Head of Marketing

Head of Marketing

Marwell Wildlife is dedicated to the conservation of biodiversity and other natural
resources. It funds the delivery of its charitable outputs predominantly through the
operation of Marwell Zoo, a successful and much-loved visitor attraction in the heart of the
South Downs National Park. We employ over 250 staff and welcome over 500,000 visitors
annually to our 140-acre park which includes a Grade 1 listed Elizabethan country house.

Marwell is at a pivotal moment in its history as it begins delivery of its ten-year strategy
which includes sustainable and profitable revenue growth from income diversification. To
help us achieve this, we have an exciting new opportunity for this Head of Marketing role
to join our team.

We are looking to recruit a Head of Marketing to join our journey towards Marwell Wildlife
2035 and beyond.  We will be recruiting based on experience, skills and organisational fit.
Experience in visitor attractions, hospitality or retail is preferred and a deep, specialist
understanding of PR, BTL Marketing, Events Project Management/Marketing, and Creative
Management is essential, as is a passion and ability for Team management.

Full details of this role can be found in the role profile below.

If you would like to join our unique and vibrant organisation to become a part of the
Marwell Family, please send a completed Marwell application form and CV to
jobs@marwell.org.uk

Salary:  £50,000 - £55,000 (depending on experience)

Closing Date: 03 May 2026

First Stage Interview Dates: 07, 08, & 12 May 2026

Proposed Second Stage Interview Date: 20 & 22 May 2026

Disclaimer: we reserve the right to close a vacancy earlier than the advertised date if
we receive applications that meet the selection criteria. Once a vacancy has closed,
we are unable to consider further applications, so please apply early to avoid
disappointment

Head of Marketing Candidate Brief

03/04/2026

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Head of Marketing

Job Title:
Salary:
Benefits:
Hours:
Location:
Reports to:
Management:

Head of Marketing
£50,000 - £55,000 (depending on experience)
Pension at 5%, 33 days annual leave including Bank Holidays
35 hours a week including bank holidays and weekends as required
Marwell Wildlife
Director of Marketing and Sales
Line management of Marketing and Creative team

The Head of Marketing is a key role, with the need to be both strategic and hands-on in the
detail, developing and leading the marketing team to deliver a well-planned, relevant and
compelling marketing plan throughout the year.

Building and maintaining strong relationships across the organisation is key to this role, as
is communicating with clarity and passion in order to drive not only day visitor and member
visits to the zoo, but also to ensure Marwell Wildlife’s mission, high animal welfare and
conservation messaging is delivered seamlessly throughout everything we do.

Key Responsibilities:

Planning and Team management

•  Working with the Director of Marketing and Sales to translate the marketing strategy

into a clear annual marketing plan and lead its delivery

•  Manage  the  day-to-day  activity  including  team  deployment  and  effectiveness,

budgets and agencies

•  Lead, coach and develop the marketing and creative team

Events and Campaigns

•  Overall  responsibility  for  marketing  park  and  fundraising  events,  wider  campaigns
and  experiences  (including  animal  experiences),  ensuring  all  activity  is  insight-led
and focused on driving visitor numbers, membership growth, commercial income and
positive  PR.  Working  closely  with  events,  fundraising  and  other  internal  teams  to
capture guest insight, develop clear marketing briefs and project manage the process
to ensure the marketing and creative teams deliver campaigns that achieve agreed
objectives

Park Communications – internal and external

•  Overall  responsibility  for  the  delivery  of  design  services  and  content  production

across the organisation

•  Ensure organisation-wide compliance with our branding guidelines and consistency

of approach across all applications and media, both digital and physical

•  Ensure  internal  teams  are  involved,  informed  and  worked  closely  with  to

communicate key messages and activity and positively build relationships

ATL media

•  Working with the Director of Marketing and Sales to deliver ATL (above the line/brand

awareness) campaigns including outdoor media, TV and radio

Head of Marketing Candidate Brief

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BTL media

•  Overall responsibility for BTL (below the line/activation) campaigns including press

ads and editorial, leaflets, door drops, direct mail and partnerships

Public Relations (PR)

•  Overall responsibility for strategy, production and delivery of PR communications
•  Managing and working closely with external PR agency
•  Responsibility for guiding our overall approach, language and voice for PR
•  Working with the Director of Marketing and Sales to manage crisis and emergency
communications, including strategy and providing real-time guidance and support to
the Board and Executive team as required

•  Working  closely  with  all  departments  in  the  organisation,  especially  animal  and

conservation teams to ensure messaging is on brand and accurate

•  Co-ordinating  with  our  Conservation  and  Social  Impact  teams  to  support  the
communication of our charitable outputs to audiences in the UK and internationally

Creative Studio Management

•  Working closely with the in-house creative design team to ensure systems and
processes are in place, briefs are created, priorities are clear and creative is
delivered to a high quality to meet the brief requirements

With the wider marketing and sales team:

•  Overseeing  digital  marketing  delivery  by  the  team,  ensuring  digital  KPIs  are  met,

including:

o  Organic and paid social media
o  Online advertising
o  Website and guest app content and functionality
o  Booking system
o  CRM and Email
o  Media production, including a dynamic image library and high-quality video

and audio recording and post-production

o  Guest feedback

•  Working with the Head of Sales to develop the offer, communications and collateral,

ensuring sales KPIs are met, including:
o  B2B events and opportunities
o  B2C events and opportunities, including weddings

•  Ad hoc requests and team management

o  From both internal and external contacts, ensuring team deployment and

effectiveness is managed

General

•  Support  the  Director  of  Marketing  and  Sales  in  the  delivery  of  departmental

objectives and future planning

•  Ensure  the  Director  of  Marketing  and  Sales  is  appropriately  updated,  briefed  and

consulted

•  Reporting as required, verbally and in writing on departmental activities and results
•  Build and maintain constructive, functional and engaged relationships with Heads of

Department and wider teams

•  Be an active member of the Senior Managers & Heads of Dept group
•  Planning,  creation  and  management  of  the  Marketing  budget,  meeting  all

organisational requirements compliance standards

•  Delivery of staff welfare, discipline or grievance in conjunction with HR

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•  Vibrant leadership of staff, casuals and volunteers, leading by example in all areas

and situations

Candidate Profile

Essential Experience & Skills

•  A graduate degree in a relevant subject, professional qualification, membership of a
professional  Association/Institute  or  equivalent  career  experience  and  evidence  of
key skills at the appropriate level

•  Senior  management  experience,  in  marketing,  ideally  in  an  attractions  or  related
environment  including  hospitality,  conservation  organisations,  charities  or  leisure
sectors

•  Proven  track  record  of  driving  marketing  excellence,  brand  growth,  audience

engagement and sales performance

•  Experience  and  passion  for  leading  teams  and  motivating  a  high-performance

culture whilst nurturing and inspiring professional development

•  Financial acumen with the ability to analyse performance, forecast, and make data-

driven decision

•  Clear and open communicator
•  Experience of

o  PR campaign management and comms
o  Copywriting and exemplary attention to detail
o  Campaign project management
o  Managing an in-house creative department or creative agency partners
o  Dealing with ad hoc enquiries and guest feedback
o  Managing high-value budgets and financial reports

Key Attributes

•  Passionate about conservation and purpose-driven work
•  Entrepreneurial, creative and commercially astute
•  Strong communicator, storyteller and influencer
•  People person adept at building meaningful relationships
•  Strategic thinker who also executes with rigour and urgency
•  Multi-tasker, keen to embrace a varied workload
•  Comfortable working flexibly, including occasional weekends and bank holidays

Other

•  The role is based at Marwell zoo and requires occasional physical exercise,

walking around a large 140-acre site, sometimes in inclement weather conditions
•  An understanding of the Marwell values and behaviours expected within this role
•  An understanding of how this role supports the delivery of our charitable outputs

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