Communications Office

Grade 8: - £41,526 - £49,553
Open-Ended/Permanent - Full Time
Contracted Hours per Week: 35
Closing Date: 20-Sep-2021, 6:59:00 AM

When appointing to this role the University must ensure that it meets any applicable immigration requirements, including salary thresholds which are applicable to some visas.

Durham University

As one of the UK’s leading universities, Durham is an incredible place to define your career while enjoying a high quality work/life balance.

The University sits in a beautiful historic city where it shares ownership of a UNESCO World Heritage Site with Durham Cathedral. A collegiate University, Durham recruits outstanding students from across the world and offers an unmatched wider student experience.

We believe that inspiring our people to do outstanding things at Durham enables Durham people to do outstanding things in the world.

We find it easy to be proud of the extraordinary people we have at Durham. We offer the inspiration, they achieve the outstanding. We invite you to join them.

As a University we foster a collegiate community of extraordinary people aligned to the University’s values. Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) are a key part of the University’s Strategy and a central part of everything we do.  At Durham we actively work towards providing an environment where our staff and students can study, work and live in a community which is supportive and inclusive, and in doing so, recruit the world’s best candidates from all backgrounds and identities. It’s important to us that all of our colleagues are aligned to both our values and commitment to EDI.

Durham University’s Athena Swan institutional award recognises and celebrates good practice in recruiting and supporting the development of women. We have also signed up to the Race Equality Charter, a national framework for improving the representation, progression and success of minority ethnic staff and students within higher education.

Diversity brings strength and we welcome and encourage applications from members of groups who are under-represented in our work force including people with disabilities, women and black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.

Durham University uses a job families approach for Professional Services roles. The job families underpin our career pathways and clearly demonstrate how all of our roles contribute to our strategy and provides a framework for how you can develop your career at Durham.

The Department and role purpose

Durham University has an ambitious ten-year strategy (2017-2027) to achieve its objectives of becoming world-leading in research, teaching and the wider student experience. Successful implementation of the strategy is in part dependent on our approach to promoting the University in respect of:

• prospective applicants to our programmes of study;
• potential partners in teaching and research;
• current and potential collaborators in business and industry;
• current and future alumni;
• potential employers of our graduates;
• national and international policymakers and influencers.
• The over-arching ambition is to achieve a step-change in awareness and reputation of Durham University globally.

The purpose of this role is to provide strategic marketing support to the Faculties, Professional Service Departments and the Colleges across the University, supported by responsive and expert marketing and communications delivery.

The role is part of the Marketing and Communications Office and will report directly to the Head of Marketing and will also have a close working relationship with relevant local Executive teams. The responsibility of the Business Partnering function is to develop relationships with, and support its internal clients (professional staff and academics) from across the university to meet the objectives as set out above, through the provision of marketing expertise and delivery of targeted marketing campaigns and support.

To achieve this, the Senior Marketing Manager - Business Partnering will establish strong strategic working relationships with their clients from across the University and work collaboratively with the wider Marketing and Communications Office, utilising expertise to develop and deliver, amongst others: 

• a strategic approach to marketing our programmes to, and assisting with the targeted recruitment of home and international students in defined markets;
• promotion of the University brand, academic research, relevant rankings and USPs to multiple stakeholders and influencers locally, nationally and internationally;
• proactive management of the University’s global reputation through engagement with key audiences – both internally and externally

The key tasks and objectives of the role-holder will be agreed by the Faculty Executive Dean or Head of Service/College and they will work with the Marketing and Communications Office in collaboration with:

• Senior Managers in the both the Marketing and Communications teams. 
• Faculty Executive Deans and Professional Service/College Heads

Core responsibilities:

• Develop, maintain and continually strengthen relationships with clients and colleagues from across the University.
• Provide professional marketing expertise and managerial and leadership expertise.
• Manage and develop the Marketing Business Partnering function, infrastructure and people performance across the team.
• Provide feedback on team and individual performance and identify development needs, conducting regular staff ADR and performance reviews.
• Recruit, induct, train and develop new team members.
• Help to shape the skills and expertise of future team members and design work structures to meet operational and strategic goals.
• Handle the vast majority of HR issues within a team, referring more complex HR issues to appropriate support services/senior management.
• Liaise and engage with key stakeholders and internal and external contractors including creation of creative briefs to influence opinion, delivery and reputation of services.
• Contribute to the scoping and resource planning across a range of activities at operational and strategic level.
• Lead on the design, implementation and monitoring of policy and quality standards, procedures and systems to ensure effective working and continuous improvement.
• Promote and develop a deep understanding of organisational policy and external developments.
• Delegate responsibilities to team members to ensure continuity of service provision and encourage skills development.
• Ensure all activities, processes and transactions are accounted for accurately and promptly to meet regulatory and professional service and policy standards.
• Ensure all stakeholder-facing staff provide an accessible, friendly and professional service by shaping processes for inducting and developing staff.
• Implement processes to manage the integrity and security of all commercially and professionally sensitive and personal data.
• Lead internal business meetings, working groups and sub-committees at operational service level to influence governance, organisational policy and standards for the service.
• Responsible for allocating and monitoring financial budgets and resources.
• Analyse stakeholder feedback, implementing and reviewing service provision.

Role responsibilities:

• Work with an identified Faculty Executive Dean, Head of Professional Service department or College Principals to develop marketing strategies and plans to support their objectives; ultimately linking to University goals.
• Provide a responsive and expert marketing and communications support service to your assigned Faculty, Professional Service Department or Colleges utilising a range of online and offline tools and channels across regional, national and international markets.
• Create and implement tailored marketing strategies based on a sound research and understanding of key target markets and external stakeholder needs.
• Ensure the Business Partnering team are appropriately and strategically deployed to meet the needs of Faculties, Professional Services Departments and Colleges.
• Ensure Faculties, Professional Service Departments and the Colleges are provided with a set of tools and toolkits, together with appropriate training, to produce their own marketing collateral where appropriate.
• Collaborative approach to pan-university working, in order to identify synergies across Business Partnering streams and other marketing and/or communications teams, where common campaigns can be established and executed.
• Represent the service and University at promotional events and contribute to the delivery of presentations at conferences.
• Develop external relations, identify and develop opportunities for communities of practice, employers, businesses, alumni and donors via extra-curricular activities and increased levels of participation.
• Manage local budget associated with the delivery of client marketing activity.
• Influence clients to help drive forward change in perception and encourage a shift towards more proactive audience engagement.
• Contibute to management information, planning and reporting tools to enhance collaborative working.
• Work at a corporate level to support the development of University wide projects in line with marketing, recruitment and reputation building.
• Manage quality and regulatory audit process for student and staff services over-arching systems and procedures.
• Work with team members and stakeholders to build and maintain excellent working relationships.
• Produce communications for promotion and reporting purposes, designing and structuring information and fact, applying creative and innovative principles to influence and engage.
• Deliver professional expertise with investigative and service methodologies, make recommendations and identify priorities to achieve business outcomes and objectives.
• Maintain an oversight of the service and performance metrics to provide evaluative reports for higher level managers and committees and enable continuous improvement of marketing provision.
• Any other reasonable duties.

Specific role requirements

• The role is based in Durham but travel in the UK and, where appropriate, overseas, will be required to deliver projects, take part in training and to build and maintain networks.
• Throughout academic year 2021/22 we will be trialing hybrid working principles, allowing for some time to be spent working from home and some time working from campus. These arrangements are to be discussed and agreed with your line manager. Where ad-hoc on-campus meetings are required, you will typically be given 48 hours notice.
• The requirements and activity of the role-holder will vary across each Faculty, Professional Service or College dependent on objectives and strategy.
• Will be required to provide support for the University’s Major Incident Response Plan and major reputational incidents during and out of office hours, including participating in a 24/7 on call rota arrangement.
• Some out of hours / evening and weekend work will be required to deliver projects and build and maintain networks.

Working Arrangements

At Durham we recognise that our staff and students are our greatest asset and we want to support the health and wellbeing of all. Hybrid working supports this ethos and provides many benefits to our colleagues, including empowering people, where their role allows, to work in a manner which is more suitable for them, whilst encouraging our commitment to environmental sustainability.

Depending on the needs of the business and the job role, Durham University is piloting hybrid working for all Professional Services colleagues in the academic year 2021/2022, which may include the opportunity to work both on and off campus and to flex working hours. If appointed to the post, your line-manager will discuss the specific arrangements with you.  Any hybrid arrangements are non-contractual and may change within the pilot and when the pilot ends.

Reward and Benefits

To support the delivery of the University's People Strategy to attract, retain and reward the very best, we offer a fantastic range of rewards and benefits to our staff, including:

• 30 days annual leave, plus 4 customary days and 8 bank holidays (pro-rata for part time) and the option to purchase additional leave;
• Automatic enrolment into a pension scheme;
• Corporate and local discounts;
• Wellbeing resources and discounted health benefits;
• Health discounts on sports and activities at Maiden Castle Health and Activity Centre;
• Reward and Recognition Schemes;
• Personal and career development;
• And SO much more, with further information available here!

How to apply 

We prefer to receive applications online.

Please note that in submitting your application Durham University will be processing your data. We would ask you to consider the relevant University Privacy Statement https://www.dur.ac.uk/ig/dp/privacy/pnjobapplicants/ which provides information on the collation, storing and use of data.

Information if you have a disability

The University welcomes applications from disabled people. We are committed to ensuring fair treatment throughout the recruitment process. We will make adjustments to support the interview process wherever it is reasonable to do so and, where successful, adjustments will be made to support people within their role.

If you are unable to complete your application via our recruitment system, please get in touch with us on e.recruitment@durham.ac.uk.

What you are required to submit

1. A CV; 
2. A covering letter which details your experience, strengths and potential in the requirements set out in the essential and desirable criteria;
3. Completion of the application questions with examples of how you satisfy the person specification. Please ensure you give detailed examples of how you meet these criteria.

Please ensure that you submit all documentation listed above or your application cannot proceed to the next stage.

Interviews are anticipated to take place on or around WC 27 September 2021.

Contact details

For further information regarding this post, please contact; Catherine Paterson, Senior Marketing Manager (Business Partnering): catherine.paterson@durham.ac.uk

We will notify you on the status of your application at various points throughout the selection process, via automated emails from our e-recruitment system. Please check your spam/junk folder periodically to ensure you receive all emails.

Person specification - skills, knowledge, qualifications and experience required

Essential Criteria

• Demonstrate ability to create and implement marketing strategies and tactical plans with a proven ROI on local and national level.
• Ability to manage and deliver timely integrated marketing campaigns – utilising a range of online and offline channels relevant to key markets.
• Demonstrate experience as a brand advocate and champion with internal and external stakeholders.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, strong attention to detail and the ability to develop effective working relationships with stakeholders, both internally and externally.
• Proven IT skills (including use of Microsoft Office, web and social media) to present, influence and persuade.
• Strong interpersonal skills including motivational, negotiating, influencing and networking to enable the management of multiple priorities and stakeholders.
• Educated to degree level in a relevant marketing or communication discipline (or equivalent marketing and management experience).
• Evidence of continuing professional development required to maintain professional recognition.
• Knowledge and experience of ensuring compliance with regulatory and organisational policy and guidelines.
• Experience of providing specialist marketing advice, training and guidance to a range of customers and colleagues, including more senior colleagues.
• Awareness and understanding of the activities, objectives and strategic direction of the University, both current and future.
• Experience of line management and managing performance at individual level.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of delivering successful marketing strategies to defined markets on a global level.
• Experience of developing innovative solutions and practical implementations for strategic change.

DBS Requirement: Not Applicable.