Marketing Officer (Student Recruitment) - Birmingham Business School - 11012 - Grade 6

Position Details

Birmingham Business School

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £32,546 to £35,116 with potential progression once in post to £39,355

Grade: 6

Full Time, Permanent

Closing date: 29th April 2025

UK and International travel may be required for this role

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.

Background

Part of a dynamic, creative and ambitious marketing and communications team based in the College of Social Sciences, this role is designed to support the recruitment of high-quality students to the University from the UK and internationally. Focusing on the recruitment of students to the College across the UK and Dubai, the role is created at an exciting time for the College as it continues to build its reputation and programme portfolio in the UK and internationally. The post holder will be responsible for developing and delivering informed student recruitment and marketing plans bringing data insights together with a knowledge of marketing and customer relationship management to provide an outstanding prospective student experience from enquiry to enrolment.

Role Summary

The Marketing Officer (Student Recruitment) is integral to the design and delivery of student recruitment and marketing strategies. The role involves managing and implementing a variety of domestic and international marketing campaigns, both digital and offline. Additionally, the post holder will engage in market research and coordinate these efforts with broader research communications, public engagement, and brand management activities.

Reporting to the Business School’s Student Recruitment and Marketing Manager, and collaborating with Programme Directors, Admissions Tutors, and the wider External Relations division, you will be part of a Professional Services team dedicated to achieving ambitious recruitment targets for programmes in the UK, Dubai, and Singapore. The role includes sharing best practices to engage prospective students, supporting them throughout their journey, and leveraging digital tools to run effective recruitment campaigns, events, and communications.

Main Duties

Marketing Strategy & Planning:

• Develop, deliver, and monitor marketing recruitment action plans and campaigns for a portfolio of programmes delivered across the UK, Dubai, and online to support School, College, and University strategic objectives.
• Work with the Student Recruitment and Marketing Manager and School Management Team to identify and agree on key priorities and touchpoints throughout the academic year, adapting to changing external situations and internal University priorities.
• Investigate potential digital and other advertising opportunities, including coordinating, booking, monitoring, managing, and evaluating activity, in collaboration with the Digital team as necessary.

Collaboration & Relationship Building:

• Work closely with the College Partnerships Officer and other partnership teams across the University to support recruitment through foundation pathways and partner universities.
• Engage with internal stakeholders and form strong professional relationships across the academic and Professional Services community. Develop strong links with senior academic staff to understand strategic priorities within the School and College.
• Act as the key point of contact for prospective students, agents, collaborative partners, and admissions tutors, providing advice and guidance on recruitment and marketing.

Marketing Execution & Campaigns:

• Implement conversion activities across multiple programmes, incorporating CRM, events (on and offline), telephone campaigns, and other tactics.
• Develop and deliver an enquirer and applicant contact strategy through the CRM system.
• Deliver marketing collateral (writing and editing copy, commissioning and gathering images), including content for the University website, prospectuses, School/programme literature, and exhibition materials.
• Ensure consistency of messaging and content across all College marketing channels by working closely with the marketing and communications team.
• Support the identification, development, and implementation of supplementary and innovative recruitment strategies to launch new programmes or target specific markets.

Market Research & Analysis:

• Acquire and maintain up-to-date knowledge of the portfolio of courses offered across the College of Social Sciences.
• Conduct market research and evaluation, including competitor analysis and market scanning, to identify new opportunities for the College (including new programmes and markets).
• Monitor and review recruitment and conversion data, producing management information and contextual commentary to inform the development of ongoing recruitment and conversion plans.

Financial Management:

• Maintain accurate records of marketing spend, including raising purchase order requisitions and managing invoices as appropriate.
• Provide budget recommendations to support planning and ensure projects are managed within agreed budgets and financial processes.

Reporting & Evaluation:

• Produce evaluation reports of marketing activity, detailing results, learnings, and recommendations to support continuous improvement of marketing efforts.
• Ensure that the University brand is adhered to and maintained across all marketing activities for the College.

Additional Duties:

• Any other duties as required by the Student Recruitment Manager, including deputising at meetings where appropriate.

Person Specification

• Educated to Degree level or equivalent relevant experience in a similar role.
• Experience of devising and delivering multi-channel marketing and communications plans.
• Good level of experience of working in a marketing or communications environment.
• Proven experience in student recruitment or marketing and able to demonstrate some understanding of the student recruitment and admissions cycle and an awareness of issues affecting higher education (nationally and internationally).
• Demonstrable project management skills.
• Proven copywriting ability for a range of audiences and channels.
• Excellent IT skills and an aptitude for learning new packages to support student recruitment and marketing. Experience using the likes of Microsoft Dynamics, Power Bi, Salesforce is desirable.
• Familiarity with delivering recruitment activity and tactics including designing and executing in-person and online events, creating and editing engaging visual and written content, email marketing and basic web skills.
• An understanding of audience journeys and segmentation to develop engaging acquisition and retention strategies.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and a proven ability to work with a range of stakeholders including prospective students and academics; establishing personal credibility and winning support.
• Excellent communication skills and presentation skills.
• Attention to detail and the ability to analyse data to formulate clear proposals/reports on complex matters.
• Proactive, highly motivated and well organised and the ability to manage, prioritise and delegate a range of complex tasks, completing them to the required deadlines.
• Aptitude to work autonomously but also able to work as an effective team member.
• Willing to do things differently with a flexible, creative and proactive approach.
• Willingness to work flexibly, sometimes outside of normal working hours and across the country or overseas.

Informal enquiries to Morgan Summers-Smith, email: m.summers-smith@bham.ac.uk

View our staff values and behaviours here

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.