketing, advertising or business discipline or equivalent experience.
• Experience delivering multi-channel marketing campaigns, offline and digital.
• Understanding acquisition and brand marketing across channels including digital, social, PPC, SEO, press, events.

Responsibilities

• Assist with development and delivery of marketing plans and student recruitment campaigns.
• Coordinate multi-channel activity across digital and offline channels within budgets and briefs.
• Monitor campaign performance, track and evaluate outcomes, report insights and optimise future activity.
• Use data and market insight to identify growth opportunities and inform decisions.

Skills

Campaign management

Multi-channel marketing

Stakeholder collaboration

Budget awareness

Welsh language ability

Data interpretation

Project management

Communication skills

Education

Degree in marketing or related discipline

Job description

Department: Marketing and Communications

Closing Date: 11 October 2026

Weekly Working Hours: 37

Contract Type: Fixed Term Contract

Fixed Term Contract: End Date: 12 months from start date

Change your career, change lives

The Open University is the UK's largest university, a world leader in flexible part-time education, combining a mission to widen access to higher education with research excellence, transforming lives through education. Find out more about us and our mission by watching this short video (you will be taken to YouTube by clicking this link).

About the Role

We are looking for a talented and motivated marketing professional to join The Open University in Wales and help deliver engaging campaigns that support student recruitment and brand awareness across Wales. Working as part of our Marketing, Communications and Digital team, you will support the development and delivery of multi-channel marketing activity that helps connect prospective students with the life-changing opportunities offered by the Open University.

This is a varied and rewarding role, offering the opportunity to work across a wide range of campaigns and channels, collaborating with colleagues from across the University as well as external agencies and partners. You will contribute to campaign planning and delivery, help monitor and evaluate performance, ensure brand compliance, and use data and insight to support effective decision-making.

The role would suit someone who enjoys working in a collaborative environment, is passionate about marketing, and has a keen interest in delivering high-quality campaigns that achieve measurable results. As a 12-month fixed term role, it is an excellent opportunity to develop your experience within a respected organisation that makes higher education accessible to people across Wales. The role is hybrid with the usual weekly working pattern of two days at the OU in Wales office in Cardiff and three days working remotely.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the Assistant Director, MarComms Digital with the development and delivery of marketing plans and student recruitment campaigns that contribute to The Open University in Wales' student acquisition, brand awareness and business objectives.
• Support the delivery and coordination of multi-channel marketing activity across digital and offline channels, working with internal teams, external agencies and partners to ensure campaigns are delivered effectively and to agreed briefs, timescales and budgets.
• Monitor campaign performance, support the implementation of tracking and evaluation processes, and provide regular reporting to help optimise activity and return on investment. Conduct post-campaign evaluation and share findings and recommendations to support the planning and development of future marketing activity.
• Use market intelligence, audience insight and performance data to aid decision-making on growth opportunities, helping ensure marketing activity meets agreed objectives.
• Build positive working relationships across the University and with external suppliers, providing marketing advice and support to colleagues while ensuring all campaigns and marketing materials are consistent with Open University brand guidelines. Work with colleagues and agency partners to help ensure services are delivered to a high standard and that marketing activity is completed in line with agreed briefs, objectives, timescales and budgets.
• Provide day-to-day line management support for the Marketing Assistant, overseeing the allocation and prioritisation of their workload, ensuring their work effectively achieves the required objectives, supporting their development and wellbeing, and contributing to the effective operation of the wider team.
• Represent the Open University and the Marketing, Communications and Digital team at internal meetings, external events and stakeholder engagements as required.

About You

• A degree and relevant professional qualifications or equivalent experience within a marketing, advertising or business-related discipline.
• Experience of working in an equivalent marketing role and successfully delivering multi-channel marketing campaigns, including offline and digital marketing activity.
• Understanding of acquisition and brand marketing across a range of channels, including digital, social media, PPC, SEO, press, radio, outdoor advertising, events and other marketing activity.
• Experience of day-to-day line management including allocation / prioritisation of workload and supporting wellbeing & development.
• Experience of working collaboratively with internal stakeholders, external agencies and partners to deliver activity that meets agreed objectives, timescales and budgets while balancing competing priorities and stakeholder needs.
• Excellent communication, presentation and relationship management skills, with the ability to compose and adapt messages for different audiences, build effective working relationships and communicate ideas clearly and persuasively.
• Ability to interpret, summarise and apply information from a range of sources, using data and insight to support evaluation, identify opportunities and contribute to future marketing recommendations.
• Numerate and financially aware, with an understanding of budget management and marketing performance measures.
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects and competing priorities, work to tight deadlines and maintain a high level of accuracy and attention to detail.
• Creative, proactive and results-focused, with the ability to work unsupervised, use initiative and judgement, solve problems calmly and professionally and contribute ideas that support marketing objectives and continuous improvement.
• A proven team player with a constructive, positive outlook.
• The ability to understand written / spoken Welsh language.

What's in it for you?

At The Open University, we offer a range of benefits to recognise and reward great work, alongside policies and flexible working that contribute towards a great work life balance. Get all the details of what benefits we offer by visiting our Staff Benefits page (clicking this link will open a new window).

We are open to discussions about flexible working. Whether it’s a job share, part time, compressed hours or another working arrangement. Please reach out to us to discuss what works best for you.

Working location

It is anticipated that a hybrid working pattern can be adopted for this role, where you can work from home and the office. However, as this role is contractually aligned to our Cardiff office it is expected that the role holder will be required to work from our Cardiff campus at least 2 days per week, with flexibility to attend campus more or less frequently dependent on business need.

Further information

Applications may be submitted in Welsh, and an application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.

Please state if you would like to use Welsh in an interview or any other type of assessment. We will provide an interpreter if one is required.

Next steps in the Recruitment process

If shortlisted, we anticipate interviews taking place 29th or 30th October.

Early closing date notification

While most roles will remain open until the advertised closing date, applications may be reviewed on an ongoing basis. In some cases, vacancies may close earlier if a sufficient number of suitable applications have been received and equality impacts have been appropriately considered. All roles will remain advertised for a minimum of one week before any early closure is implemented.

If you have started an application or were in the process of applying when the advert closed, we encourage you to get in touch. We are committed to understanding individual circumstances and can offer further support where needed, including reasonable adjustments for applicants with protected characteristics.

The Open University is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion which is reflected in our mission to be open to people, places, methods and ideas. We aim to foster a diverse and inclusive environment so that all in our OU community can reach their potential. We recognise that different people bring different perspectives, ideas, knowledge, and culture, and that this difference brings great strength.We strive to recruit, retain and develop the careers of a diverse pool of students and staff, and particularly encourage applications from all underrepresented groups. We also aspire to make The Open University a supportive workplace for all through our policies, services and staff networks.