Head of Marketing and Strategic Engagement

Overview:

We have been awarded a Department for Education contract to deliver high quality training to kinship carers across England, which complements our existing programmes and services, including our national Peer-to-Peer Programme, innovative programmes commissioned by local authorities in England and Wales and our free information and advice services including Kinship Compass.

Work to deliver our training offer to kinship carers is well underway, with kinship carers able to access a range of online workshops and in-person roadshows and workshops across England. More than 4,000 training sessions took place in the first year of the programme. Now in the second year, there are a range of sessions available, all designed with kinship carers, for kinship carers and an ambitious marketing strategy in place to engage existing and new audiences in this work.

Purpose of the role:

In order to reach and support more kinship carers with these programmes and our other services, we have developed a new Marketing Team to develop and deliver integrated, strategic and creative marketing and engagement campaigns and strategies.  This team is now established with clear plans to engage kinship carer audiences, rooted in insights.

Strategic engagement with professionals from the education sector as a conduit to engage kinship carers in our services offer is a key part of this role, and a relatively new area of focus for Kinship. Delivering against a strategic plan already in place, you will be managing relationships and marketing approaches to Virtual Schools, select Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) and other education professionals through umbrella bodies and associations to execute this.

The type of person we’re looking for:

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced, senior-level marketeer or engagement professional with a strong track record in further developing and delivering successful multi-channel marketing strategies targeted at a range of audiences to join us as a Head of Marketing and Strategic Engagement to oversee this team. Experience in working in the education sector, or an engagement role would be advantageous.

We’re looking for someone excited to hit the ground running, able to plan strategically, deliver operationally and take creative approaches to maximising engagement and acquisition with a small in-house team. A strategic thinker and natural collaborator, you’ll be able to work across the organisation to further develop integrated marketing across Kinship’s services and programmes, and ensure these align with our wider external communications, including to our Kinship Community of more than 12,000 carers.

You will have significant experience in leading marketing teams and have demonstrable experience in delivering successful, engaging marketing and engagement strategies. You’ll be comfortable getting very involved in the operational delivery of our marketing and engagement plans, supporting your team and demonstrating an insight and audience-led approach to both digital and offline marketing, thriving in an environment where you’ll be responsible for overseeing the progress of various strands of marketing activity.

You will have experience of operating at a senior level – perhaps as a Senior Manager, Head of, or other senior-level role, adept at working with senior internal and external stakeholders and undertaking line management responsibilities, as a supportive and directional manager.

• Using data and market insights, develop and oversee the implementation of high-quality, integrated and strategic marketing and engagement strategies to support Kinship’s awareness, understanding, interest, income generation, engagement and growth amongst key audiences, with a particular focus on marketing our programmes and services, including a new training programme and our Peer Support programme, both funded by the Department of Education.
• Develop an expert knowledge of Kinship’s target audiences for marketing its programmes and services to (e.g. kinship carers, local authorities, education sector organisations and professionals) and devise tailored multi-channel marketing activities for different audiences to meet service objectives.
• Ensure that all marketing plans and strategies align with, and support, the organisation’s brand strategy using brand with maximum effect in all marketing communications in the ongoing development of a range of print and digital marketing assets and collateral.
• Lead the ongoing development and delivery of a focused schools engagement campaign and activity through key channels to raise awareness of kinship care within education settings to engage with kinship carers currently unknown to Kinship, including those from under-represented groups.
• Work closely with leads for Kinship’s different programmes and services, and in the Business Development, Digital and Communications teams to ensure marketing communications and engagement with key audiences are aligned, with clear objectives and responsibilities, refining plans to best reach new and existing audiences.
• Work in collaboration and co-production with kinship carers and their families to ensure meaningful input and representation in the development of relevant plans and activities.
• Drive forward cross-departmental work to further develop the organisation’s email marketing strategic approach.
• Contribute to the development of performance indicators for  all marketing activities, using these to adjust campaigns to maximise effectiveness  and provide regular reporting and analysis.
• Management of a small team, with clear oversight of and input into operational delivery of plans, as well as of day to day management of external agencies and suppliers.Line management of the Marketing Manager, including objective setting and appraisals.
• Manage the Marketing Team budget.
• Take a leadership role in contributing to the Communications and External Affairs Department, working together in an integrated and collaborative way to sustain a high-performing directorate able to help the charity raise its profile, engage with more kinship carers and stakeholders and push issues affecting kinship carers up the public and political agenda.
• Be part of the Kinship management team, contributing to a positive culture and high achieving team focused on achieving our organisational strategic objectives by:
  • playing an active part in supporting income generation;
  • contributing to Kinship’s long-term strategy, objectives, business plans and budgets;
  • contributing to reports to Board and funders as required;
  • contributing to funding applications as required;
  • showing a meaningful commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion in all work;
  • working collaboratively with the senior leadership team, management team, internal working groups and own directorate to play an active role in developing, consulting, implementing and evaluating cross organisational initiatives.
• Carry out any other duties that may reasonably be required.

Knowledge, abilities, skills and experience:

Essential

• Significant experience (5+ years) in marketing, with demonstrable success in delivering integrated strategic marketing and/or engagement strategies which met objectives around engagement and acquisition.
• Experience in a management role, with line management experience, and accustomed to operating with senior-level colleagues.
• Experience of combining marketing and engagement strategies and plans, with experience of stakeholder engagement and management in order to reach a wider audience/consumer/customer.
• Extensive experience of project management and delivering ambitious plans on time, to budget and evaluating outcomes.
• Significant digital marketing experience strategically and operationally with particular experience in maximising digital marketing tools including email marketing systems and paid and organic social.
• Experience using a Content Management System, such as Salesforce and using insights to inform marketing optimisation and planning.
• Experience of tracking and reporting on social media and other digital marketing analytics and using insights and data to inform optimisation and planning of new activity.
• Experience of strategically approaching marketing campaigns across organic and paid social, particularly Meta advertising.
• Exceptional written and spoken communications skills, with the ability to develop impactful narratives tailored to different audiences and channels.
• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to work happily in a fast-paced environment, keeping multiple projects and objectives on track, often to tight deadlines.
• Excellent copywriting skills and experience of writing marketing copy for a range of audiences and channels, communicating clearly, concisely and with an organisation’s tone of voice.
• Understanding of how to deliver integrated online and offline marketing campaigns and materials to deliver objectives.
• Marketing expertise and experience to contribute to planning. including applying knowledge of wider market trends and analysing available insights to identify opportunities to optimise activities.
• Ability to work in a small in-house team, developing marketing materials and campaigns with limited resource, demanding creativity and excellent project management skills.
• Confident using Microsoft 365 including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and online design programmes such as Canva.

• Personal experience of kinship care
• Knowledge of children’s social care system and/or experience of work with kinship carers
• Experience of working in an engagement role in the education sector