Digital Marketing & Communications Officer

Job details

Department

Further Education Division

College

Buxton & Leek College

Responsible to

Head of Recruitment and Marketing

Salary

£30,950 to £34,027 per annum

Closing date

Monday 6 May 2024

Contract type

Fixed term contract 12 Months

Post type

Full-time

Adaptive working type

Onsite
This role will be based on site, primarily in the named location.

Reference

0163-24

About the role

Buxton & Leek College is looking for an experienced marketeer to join its Recruitment & Marketing department and proactively seek opportunities to promote the College, devising integrated marketing campaigns. 

As part of this exciting role, you will work with the team to place Buxton & Leek College at the forefront of the community, employing your solid marketing experience and skills to increase student recruitment. 

As the Digital Marketing and Communications Officer, your role will function within the Recruitment and Marketing department and will focus on strengthening the college's visibility and reach by implementing attractive and impactful campaigns that bolster the College Marketing Strategy. 

You will have a creative mindset, aware of innovation and trends within the sector, to confidently deliver contemporary content that enhances the brand and reputation of Buxton & Leek College. You will play a pivotal part in the development of the website and social media channels, ensuring we are optimising our reach and influence on students. 

If you have a relevant degree or equivalent qualification, or recent and equivalent experience in Marketing / Communications, plus the skills to bring an innovative contribution to this role, this may be for you!

For further information and informal enquiries regarding the role, please contact Head of Recruitment and Marketing - Gareth Hughes via [email protected]

Principal accountabilities

Line mange a team of two Marketing & Recruitment Administrators, and work with external agencies to ensure delivery of all marketing functions within the department.

In conjunction with the Head of Recruitment and Marketing, create and deliver the annual Digital Marketing and Communications plan to support the College Marketing Strategy – this will include the planning and implementation of social media activity as well as digital and offline advertising.

Undertake environmental analysis to ensure digital marketing and communications are both proactive and reactive to external influences within the sector.

Liaise with students, academic and wider support staff within the College, to source and generate content that can be used to promote BLC to external stakeholders (e.g. prospective students, influencers, businesses and the Community) via the College website, social media, local news outlets and trade via Press Releases.

Optimise and grow the main BLC social media channels.

Develop relevant existing and new social media channels to support strategy.

Ensure content confirms to data security requirements.

Working with an external web design company, project manage the build and migration for a new BLC website for 2024/2025.

Create, innovate and develop the content of the Buxton & Leek College website to ensure that it is appropriate, dynamic, relevant, exciting and contemporary.

Using analytics, make recommendations to the Head of Recruitment & Marketing on ways to improve and develop the Buxton & Leek College website.

Carry out visibility reviews and promote website usability and accessibility within wider team.

Develop website pages from concept and create the building blocks for copy content and media rich content. This will include forms and other types of online data capture.

Ownership of BLC web page content and design, actively liaising with staff to ensure that pages are relevant and up to date.

Ensure that all offline and online Marketing and Communications activity is integrated.

Develop and implement new and innovative digital marketing plans, to enhance traditional activity already in the Marketing and Communications plan e.g. enhancement of Keep Warm and Enquiry Conversion communications.

Develop and implement new, innovative content for digital advertising channels (to include, for example, copy, video, graphic outputs).

Proactively ensure that all College materials and communications are produced and written in the corporate visual style, using the corporate tone of voice.

Undertake the tracking, analysis and reporting of Digital Marketing & Communications activity against agreed KPIs, identifying optimisation and testing opportunities.

Assist at open days/recruitment events where required, including helping to set up, assisting with registration, tours, obtaining customer feedback, etc.

Adopt a professional approach in understanding and responding to client and customer needs.

All staff should be aware of the importance of their own and the University’s joint responsibility to safeguard and promote the wellbeing of children and vulnerable adults.

Person specification
Essential Criteria
Qualifications

• Relevant degree or equivalent experience.

Experience

• Experience and demonstrable success in a similar role.
• Experience of line-management.
• Experience of developing and delivering effective integrated / digital marketing campaigns, to support wider marketing strategies.
• Experience of developing a website and social media content, using analytics, SEO and market research to make continuous improvements.
• Experience of using innovative activities to deliver and enhance digital marketing and communication activity and grow social media following.
• Experience of branding and working with pre-defined content and design guidelines.
• Experience of working to legal guidelines including accessibility, data protection and copyright.
• Experience of co-ordinating multiple projects at the same time.

Skills, knowledge & abilities

• Ability and experience of writing quality copy that can be published as press releases, website and social media content.
• Ability to generate and edit video content.
• Ability to use different tactics to generate awareness to stakeholders and develop and maintain effective relationships with target media.
• Well-developed interpersonal skills and diplomacy when dealing with senior and other colleagues.
• Excellent editing and proofing skills.
• Strong knowledge of current and emerging trends in digital marketing.
• Strong understanding of user experience design including usability and accessibility.
• Knowledge of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

Business requirements

• Completed DBS check with child barred list.

• Willingness and flexibility to travel between University sites (Buxton, Leek, Derby) and to work out-of-office hour, as and when required.

Desirable Criteria
Qualifications

• CIM / CIPR qualification or equivalent experience.
• Recent digital marketing CPD / training.
• Full clean UK Driving license.

Experience

• Experience of providing marketing advice to non-marketing colleagues.

Skills, knowledge and abilities

• Knowledge of the Education and B2B sector.

Benefits

As well as competitive pay scales, we offer generous holiday entitlement. We also offer opportunities for further salary progression based on performance, and the opportunity to join a contributory pension scheme.

Find out more about pay and rewardsFind out more about pay and rewards

How to apply

You can apply by submitting an online application. Once you have signed in or registered with us you will be able to begin your application. If you are creating an account for the first time, please ensure you provide an email address that you access regularly as this will be our main means of contacting you regarding your application.

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• Advice on completing your applicationAdvice on completing your application

If you require any assistance, including the provision of any documentation in an alternative format, please contact the Recruitment team at [email protected] .

Please note all applications must be submitted online by Midnight GMT on the closing date of the vacancy.

Important information

The University is unable to sponsor the employment of international workers under the Skilled Worker route for this role; however, applications are welcome from candidates who are able to demonstrate an alternative right to work in the UK.

Please visit Applying from Overseas for more information.

DBS check

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974 and is therefore subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Any information you provide will be treated in confidence and only used when considering your suitability for the post.

To enable us to process your DBS check please ensure you are able to supply the documentation listed on the DBS website at interview stage.

The University of Derby is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all our staff, students and children. At the University of Derby, safeguarding is everybody's concern.

What is Adaptive Working?

Adaptive working is about enabling a high-performing, flexible, and responsive work culture where the place, time, and manner of working are tailored to the specific work activity. This approach ensures that the working environment, including both physical and social surroundings, supports employees to perform at their best and meet the university's evolving needs.

In addition, adaptive working involves intentionally designing workspaces to support a range of activities and disciplines, providing the right environment for meaningful in-person connections and effective collaboration. This includes ensuring that employees have access to the necessary equipment and resources from their first day at the university.

Adaptive working encompasses different modes of working such as site-based, remote or hybrid working. It is a broad framework within which all staff can operate effectively according to their role.

Equity, diversity and inclusion

The University of Derby is committed to promoting equity, diversity and inclusion. However you identify, we actively celebrate the knowledge, experience and talents each person brings. Our students come from a wide range of backgrounds; therefore we are particularly interested to hear from applicants who will help our leaders and teams be more reflective of our student population.

A university that celebrates youA university that celebrates you

Further details

Download Digital Marketing & Communications Officer job descriptionDownload Digital Marketing & Communications Officer job description

Why join Derby?

Challenging, interesting and constantly changing, the University of Derby is an extraordinary place to learn and an incredibly rewarding place to work.

Find out more about working at the UniversityFind out more about working at the University

The University of Derby is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all our staff, students and children. At the University of Derby, safeguarding is everybody's concern.