Marketing Manager - External Relations - 44395Z26 - Grade 7

Position Details

External Relations

University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,636 to £46,049 with potential progression once in post to £48,822

Grade: 7

Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to October 2027

Closing date: 23rd September 2026

This role is also open as an internal secondment opportunity which would need to be agreed by your current line manager.

Our offer to you 

People are at the heart of what we are and do.

The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.

We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide-range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.

We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.

Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.

The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.

Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham

Background

The University of Birmingham is a global institution working within a diverse and vibrant City, offering an inspiring education to our students, and undertaking critically important research. We are a place of open, critical thinking, and the creation, sharing and dissemination of knowledge. Professional Services put students at the heart of all they do and enable an exceptional educational experience. They provide outstanding support to our researchers and help the University to grow its influence regionally, nationally, and globally. They ensure the University’s resources are used wisely, manage and improve the infrastructure which sits at the heart of the institution, and support decisions to be made quickly and based on sound evidence. Our Birmingham Professional programme operates across the University, supporting colleagues to network and collaborate, offering opportunities to learn and develop, contributing to the delivery of the University’s objectives, and helping everyone to understand the broader context within which we work. 

Department overview 

External Relations is the division responsible for delivering our University to the world and prides itself in seizing opportunities that will enhance the profile and reputation of the University. We engage with many different audiences to build purposeful relationships internally, locally, nationally and internationally. We enable those who wish to apply to study on our courses to make informed choices. We recognise that we are strongest when we work together and take pride in upholding our core values of being ambitious, innovative, open, collaborative and responsible. 

Role Summary

The Marketing Manager plays a pivotal role in driving student recruitment and enhancing the University’s reputation. Working with colleagues across the University, the post holder leads strategic, cross-channel, institution-wide marketing activities to attract, engage and convert prospective students globally. The post holder will drive creative, data-informed marketing campaigns, supporting the University to build a high quality and diverse student population, and achieve its growth ambitions for 2030 and beyond.

The post holder will build and maintain effective relationships and work collaboratively with key internal stakeholders, including across Marketing, Student Recruitment, Admissions, Colleges, and Professional Services, providing specialist marketing expertise.

Main Duties

• Plan and deliver a range of innovative, cross-channel marketing activities and campaigns in line with strategies and meet recruitment targets across all markets – including managing budgets, monitoring performance, and ongoing optimisation throughout the recruitment cycle.
• Work closely with colleagues across marketing, student recruitment, admissions, Colleges, the wider External Relations division, and across the institution to ensure a coordinated and unified approach to meeting student recruitment targets.
• The role requires flexibility, with a focus that may shift across key areas as well as across different products and audience groups, in response to strategic priorities.

Market insight, strategy development and evaluation

• Conduct market analysis, provide market insight and strategic recommendations. 
• Monitor and regularly evaluate performance against targets to inform campaign planning and drive innovation in student recruitment marketing.

Content strategy and storytelling

• Lead the creation of high-quality, compelling content across all channels, adapting copy to a variety of products and audiences, ensuring appropriate tone of voice and branding aligns with the University’s Global Top 50 ambitions.
• Manage the development of marketing campaigns and collateral working with internal and external partners as required and oversee the management of student teams whose role is to produce authentic content, engage with prospective students and manage peer-to-peer platforms.

Lead generation, conversion and retention

• Manage and deliver marketing strategies to drive enquiry, conversion, and retention, including one-off activities as required.
• Lead cross-institutional student recruitment advertising campaigns to achieve measurable outcomes and support the development of social media strategies.

Utilising digital channels effectively

• Develop the CRM strategy to deliver targeted, timely communications that drive enquiry, engagement, conversion, and retention.
• Own and manage web content, including plans to continually improve digital content across the website and other channels.

Leadership and management

• Hold line management responsibility for staff, ensuring effective workload planning, clear objectives, and professional development to drive high performance.
• Oversee student content teams.
• Represent marketing on University committees/meetings.
• Deputise in a leadership capacity as required.

General duties

• Act as brand champion, representing and promoting the University’s values and identity in all interactions and advise on marketing best practice.
• Provide additional support to a range of marketing and recruitment activities, events, campaigns as specified by marketing team, and any other duties as commensurate with the grade.
• Willing to work occasional evenings, weekends, and travel as needed to support marketing and recruitment activities.
• Promote a supportive and inclusive team culture - working with discretion, demonstrate diplomacy, maintain confidentiality and ensure compliance with GDPR, CMA and other regulations as required.
• Promotes equality and values diversity, acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture. 
• Supports the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working. 

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Educated to Degree level (or equivalent qualifications) plus relevant practical experience - where no equivalent qualification is held significant practical relevant experience and expertise in a series of progressively more demanding roles will be required.
• Substantial experience in marketing; within a large, complex organisation desirable. 
• Proven ability to devise and deliver multi-channel marketing and communications strategies and campaigns.
• Excellent communication skills, with demonstrable copywriting experience for breadth of audiences, ensuring accessibility for all.
• Demonstrable project management skills with experience managing complex campaigns.
• Experience in leading cross-channel digital campaigns (websites, CRM, social media).
• Experience using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems to develop clear strategies and communications; working knowledge of Microsoft Dynamics CRM is desirable.
• Proven experience in managing relationships with the ability to lead, influence, and collaborate across teams, and with agencies and external partners.
• Proven experience in line management, including responsibility for the performance, development, and wellbeing of direct reports.
• Creative problem solver with a proactive and resilient approach.
• Ability to analyse and interpret complex data and market research, applying insights to marketing strategies.
• Cultural awareness and understanding the need for sensitivity in international engagement, and how this might be embedded.
• Highly organised with strong administrative skills and attention to detail under tight deadlines.
• Experience managing budgets and negotiating with stakeholders.
• Good working knowledge of standard Microsoft Office software.
• Ability to work flexibly and effectively both in a team and independently, managing multiple priorities.

Other requirements

• Commitment to demonstrating behaviours aligned with the University and External Relations framework.
• Willingness to travel and work flexibly including occasional evenings and weekends.
• Promote a supportive and inclusive team culture working with discretion, demonstrate diplomacy, maintain confidentiality and ensure compliance with GDPR and other regulations as required.
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day to day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly. 

Informal enquiries to Adam Gore, email: [email protected] 

View our staff values and behaviours here

Use of AI in applications: We want to understand your genuine interest in the role and for the written elements of your application to accurately reflect your own communication style. Applications that rely too heavily on AI tools can appear generic and lack the detail we need to assess your skills and experience. Such applications will unlikely be progressed to interview.

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.