Associate Director of Marketing and Student Recruitment (UK), Full Time

Job description

Commercial

Full time, FTE 1.0

Location: On Campus/Hybrid

Closing date: 4th November 2026

Interview date: 26th November 2026 (In-person)

To ensure your application form does not corrupt, please do not include any umlauts, accents or other diacritical marks within your application form.

You are encouraged to apply promptly, as we reserve the right to close the role and interview before the dates statedabove.

Job Description

Job Description

Job title: Associate Director of Marketing and Student Recruitment (UK)

Reports to: Director of Brand and External Engagement

Responsible for: Marketing team, Recruitment team

Service: Commercial

Grade: RS03

Main purpose of the job: The Associate Director will lead the delivery of the University's marketing and domestic student recruitment activity, ensuring a coordinated and evidence-based approach that supports the University's strategic objectives, recruitment targets and reputation.

The role will lead the development and delivery of innovative, insight-led marketing campaigns that build awareness, strengthen consideration, increase conversion and communicate the University's distinctiveness, strengths and opportunities to target audiences.

Working across the University, the Associate Director will lead the delivery of an integrated and cohesive approach to domestic student recruitment, ensuring effective recruitment, conversion and engagement activity throughout the prospective student journey. The role will be responsible for delivering a sector- leading applicant experience through personalised engagement and communications designed to enhance conversion and student outcomes.

The Associate Director will lead the delivery of a cohesive approach to the student journey, bringing together teams across the directorate to ensure recruitment and marketing activities are aligned and support prospective students throughout their decision-making journey. Working closely with the Director of Brand, Marketing and External Engagement and the Associate Director of Communications, the role will support the evolution of the University's brand narrative and messaging hierarchy, ensuring marketing and recruitment activity aligns with the University's Strategy 2030 and resonates with target audiences.

Main duties and responsibilities:

1. Lead the delivery of the University's marketing and domestic student recruitment activity, ensuring a

coordinated, insight-led approach that supports the University's strategic objectives, recruitment targets

and institutional reputation

2. Hold overall accountability for domestic recruitment and marketing performance against agreed

application, offer, acceptance and enrolment targets, leading the performance rhythm for the portfolio

through pipeline reviews, forecasting, conversion analysis, campaign monitoring and timely intervention

where delivery is off track.

3. Provide senior leadership to the recruitment and marketing portfolio, including direct line management and leadership of teams within the reporting line. Set clear objectives, allocate resources, develop capability, manage performance, support wellbeing and create an inclusive, collaborative and high- performing team culture.

4. Oversee the University's domestic recruitment engagement activity, including schools and colleges

outreach, Open Days, applicant events, and Clearing, ensuring activity is aligned to enrolment priorities

and delivers measurable impact across the recruitment pipeline

5. Develop and implement innovative marketing campaigns that build awareness, drive student recruitment

and conversion, and enhance the profile of the University's offer, using audience insight and performance

data to optimise activity and maximise impact.

6. Lead the delivery of a cohesive approach to the prospective student and applicant journey, ensuring clear

and compelling communications, effective engagement and coordinated conversion activity across all

channels from enquiry to enrolment, delivering a high-quality experience aligned with the University's

strategic objectives.

7. Interpret complex market insight, competitor intelligence, applicant behaviour, audience research and

campaign performance data to shape recruitment planning, inform investment decisions, identify risk and

recommend interventions to senior leaders.

8. Responsible for the alignment between brand positioning and recruitment conversion, ensuring

Roehampton's key messages are translated into campaigns and content that drive applications,

acceptances and enrolments.

9. Ensure close coordination between Marketing, UK Recruitment, Admissions, academic departments and

central communications so applicants receive timely, accurate and compelling information at each stage

of the funnel.

10. Manage marketing and communications budgets and resources, ensuring effective prioritisation, value for money, financial control and alignment with institutional priorities. Work with the Director of Brand and External Engagement to inform annual budget planning, identify investment requirements and ensure communications activity is delivered within agreed financial parameters.

11. Manage relationships and contracts with external agencies and companies effectively, escalating delivery

risks, operational blockers and underperformance with clear recommendations for corrective action and

service improvement.

12. Build and maintain influential relationships with senior academic and professional services leaders, external partners, media contacts, sector bodies and agencies, using diplomacy, judgement and negotiation to align communications activity and manage complex stakeholder interests.

13. To undertake any other requirements commensurate with the seniority of the post/as required by Senior Management.

Person Specification The Person Specification focuses on the knowledge, skills, experience and qualifications required to undertake the role effectively. Please ensure that your application demonstrates how you meet the essential criteria.

Requirements E/D Criteria

Education and Qualifications

Essential • Degree or equivalent professional experience in marketing, student

recruitment, communications, business development, education management or a related field.

Desirable • Relevant postgraduate qualification or professional accreditation, for

example CIM, IDM, leadership/management qualification or equivalent.

Knowledge and skills

Essential

• Strong understanding of the UK student recruitment market, including applicant behaviour, conversion, Clearing, competitor activity and the wider domestic higher education environment.

• Strong understanding of marketing, communications, audience segmentation, campaign planning, CRM communications, digital channels and conversion activity.

• Ability to interpret data, market insight, campaign performance and recruitment pipeline information to inform decisions and interventions.

• Ability to align marketing, recruitment, admissions and academic activity around shared recruitment and enrolment targets.

• Ability to exercise sound judgement in a complex and competitive recruitment environment, using evidence, risk analysis and institutional priorities to make recommendations and decisions

• Ability to advise and influence senior leaders, translating recruitment performance, market insight and campaign data into clear priorities, risks and recommended actions.

Desirable • Knowledge of student recruitment systems, CRM platforms, UCAS

processes, Clearing operations and applicant journey management

Work experience

Essential

• Significant experience in student recruitment, marketing, communications, conversion, sales, business development or a related externally focused role.

• Experience of delivering recruitment, marketing or conversion activity against measurable targets.

• Significant experience of leading complex recruitment, marketing, campaign or conversion activity across multiple teams or functional areas, with accountability for measurable outcomes.

• Experience of using data and insight to improve performance, identify risk and drive corrective action.

• Experience of contributing to strategic planning, performance reporting and senior-level decision making in a recruitment, marketing, student recruitment or similarly competitive environment.

• Experience of managing budgets, resources and competing priorities in a complex service environment.

Desirable • Experience in higher education, student recruitment, Clearing,

domestic recruitment or a similarly competitive customer acquisition environment.

Managerial Skills

Essential

• Proven ability to lead distinct but interdependent teams, ensuring

alignment between strategic marketing activity and recruitment

delivery.

• Experience of managing managers and/or team leads, with the ability

to create accountability and ensure consistent standards across

more than one functional area.

• Ability to lead through complexity and competing priorities, balancing

the needs of distinct teams while maintaining alignment to wider

organisational goals.

• Demonstrable experience of performance management, including

setting objectives, monitoring outcomes, addressing

underperformance and supporting professional development.

• Experience of leading organisational change or service improvement,

including embedding new ways of working across teams.

• Strong resource and workforce planning skills, with the ability to

allocate people and activity effectively across different operational

areas.

• Experience of building an inclusive, collaborative and high-performing

team culture, including promoting wellbeing, engagement and

accountability.

Desirable • Experience of developing leadership capability in others, including

coaching managers and succession planning.

Communication skills

Essential

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate clearly and credibly with senior colleagues, academic departments, professional services, external partners and prospective students.

• Ability to present complex data, insight, risk and recommendations clearly and persuasively to senior audiences, supporting evidence- based decision making.

• Ability to influence and negotiate across teams where delivery depends on shared ownership rather than direct control.

• Ability to translate institutional priorities into clear marketing, recruitment and applicant communications.

Other requirements

Essential

• • Willingness to work flexibly during key recruitment periods, including

Clearing, Confirmation, open days and other peak activity. • Commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, and to delivering an

excellent applicant and student experience. • Willingness to undertake UK travel and occasional evening or

weekend work where required.

Additional Information • The appointment is offered on a permanent and full time basis immediately, subject to references • The appointment is usually made at the bottom of the range. Where a candidate's current total

remuneration already exceeds the bottom point, consideration will be given to the level of skills, experience and profile that the candidate is bringing to the role. The total remuneration of other staff doing the same or similar work within the department who have similar skills, experience and profile should also be taken into account.

• The University operates service-led hybrid working arrangements which may allow for 3 days in the office and 2 days working from home although peak times might require flexibility and any hybrid arrangement will be determined by the service and in agreement with the line manager.

• The annual leave entitlement is 31.5 days p.a., additionally there are 3 - 4 days for the University's operational efficiency initiatives at Christmas

• There are no fixed hours of work and you are expected to give a full professional commitment and work for such reasonable hours as are necessary for you to fulfil your duties and responsibilities. You are expected to work flexibly to meet the needs of the University and Department, including evenings and weekends as required, within the context of the maximum working week as defined by the UK Working Time Regulations.

• The University of Roehampton is committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion • Set in a beautiful 54 acre parkland campus, the University has an attractive range of benefits and you

can find out more about them here. In addition Professional Services/Support staff may access The University's Defined Contribution Retirement Savings Group Personal Pension Plan, provided by Royal London.

Job description prepared by: Group Director (Commercial) / Director of Marketing, Brand and External Engagement Date: June 2026