Director of Brand and Marketing

Job Location:  Milton Keynes, Remote/Hybrid

Weekly Working Hours:  37

Change your career, change lives

The Open University is the UK’s largest university, a world leader in flexible part-time education combining a mission to widen access to higher education with research excellence, transforming lives through education. Find out more about us and our mission by watching this short video (you will be taken to YouTube by clicking this link).

About the Role 

The Director of Brand & Marketing is a senior leader within the Marketing, Communications & Development Unit at The Open University. Reporting to the Chief Communications & Marketing Officer (CCMO), this role leads a multidisciplinary team of c70 to deliver data-driven marketing strategies that achieve student recruitment and access targets, strengthen the OU brand, and drive income growth in the UK and internationally. The role also oversees the student communications hub responsible for supporting student success through marketing automation of communications journeys, in house creative and the events and ceremonies function. 

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Accountable for new student recruitment income and return on investment for UK and international markets.
• Provide senior leadership across brand, campaigns, performance marketing, and website domains, ensuring alignment with institutional growth objectives.
• Deputise for the CCMO, offering strategic guidance on brand and recruitment, and representing the OU externally.
• Oversee brand reputation and strategy in line with growth objectives.
• Lead the enrolment service across all channels, ensuring positive student outcomes.
• Drive the martech roadmap and adoption of disruptive technologies, including GenAI, to enhance data capabilities and student experience. 

Operational Excellence

• Lead multidisciplinary teams to deliver high-performing, multi-channel recruitment campaigns optimised for conversion and ROI.
• Manage major marketing agency contracts, ensuring value and quality.
• Oversee website performance in collaboration with digital and academic services, ensuring an excellent digital experience.
• Prioritise agile service design improvements for the enrolment journey.
• Lead CRM strategy and marketing automation to deliver personalised communications.
• Develop scalable schools and colleges outreach to support recruitment.
• Lead institutional events, including 4 Nations ceremonies, managing risk and achieving income targets.

Governance and Team Leadership

• Support the CCMO in leading the Marketing, Communications & Development unit.
• Act as Head of Marketing Profession, shaping capability, learning, and development programmes, and embedding EDI objectives.
• Collaborate with other deputy directors to ensure integrated communications and reputation management, and an exceptional and consistent brand and student experience across lifelong learning journeys. 
• Represent the OU at national and international events.
• Foster a high-performing, inclusive culture focused on continuous improvement and innovation. 

About You

Essential Skills and Experience

• Senior leadership of brand strategy, governance and reputation for a large, trusted UK organisation, ideally with international reach, balancing master brand and a complex portfolio of sub-brands and products.
• Accountability for marketing investment decisions that directly impact income, growth and organisational performance. Has led multi-million-pound marketing budgets and large, multidisciplinary teams, with a clear track record of delivering growth and demonstrable return on investment across paid, owned and earned media.
• Proven ability to use data, insight and econometric approaches to steer investment decisions and optimise performance across the full marketing funnel, including CRM and marketing automation.
• Experience leading growth across multiple markets, audiences and product lines, including working with senior internal stakeholders to balance local, national and international priorities within a single brand framework.
• Strong commercial judgement, operating at board and executive level, able to translate brand investment into income growth, social impact and organisational value.
• Leadership of AI-enabled marketing and in-house creative and content teams, embedding AI, data and automation into ways of working, capability building and optimisation of brand and marketing activity.
• Outstanding people leadership, with experience leading through senior managers, developing future leaders and shaping culture in large, complex organisations.
• Ability to work in accordance with the University’s values and relevant policies.

Support with your application

If you have any questions, or need support or adjustments relating to your application, the recruitment process, or the role, please contact us on 01908 541111 or email careers@open.ac.uk quoting the advert reference number.

What's in it for you?

At The Open University, we offer a range of benefits to recognise and reward great work, alongside policies and flexible working that contribute towards a great work life balance. Get all the details of what benefits we offer by visiting our Staff Benefits page (clicking this link will open a new window).

Flexible working

We are open to discussions about flexible working. Whether it’s a job share, part time, compressed hours or another working arrangement. Please reach out to us to discuss what works best for you.

Work location

We are able to offer a hybrid working arrangement for this role where the successful applicant can work across the 4 nations. However, as this role is contractually aligned to our Milton Keynes office, there is an expectation that the role holder will work on campus in Milton Keynes up to 2 days per week. 

Next steps in the Recruitment process

If shortlisted, we anticipate adopting a 2-stage interview process for this role where both interviews will be conducted at our campus in Milton Keynes. We envisage these interviews taking place in late March. 

Early closing date notification

We may close this job advert earlier than the published closing date where a satisfactory number of applications are received. We would therefore encourage early applications.

How to apply

To apply for this role please submit the following document(s):

• CV
• Supporting Statement (Your Supporting Statement should be no more than 2 sides of A4. It should outline why you are interested in the role and provide examples of how your skills and experience meet the essential and desirable criteria listed above)

You can view your progress and application communications when you are logged into our recruitment system. Please check your spam/junk folders if you do not receive associated email updates.

The Open University is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion which is reflected in our mission to be open to people, places, methods and ideas. We aim to foster a diverse and inclusive environment so that all in our OU community can reach their potential. We recognise that different people bring different perspectives, ideas, knowledge, and culture, and that this difference brings great strength. We strive to recruit, retain and develop the careers of a diverse pool of students and staff, and particularly encourage applications from all underrepresented groups. We also aspire to make The Open University a supportive workplace for all through our policies, services and staff networks.

Closing date of 11:59pm on Wednesday 25^th February 2026