Communication Director jobs in United Kingdom

Five new positions are available in our UK student recruitment team. Join us and be part of an ambitious new expansion of our UK Student Recruitment Team.

Closing date for all posts: 12/03/2026.

We are seeking to appoint to five positions that will grow our UK Student Recruitment Team and extend our reach across the UK. These roles provide an exciting opportunity to join the University at a time of continued growth, and to develop your student recruitment career by delivering innovative and impactful student recruitment strategies and activities.

The University of Southampton is a research-intensive university and a founding member of the Russell Group. Ranked 17th in the UK, 33rd in Europe and 39th globally, it has a diverse community of students from over 130 countries. We are a top 20 UK university for employability and our graduates are highly sought after with 97% in employment or further study. Underpinning this culture of excellence is our sector leading Student Hub offering 24/7 student support.

Our highly ranked education, research and knowledge exchange and enterprise activities are already intertwined. Our triple helix approach aims to strengthen these links to achieve greater impact and accelerate new ways to tackle the world’s most complex problems. We are standing out across the Higher Education sector, and our UK Student Recruitment Team will be a key part of delivering our future ambitions.

Salary Level 6 (£59,666 - £74,851).

You will lead the development of UK student recruitment strategies across the University. This will include identifying and implementing new, innovative and ambitious approaches to UK activity. With responsibility for managing an overall team of nine recruitment professionals and graduate roles, this post will lead the development of recruitment plans to target regions and schools/colleges, identifying opportunities for growth of the University’s UK student recruitment pipeline, contributing to ambitious growth targets and delivering programmes of activities to meet them, whilst ensuring delivery of the University’s strategic objectives.

Salary Level 3 (£31,236 - £35,608).

You will be the first point of contact with Southampton for many students and their families. This is an important role and you will effectively represent the University of Southampton at Higher Education Fairs and events (virtual and in person) and in engaging talks both on and off campus. The aim of this role is to support ambitious growth targets. The role will develop and maintain strong working relationships with a target group of schools/colleges and extensive travel throughout the UK will be required.

Salary Level 3 (£31,236 - £35,608).

You will use a variety of communication tools and channels to improve and maintain relationships with stakeholders and influencers in the schools and colleges that are in the University of Southampton’s target market. Working with the UK Recruitment and Marketing teams, you will plan, deliver and evaluate a programme of B2B communications to the target audience primarily through the University’s CRM. Using excellent copywriting skills and working with colleagues to build effective relationships with key stakeholder schools & colleges. Occasionally, you will also support the delivery of school/college events on campus.

For all posts, you will demonstrate a passion and commitment to recruiting UK students and an ability to enhance our undergraduate and postgraduate offer in this key region.

Working at the University of Southampton gives you access to a wide range of benefits in addition to our competitive rates of pay. Our core benefits include pension scheme membership; a generous annual leave allowance (supplemented by University closure days and public holidays) and excellent family leave arrangements (including maternity, paternity, adoption and parental leave). All our benefits can be viewed here.

As a university we aim to create an environment where everyone can thrive and are proactive in fostering a culture of inclusion, respect and equality of opportunity. We believe that we can only truly meet our objectives if we are reflective of society, so we are passionate about creating a working environment in which you are free to bring your whole self to work. We welcome applications from candidates who are committed to helping us create an inclusive work environment. We encourage applications from candidates from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, people who identify as LGBTQ+; and people with disabilities. We would particularly welcome applications from candidates from working class, first generation Higher Education, the Global South and other underrepresented groups.

Committed to supporting our staff and students, we are open to a flexible working approach. We give full consideration to applicants that wish to work flexibly and those who have taken a career break.

Interviews will take place in Southampton as indicated.

For further details about the posts, you are invited to contact Amanda Hall, Deputy Director of Global Recruitment, Admissions & Marketing, a.l.hall@soton.ac.uk.

Please use the links above for more information on the individual roles. You should submit your completed online application form at www.jobs.soton.ac.uk via the associated job advert.