Marketing and communications manager

Salary: £40,000 - £45,000

Location: Senior School (Frognal, Hampstead)

Hours: 35 hours per week

Contract: Permanent, year-round

Reports to: Director of Marketing and Admissions

Closing date for applications: Monday 27th July 2026 12 midday

Lead the external communications for a top independent school, from media relations to digital channels.

University College School (UCS) is one of the top independent schools in the UK. Operating as three schools at separate sites in Hampstead, it educates 1200 pupils from age 4 to 18. The main aims of the school are the pursuit of academic excellence with an emphasis on intellectual curiosity, independence of mind and breadth of study.

Job purpose

• Responsible for external communications such as press relations, advertising and publicity
• Managing the school’s website and social media
• Advising senior management on strategies for both external and internal marketing
• Conducting market research including parent surveys

Key contacts: Headmaster, Vice Master, Chief Operating Officer, Director of Development, Heads of Junior Branch and of Pre Prep, Director of HR & Compliance

Direct Reports: Content Producer, Graphic and Digital Designer

Core responsibilities

• To communicate an understanding and appreciation of the ethos, vision and strategy of UCS, along with its position in the market for London day schools
• To be responsible for and to manage the external profile of UCS, taking responsibility for website, advertising, social media, the press, and consistency of branding
• To coordinate key staff such as the Development and Alumni Department and the Admissions Department to help ensure consistency of external communications in terms of brand and message
• To work directly with the Director of Admissions and Marketing to build strong relationships with local and national press, and ensure regular news items in local press and periodic items in national press
• To act as the initial point of contact for all press and media enquiries and, when required, to write press releases
• To be responsible for the promotion of key events on social media, in publications and the school website
• To line manage the Content Producer, Graphic and Digital Designer and Editorial Assistant.
• To direct the Content Producer on the content and appearance of My School Portal and ucs.org.uk, ensuring information is always accurate and continually updated
• To take responsibility for the administration of Marketing and Public Relations advertising
• To be responsible for regulatory compliance, including confirming parental consent, relating to the collection and publication of imagery involving pupils
• To advise the SLT on the professional appearance of public spaces within the Foundation
• To support with event management attending evening events where required - for example termly parental seminar events and prospective parent open evenings
• To carry out, and feed back on, market research conducted with stakeholders at regular intervals

• To manage the marketing budget

Other

• Actively follow all relevant UCS policies including Safeguarding, ‘Equal Opportunities,’ Fire and Health & Safety
• Attend OPS staff and academic staff meetings as and when required
• Undergo training as required and in-line with departmental objectives
• Carry out any other duties within the scope, spirit and purpose of the job, the title of the post and its grading as requested by the Director of Marketing & Admissions or Headmaster.

Requirements for the position

Essential:

• Experience of managing external communications
• Experience of developing and implementing successful marketing strategies for high end service providers
• Ability to effectively manage budgets
• Ability to analyse data and identify trends
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Self-motivated, highly organised and able to work under time pressure
• Ability to adapt readily to new technologies

Desirable:

• Experience working in an independent school setting
• Experience supervising/managing a small team
• A willingness to work flexibly and sometimes out-of- hours, depending on reasonable changes to workload, will be preferred.

Tems

• Benefits include a contributory staff pension scheme, interest free housing and season ticket loans, discounted use of the on-site gym facilities (UCS Active) and free lunches.
• UCS is fully committed to the welfare and safeguarding of children. All applications for this post must be prepared to undergo child protection screening and a full Disclosure and Barring check.

We welcome and encourage applications from candidates who are under-represented in the creative industries.

Please make sure that you state in your application that you found this role via Creative Access