Strategic Marketing & Communications Lead

GKN Aerospace; Birmingham; Remote; GBP 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary dependent on exp.

Annual bonus

Pension scheme

Life Assurance

25 days holiday + bank holidays

Income protection

Discounts

Cycle To Work Scheme

Employee Assistance Programme

Virtual GP

EV salary sacrifice

Great place to work

Job summary

GKN Aerospace seeks a Strategic Marketing & Communications Lead to drive market positioning and growth for aerostructures and UAVs across the US, UK and EU. Bridge aerospace engineering with defence market demands, developing data-driven marketing strategies and compelling communications assets.

You will lead branding, digital and product marketing, campaign development and press materials, while collaborating with global teams.This is a remote-first, 37-hour week role requiring travel to GKN

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business Administration, Communications, or Public Relations (Master's or MBA preferred).
• Proven experience in strategic marketing, preferably in Aerospace and Defence (A&D) industry or related high technology fields.
• Deep understanding of external marketing tools and trends for Aerospace & Defence markets.
• Ability to understand and communicate advanced manufacturing concepts, including composite layups and additive manufacturing.

Responsibilities

• Market Intelligence: Analyse global defence budgets, threat environments and geopolitical shifts to identify opportunities.
• Portfolio Positioning: Craft value propositions and campaigns for fighters, UAVs, rotorcraft and missiles.
• Technology Promotion: Highlight advanced manufacturing capabilities and cycle-time advantages.
• Customer Engagement: Create technical marketing collateral and executive briefings for defence officials and primes.
• Competitive Analysis: Monitor competitors and refine communications to differentiate our offering.
• Trade Show Strategy: Lead messaging and content for major aerospace and defence exhibitions.

Skills

Strategic marketing

A&D experience

External marketing tools

Technical marketing concepts

Education

Bachelor’s in Marketing/Business/Communications/PR

MBA preferred

Job description

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Strategic Marketing & Communications Lead

Company: GKN Aerospace Careers

Fantastic challenges. Amazing opportunities.

GKN Aerospace is reimagining air travel: going further, faster and greener! Fuelled by great people whose expertise and creativity sets the standards in our industry, we’re inspired by the opportunities to innovate and break boundaries. We’re proud to play a part in protecting the world’s democracies. And we’re committed to putting sustainability at the centre of everything we do, opening up and protecting our planet. With over 16,000 employees across 32 manufacturing sites in 12 countries we serve over 90% of the world’s aircraft and engine manufacturers and achieved sales of £3.6bn in 2025. There are no limits to where you can take your career.

Job Summary

We are seeking a highly skilled and proactive Strategic Marketing & Communications Lead to drive market positioning and growth for our advanced aerostructures and uncrewed aircraft business across our core markets in the US, UK and EU. In this role, you will bridge the gap between complex aerospace engineering and global defence market demands. You will develop data-driven marketing strategies covering manned fighters, unmanned vehicles, missiles, and rotorcraft. Additionally, you will champion our market-leading capabilities in advanced composites and additive manufacturing, positioning our business as the partner of choice for global defence programs.

This is a unique, newly created role within our Business Development team, offering the opportunity to shape and lead our strategic marketing and communications approach. You will be responsible for a broad range of activities, including market analysis, brand positioning, digital and product marketing, campaign development, and the creation of compelling communications assets such as presentations, social media content, website updates, and press releases. Success in this role requires the ability to think strategically whilst remaining hands‑on, acting as both a leader of external communications that support our growth ambitions and a content creator who can bring our value proposition to life for customers and stakeholders.

Based in either the UK or the Netherlands, this role is offered on a remote-first, working from home contract. To support effective collaboration with colleagues travel will be required across GKN Defence locations and international partner sites. This will include visits to our UK Bristol facility, London office and Hoogeveen site, together with occasional international travel, including the United States. Following the initial onboarding period, travel is expected to average approximately once per quarter, additional travel may be required at key business milestones and in line with operational needs.

This is a full-time role working 37 hours per week. Due to the international nature of the position, flexibility in working hours may be required at times to enable effective collaboration with colleagues, customers and partners across global time zones.

Job Responsibilities

• Market Intelligence: Analyse global defence budgets, threat environments, and geopolitical shifts to identify long‑term aerostructures and UAV capture opportunities.
• Portfolio Positioning: Craft compelling value propositions and marketing campaigns for diverse platforms, including next‑gen fighters, autonomous uncrewed systems, rotorcraft, and missile systems.
• Technology Promotion: Market our advanced manufacturing capabilities, specifically highlighting cost, weight, and cycle‑time advantages in complex composites and additive manufacturing.
• Customer Engagement: Create high‑impact technical marketing collateral, executive briefings, and whitepapers targeting defence acquisition officials and Tier‑1 aerospace primes.
• Competitive Analysis: Monitor competitor capabilities, go‑to‑market strategies, market share, and technological advancements to refine our communications and support our differentiation strategy in the aerostructures sector.
• Trade Show Strategy: Lead the strategic messaging and technical content creation for major global aerospace and defence exhibitions.

What You'll Bring

To help us make a difference, you’ll bring your passion and talent for what you do along with the following skills, experience, qualifications and attributes:

Essential:

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business Administration, Communications, or Public Relations (Master's or MBA preferred).
• Proven experience in strategic marketing, preferably in Aerospace and Defence (A&D) industry or related high technology fields.
• Deep understanding of external marketing tools and trends appropriate for the Aerospace & Defence markets.
• Ability to understand and communicate advanced manufacturing concepts, including composite layups and additive manufacturing processes.

Desirable:

• Proven track record in developing go‑to‑market frameworks tailored to US, UK and EU Governments and Primes.
• Native‑level verbal and written fluency in English, Dutch and German.

Personal Attributes:

• Outstanding project management skills.
• Excellent technical writing and editing capabilities.
• Strong organisational and analytical skills.
• Ability to coordinate cross‑functional technical teams.
• Excellent communication and relationship management skills.
• Self‑starter capable of managing multiple complex initiatives in a fast‑paced environment.

Note: Some GKN programmes are subject to regulatory restrictions which may impact certain nationalities. As part of the application process you will be asked to declare when applying for this role.

What We’ll Offer

Once you’re on board you’ll get the following perks and benefits:

• Competitive salary dependent on experience
• The opportunity to earn an annual bonus
• Industry Leading Pension Scheme = we’ll match your contributions up to 8% on a 1 : 1.5 basis
• Life Assurance 8 x salary
• 185 hours holiday + bank holidays
• Income protection
• Shopping discounts
• Cycle To Work Scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Virtual GP Clinic for you and immediate family
• Electric Vehicle (EV) salary sacrifice scheme (Insurance, servicing, maintenance, roadside assistance and more included)
• A collaborative, dynamic working environment

As well as a competitive package we’ll offer you a world of opportunity. We want to see your career fly! We’ll support your career progression by providing you with learning and development opportunities. That’s the beauty of being part of a global business, once you’re on board you never know where you career journey may take you!

#LI-CH1

#LI-REMOTE

We’ll offer you fantastic challenges and amazing opportunities. This is your chance to be part of an organisation that has proven itself to be at the cutting edge of our industry; and is committed to pushing the boundaries even further. And with some of the best training on offer in the industry, who knows how far you can go?

A Great Place to work needs a Great Way of Working

Everyone is welcome to apply to GKN. We believe that we can only achieve our ambitions through a coming together of diverse minds who enjoy collaborating in an inspirational environment. Through our commitment to diversity, inclusion and belonging and by living our five powerful principles we’ve created a culture where everyone feels welcome to contribute. It’s a culture that won us ‘The Best Workplace Culture Award’. By embracing and celebrating what makes us unique we encourage everyone to bring their full self to work.

We’re also committed to providing an accessible recruitment process, so if you require reasonable adjustments at any stage during our recruitment process please get in touch and let us know.

We arethe place where human dreams, plus humanendeavour, shape the future of aerospace innovation and technology.