Marketing Director

Published at: 2024-03-18

In this pack you will find: a detailed job description, the minimum requirements for this role, the profile of an ideal candidate, information about the selection process, and an introduction to the company for on-course staff.

You can email us at recruitment@oxfordsummercourses.com if you have any questions.

Oxford Summer Courses, a Bridgemark company

Oxford Summer Courses is part of Bridgemark Education, founded by two school friends and Oxford graduates who wanted to open up exceptional educational journeys to more people. In 2021 we ran COVID-compliant in-person courses. Our approach is based on interactive teaching, growth mindsets, small group learning, and tutor autonomy. We channel our passion into making a positive impact on our surroundings whether that be our students, the wider community or the environment.

Apply now

Applications are open for 2024 courses. Find out more and explore other roles on our careers page.

Please note that only successful applicants will be contacted and that no terminology in this document is intended to discriminate on the grounds of a person's gender, marital status, race, religion, colour, age, disability or sexual orientation. Every candidate will be assessed only in accordance with their merits, qualifications and abilities to perform the duties of the job.

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Job Description

Job Title:

Marketing Director

Location:

Oxford

Reports to:

Reports to you:

4-person internal Marketing team

Pay rate:

£90-110k + 10-20% company bonus for achieving student recruitment targets

Contract type:

Full time, permanent

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Main duties and responsibilities

Oxford Summer Courses is looking for a data-driven, digitally focused and customer-obsessed Marketing Director to spearhead our marketing efforts as we seek to drive forward the next phase in our exciting growth journey.

We are a founder-led, B-Corp on a mission to stimulate independent thinking through exceptional education. We’re proud to have picked up growth awards (2023 Fast Growth 50, 2019 Fast Track 100) alongside recognition for our company culture and the quality of our courses (Queen’s Award for Enterprise).

About the role

In this pivotal leadership role, you’ll be spearheading our marketing initiatives to drive long-term growth and success. Alongside managing a 4-person internal Marketing team, as well as external agencies, you’ll help us grow student numbers and explore new channels to build awareness and drive customer acquisition. You’ll also be working closely with our Sales team.

You’ll set and implement our marketing strategy and budget, delivering integrated multi-channel marketing campaigns that tie into the Marketing and Sales teams’ objectives and wider company goals. Whilst we will want you to primarily lead both the development and deployment of the overall marketing strategy with our internal teams and external partners, we are also seeking someone who isn’t afraid to get stuck in, and get their hands dirty, as and when the role demands it.

We are a fast-growing company, with multiple growth awards - but we’re not done yet. This is the right opportunity for a talented, driven, an intelligent individual to help us deliver our next phase of growth, achieving ambitious targets in a friendly and collaborative working environment.

Main Duties include the following (but also include others as defined by evolving business needs for a rapidly growing business):

Drive lead generation within the agreed budget - set, monitor and optimise the efficacy of a £1-2mil annual marketing budget to hit customer acquisition targets

• Deliver omni-channel marketing campaigns across paid, owned and earned media.
• Work hand in hand with the CRM and Sales teams, to find ways to increase both lead generation and student retention rates YoY.
• Lead the development and deployment of paid media strategy; including the expansion into wider channels beyond Paid Social and Paid Search.
• Comfortable with ambiguity and with the analytical horsepower to collaboratively develop attribution models, A/B testing frameworks and incrementally drive our marketing forward
• Work closely with our chosen media agency to ensure the highest standards are met at all times and no stone is left unturned.
• Manage and maintain website SEO, website changes and website performance
• Lead the evolution of our creative messaging approach - ensuring we have the right expertise and assets required to best engage with our ever evolving, and diversifying customer base, across all key marketing channels.
• Deploy strategies to continually monitor our closest competitors' marketing tactics and ensure we are always one step ahead of the pack; all whilst keeping one eye on our business targets.

Use reporting to improve performance

• Work to build a comprehensive measurement portfolio that enables us to better understand the drivers of ROI and Brand Equity within our marketing efforts; exploring techniques such as MMM and brand tracking.
• Own, drive, and report on key metrics related to business success, including conversion and retention - ensuring these are surfaced regularly, on time, and accurately.
• Implement new tools and processes to drive efficiency, analytic capability and improve ROI
• Foster a culture of scientific experimentation - ensuring that we are able to monitor, manage, test and improve our performance marketing capabilities; with a high degree of confidence in the decisions we are making. We want to operate in a world where no investment decision is made without two key components; first that it is grounded in insight and data, the second being that it is measurable.
• Accurately forecast marketing budget required to achieve intended growth targets, as well as any incremental growth opportunities you have identified.

Deliver market insight

• Work with internal teams, to conduct market research and competitor analysis; identifying trends, opportunities, and potential threats that we can then adjust our approach to capitalise upon.
• Work with internal and external partners to better define key growth customer segments; who they are, what matters to them, and how to most effectively influence them through marketing - ensuring we are then able to turn insight into action by deploying, customised marketing plans and messaging across key markets including the USA, UK, China, India, and UAE.
• Stay abreast of industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices in marketing, ensuring we stay one step ahead, and incorporating them into our strategy where necessary.

Leadership

• Being accountable to the OxSC leadership team for the timely & high-quality delivery of best-in-class marketing planning and execution across the business.
• Working ‘upstream’ with OxSC leadership team to ensure they are kept abreast of any key marketing decisions, as well as any potential risks to achieving growth targets.
• Working ‘downstream’ with internal marketing and sales teams to ensure that our marketing approach is activated with rigour and innovation.
• Build and nurture relationships with key stakeholders, including customers, partners, and industry influencers.
• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing marketing team, fostering a culture of creativity, collaboration, and accountability.
• Collaborate effectively and represent the marketing function to the wider organisation, liaising effectively across the business.
• Be an active & proud spokesperson for the OxSC business through relevant marketing and industry channels.

Practical details

• Start: ASAP
• Location: Central Oxford office-based role with hybrid working arrangements available
• Contract type: Permanent & full time
• Salary: £90-110k + 10-20% company bonus for achieving student recruitment targets

Person specification

Minimum requirements:

• Experience in managing £1-5mil marketing budgets
• Experience leading successful growth in an SME
• Experience managing multiple stakeholders; including internal teams and external parties
• 7+ years of work experience in digital marketing, including paid and owned channels; with a comprehensive understanding of Paid Search & Social
• Experience in planning and activating offline marketing - i.e. Print / Radio
• Experience in managing SEO, Social, and CRO
• Demonstrated success leading a high performing marketing team & consistently achieving aggressive growth targets
• A proven track record in deploying robust, data-driven, and measurable test and learn strategies.
• Experience managing a brand to create a differentiated presence and build value
• Proven ability in audience-led planning - synthesising and interpreting customer insights and deploying this into successful marketing strategies
• Experience in deploying a portfolio of measurement techniques that enable businesses to better understand the drivers of both short and long-term success.
• Experience in understanding and surfacing key business and marketing metrics
• Excellent verbal and written communication and presentation skills
• Enthusiastic, passionate, creative and collaborative

Desirable attributes:

• Experience within the education sector
• Brand management experience
• International experience
• Paid Media Experience - Digital and offline
• Excellent team player

Selection process

Application Details

• How to apply: Please send a CV and cover letter to recruitment@oxfordsummercourses.com.
• Deadline: Friday 12th April 2024. We will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis before this end date, early application is encouraged. We reserve the right to close the vacancy early should we receive enough applicants.

About us

Oxford Summer Courses is part of Bridgemark Education, founded by two school friends and Oxford graduates. Our aim is to help students travel to new places - both physically and academically - exploring paths untrodden through personalised learning.

Our teaching methods are carefully designed to suit each age group. Students are encouraged to explore their own academic interests guided by an expert tutor. There is no restrictive curriculum for our courses, we advocate learning without limits. We are proud to be a certified BCorp, part of a global community of businesses that meet high standards of social and environmental impact. Oxford Summer Courses is honoured to be a CarbonNeutral® certified company through our partnership with Climate Impact Partners. Our CEO also founded and continues to support Universify, an independent charity committed to educational equality, through annual significant financial donations, providing office space and through a staff volunteer programme. Disclaimer

Please note that Oxford Summer Courses Limited has robust safeguarding policies. References are requested and will be scrutinised. Where appropriate, they will be validated with the providing referee. Only successful applicants will be contacted and that no terminology in this advert is intended to discriminate on the grounds of a person's gender, marital status, race, religion, colour, age, disability or sexual orientation. Every candidate will be assessed only in accordance with their merits, qualifications and abilities to perform the duties of the job. Candidates are encouraged to communicate any reasonable adjustment requests to the recruitment team, which include but are not limited to, receiving documents in accessible formats and modifications to interview arrangements.

Oxford Summer Courses is committed to safeguarding and protecting children. We check references and undertake enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks to ensure all our staff are suitable to work with children.