Job Description

Salary: £47,389 to £50,253 with progression to £56,535 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 24 June 2026

The Role

Shape the future of student recruitment marketing

We’re looking for an exceptional marketing leader to join us as Head of Marketing Planning, Campaigns and Events, driving impactful, insight-led campaigns that inspire prospective students across the UK and around the world.

This is a senior role where you’ll set the direction for ambitious, high-performing marketing activity, blending creativity, data, and strategy to deliver measurable growth across the student journey.

Newcastle University’s Marketing Team sits within the Marketing, Global Recruitment and Admissions Directorate, is a comprehensive, world-class marketing team dedicated to serving our partners, academics and students.

Our vision for marketing at Newcastle encompasses the following:

• Embracing a ‘digital first’ approach
• Encouraging our team through personal growth
• Engaging with our clients and audiences
• Delivering an exceptional marketing strategy

This is an opportunity to play a pivotal role in shaping how we connect with future students, leading innovative campaigns and experiences that make a real difference.

You’ll join a supportive, forward-thinking team with the ambition, capability and investment to deliver sector-leading marketing.

We’re looking for a confident and collaborative leader who combines strategic thinking with hands-on delivery.

You will bring:

• An ability to combine strategic thinking with hands-on delivery
• Significant experience leading multi-channel marketing campaigns, ideally within higher education or a complex organisation
• A strong track record of delivering measurable campaign performance and driving continuous improvement
• Expertise across key channels including digital, social, email, SEO, paid media and emerging technologies
• Proven experience building, leading and motivating high-performing teams
• Outstanding stakeholder management and influencing skills
• A data-driven mindset with strong analytical capability and attention to detail

You’ll be someone who thrives in a fast-paced environment, brings people together, and is motivated by delivering meaningful impact.

You’ll also lead and inspire a talented team, bringing clarity, structure and continuous improvement to how we plan, deliver and evaluate our work.

If you would like an informal discussion about this role, please contact Sarah Barksby, Interim Director of Marketing.

Please provide evidence of how you meet the essential criteria required for the role outlined in ‘The Person’ by uploading a letter of application along with your Curriculum Vitae (CV).

Key Accountabilities

• Continue to embed and evolve our established marketing, event and campaign planning processes
• Lead the development of annual marketing plans and value propositions which align activity with student recruitment, marketing goals and academic subject priorities
• Drive sector-leading campaigns with experienced Marketing Planning and Campaign Managers, supported by detailed campaign plans and support Marketing delivery teams to deliver these campaigns with clear targeting, messaging and performance guidelines
• Support our teams with the overall end-to-end delivery of campaigns including recommendations on optimisation tactics across core channels
• Manage, lead and motivate a team of marketing specialists to deliver an integrated, high quality, innovative, responsive and professional marketing service
• Build compelling presentations demonstrating the success of campaign performance and delivery, including creative examples of top performing content
• Working with marketing leadership and team managers, shape processes for reviewing metrics and campaign progress against targets and supporting the recommendations on key strategic actions for continuously improving
• Use market insight and campaign analytics to develop audience personas and segmentation frameworks across all core campaigns
• Working closely with established Marketing Events Managers to steer development and operational delivery of the University’s virtual and on campus Open Days, targeted towards undergraduate and postgraduate audiences. Work to enhance the overarching visitor experience and programme offering through continuous improvement and competitor benchmarking
• Have deep knowledge of, and passion for, higher education, prospective students and their key influencers
• Refine the research and data insights capability within Marketing, to provide relevant audience insights for market opportunity messaging, positioning, targeting and engaging, and creative development. This includes an annual marketing insights activity plan, internal and external market research briefs and projects to support strategic decision-making
• Other duties, from time to time, as identified by the Interim Director of Marketing

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Demonstrable leadership qualities and relevant experience in marketing either in higher education or from other sectors
• Substantial experience across all marketing channels required to deliver campaigns successfully, including organic social, email, website, SEO, AI, paid social and search
• Track record with establishing new processes and driving new behaviours through a team and function
• Exceptional interpersonal skills with proven success in building relationships across all levels, internally and externally
• Ability to lead, manage and motivate others and collaborate across a disparate organisation and all functions to deliver results
• Strong communication skills and ability to influence and drive decisions
• Pragmatic business skills to get things done with flexibility and perseverance
• Organisational ability to manage through complexity and change
• Outstanding analytical skills and attention to detail

Attributes and Behaviour

• Seeks positive outcomes and takes a solution-focused approach to continuous improvement
• Provides clarity through communication, intent and actions
• Approaches challenges with curiosity to support others and foster strong working relationships
• Understands the colleagues they lead, and the people they work with, to ensure they work to the best of their ability
• Prioritises building good interpersonal relationships

Qualifications

• Graduate or equivalent qualification/demonstratable experience at the appropriate level
• Chartered Institute of Marketing qualification or another relevant marketing/communication professional qualification is desirable

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a Gold Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.

Requisition ID: 29466

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