Get ready!

This is not for the faint hearted...if you want to drive an amazing team of marketeers across comms, digital and brand - then read on.

UK Youth is on the precipice of delivering on its 5-year strategy and supporting millions of young people across the UK - the strides we have made just in the last three years means we are more than on track, but there is still a lot to do!

Our work doesn't stop: Working across our 5 main pillars (mental health, social action, cost of living, outdoor learning and employability) there are over 10 million young people that we haven't reached.

This is no run of the mill role - you need to bring the noise, be ready to be different, push the boundaries in innovation and get excited about stepping out from the crowd - if this sounds like you then you could be just who we are looking for...

The Role

This is a key leadership role within a vibrant and busy department and organisation, and we’re looking for someone to inspire, lead and support a skilled and multidisciplinary team to achieve our ambitious goals. 

The role has been created to directly support and promote our brand and reputation. Through public relations, corporate communications and our campaigning work, you’ll provide a wide range of marketing and communications expertise to internal and external audiences.

Why work at UK Youth

UK Youth is a leading charity that exists to ensure all young people are equipped to thrive and empowered to contribute at every stage of their lives. We work with others to ensure that the youth sector is strengthened, supported, and that provision is youth-led, evidence-informed and delivers high-quality outcomes. UK Youth plays a unique role in addressing the lack of investment in the youth sector, the lack of cross-sector understanding in how youth work makes a difference, and the limited opportunities to embed effective solutions. These factors lead to mass inequality of access to youth services for young people.

We value the differences that a diverse workforce brings and are committed to inclusivity, and to employing and supporting a diverse workforce. We welcome applications from groups currently under-represented in our organisation including BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ and persons with disabilities. We are seeking applications from different backgrounds, cultures, age, experience and identity to bring a wide range of experiences, ideas, views and insights to UK Youth.

What we can offer you:

We offer a competitive range of benefits, good work/life balance, excellent learning and development opportunities and vibrant organisational culture:

• Flexible/Agile Working

• 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays (pro rata for part time employees)

• Funded training provided in; Safeguarding, GDPR, Information and Cyber Security & Equality & Diversity

• Other training available in support of your personal and professional development

• Pension scheme (currently UK Youth match employee contributions up to 5%)

• Membership of our life insurance scheme which would pay-out up to 4 times your salary

• Employee Assistance Programme to support employees both professionally and personally

• 20% discount off bookings at Avon Tyrrell, our New Forest Outdoor Centre, including camping, lodges and outdoor activities.

• IT equipment provided for the duration of contract

• CycleScheme and TechScheme

Purpose of the job

The Head of Brand, Marketing and Communications will be expected to provide functional expertise and support within UK Youth, actively participating in the organisation’s strategy, communications, brand management. The Head of Brand, Marketing and Communications will be responsible for all external communications, liaising with both internal and external stakeholders in implementing UK Youth’s marketing plans.

The Head of Brand, Marketing and Communications is responsible for transforming how we engage with external audiences, ensuring we grow the influence of our brand and increase cross-sector awareness of our work.

This role will also play a key role in how the whole organisation uses digital to build and engage our key audiences, leveraging the power of existing and new platforms to grow our brand, as well as leading a new and bold approach to campaigning for change.

A commitment to storytelling sits at the heart of our strategy, and this role will work closely with department and organisation leaders to develop new creative approaches to some of the challenges we face, being brave in their approach to test new ideas that help increase support and income for the organisation. The successful candidate will need to have a strong creative flair and a passion for digital and storytelling.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and lead the implementation of UK Youth’s Brand, Marketing and Communications strategy and associated operational business plans

• Develop and deliver effective marketing strategies and campaigns to increase awareness,understanding and consideration of our vision, mission and strategic objectives, working closely with the extended senior leadership team

• Lead the Communications team to achieve organisational goals and objectives

• Transform the organisation’s use of digital to grow our brand awareness and help grow income

• Develop the organisation's storytelling ability to connect our cause with all key stakeholders and audiences

• Compile, develop and execute UK Youth’s marketing plan, in line with organisational strategy

• Working closely with the Director of ER ensure all Brand, Marketing and Digital strategies and plans are supporting the implementation of the organisational vision and strategy – and also ensuring that Communication plans are fully aligned

• Championing and embedding an audience-centric organisational approach, with storytelling at its heart

• Leading on the development and maintenance of website content and digital marketing and social media channels, including continuous improvements in search engine optimisation (SEO)

How to apply

If you would like to be considered for this fantastic opportunity, please complete an application via our completely anonymised recruitment system provided by Applied which looks to create a fair and unbiased application process for all. Scroll to the top of the page and start your application.

Closing date: Wednesday 4th October2023 at 11:59pm (Midnight)

Interview dates proposed: week commencing 10th - 13th October 2023

As this role involves working in a regulated environment with young people, any offer will be conditional to satisfactory background checks, which include criminal record check and employment reference.

As part of the recruitment process, UK Youth will be gathering and uses certain information about you. For further information regarding this, please review our Data Protection Privacy Notice which explains what data of yours we process and how we use it.