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Marketing & Comms Manager

£32,000-£35,000 p.a. pro rata, depending on experience/current salary

National children’s literature development agency and ACE National Portfolio Organisation with a growing international reputation seeks a Marketing & Comms Manager to join our team in our 10th anniversary year. Suitable candidates will be highly skilled, bringing new insights and expertise to enrich our systems, strategies and public-facing content,  and so should have 3-5 years experience in similar roles. 

OUR WORK

Pop Up Projects (est. 2011) is a non-profit Community Interest Company and ACE National Portfolio Organisation with national reach and international reputation. We deliver imaginative, collaborative and ambitious programmes which transform lives through literature, especially through working with people in deprived places and challenging circumstances. We achieve our mission through three strands of work:

  • Educational programmes in schools, facilitating rich learning opportunities through quality contemporary literature, interactions with diverse authors, and training for educators
  • Talent development, investing in and advocating for aspiring, emerging and established writers and illustrators, especially from backgrounds which are under-represented in children’s publishing
  • Community projects, providing participatory literary opportunities for and with children and young people, especially those experiencing marginalisation, isolation or who are at risk

Our two flagship programmes are: Pop Up Festival - a national children's literature festival which connects thousands of school children nationwide with quality children’s literature and authors; and Pathways into Children’s Publishing - a talent development programme increasing ethnic diversity in children’s illustration, delivered with 12 publisher and 9 university affiliates. We run a range of smaller as well as short term projects - all of which fall under the above three strands - which can be explored, along with our impact on people and places over the past ten years, on our website:  www.pop-up.org.uk

This is an exciting and challenging time to be joining Pop Up, as we celebrate our 10th anniversary and set out our vision for next ten years. Covid-19 has deeply affected the way we work and the people and places we work with - but disruption has also provided opportunities for rich innovation. With an increased focus on developing, promoting and selling a growing suite of products and services (inclusive publishing ventures; a digital Edtech product; evolving Pathways into a blended learning and training programme with international reach; new online and broadcast offers for schools to compliment our long-running in-school Pop Up Festival) the Marketing & Comms Manager will play a pivotal role in realising these ambitions.

THE COMPANY

We are currently a team of seven full-time and one part-time staff, governed by a Board of Non-Executive Directors who, under the steer of our Chair, volunteer their time to strategically guide the organisation and ensure accountability. We have Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation status (2015-2023). As a non-profit CIC (as opposed to a charity) we take a business-minded approach to achieving our charitable mission; this greatly informs the ethos of our organisation, making us enterprising and ambitious. Since 2011, we have secured £4.7 million in funding from various income streams, including 30% in earned income. We are currently focussing on further decreasing reliance on grant funding and diversifying our income streams through new earned income opportunities, donations and philanthropic giving campaigns (including our recent first crowdfunder), business partnership and sponsorship opportunities.

THE ROLE

This is a key role that requires expertise, entrepreneurship and responsiveness, to:

  • Promote our work and its impact
  • Market our products and services
  • Develop and implement strategies to deliver the above

With the addition of a second senior leadership post (Education & Development Director, Claire Boulton) in 2020, the organisation’s founder (Executive & Creative Director, Dylan Calder) is focussed increasingly on products and services development, promotion and sales - and line manages and works closely with the Marketing & Comms Manager to guide them in supporting this work. The post-holder will also collaborate with staff (including the education team), freelancers and partners to steer and deliver marketing and comms activities across various programmes and projects. They will therefore need to maintain a broad, up-to-date understanding of our programme of work and our short- and long-term goals. They will also have a direct, regular relationship with two Board members: one taking a guiding role on our overarching brand, marketing and comms strategy; the other focussed on supporting the development of our digital products and services.

Because of the range of work involved, the Marketing & Comms Manager must be an excellent multitasker, skilled at handling a portfolio of multiple projects or products at all points in the year, who will both guide and collaborate with others, including external agencies, to achieve the highest quality public-facing outcomes. Because we have many relationships and collaborations with (aspiring and professional) children’s writers and illustrators, as well as editorial teams and publishers generally, we regularly produce literary content including original writing and illustration, which the Marketing & Comms Manager will make use of to enrich our assets and tell the stories we want to tell.

Responsibilities include:

  • Implementing and enhancing Pop Up’s overarching marketing and comms strategy in line with organisational goals as well as commitments to funders and stakeholders, including periodic review of and reporting on KPIs, targets and objectives
  • Developing and leading the execution of digital and print promotional campaigns in support of programmes, projects, products and services - including the creation of key assets
  • Managing and developing Pop Up’s websites, including liaising with agencies to maintain and enhance, commissioning content from others, and optimising user journeys according to marketing objectives, including:
  • Leading on a rich digital and social media strategy, co-devising, steering and monitoring campaigns to ensure growth and engagement across all platforms, including through line-managing a Social Media Coordinator (2 days per week)
  • Writing or overseeing copy creation for promotional and marketing (digital, print) assets as well as comms messaging - including press releases - for campaigns targeted to particular audiences
  • Collating, analysing, interpreting and reporting on data including digital marketing analytics, to inform marketing and comms strategies, content, messaging, campaigns
  • Enhancing marketing systems and processes through developing CRM pipelines and dashboards and automating activities wherever possible
  • Building trusted relationships with agencies and freelancers, including creating and managing briefs and contracts, supervising delivery to milestones and managing risk
  • Cultivating and maintaining PR and media relationships and managing any external PR agency relationships*
  • Occasional event management responsibilities

*Pop Up do not currently engage a PR agency or agent. The Marketing & Comms Manager will therefore have or cultivate a limited number of media contacts/relationships to position content with, as and when campaigns require.

ABOUT YOU

The successful candidate will have the following essential knowledge, skills & experience, ideally from working within the arts (including publishing), cultural, educational and/or charitable sectors:

  1. Minimum 3 but ideally up to 5 years in a manager-level marketing/comms role
  2. Experience in planning, delivering and evaluating communications, marketing and strategic campaigns across digital and print channels
  3. Experience leading design and production processes for digital and print collatoral, including developing and managing briefs, contracts, agencies and freelancers
  4. Experience with website content management systems (ideally wordpress)
  5. Understanding of SEO strategies, social media, direct marketing and content development best practices
  6. Excellent copywriting/content creation as well as general written, presentational  and IT skills
  7. Strong communication and interpersonal skills including the ability to build relationships across teams and engage a wide range of stakeholders at various levels (e.g. public audiences, cultural/education sectors, local and central government, corporates, funders, etc)
  8. Experience using CRM systems to monitor and optimise lead generation
  9. Ability to work independently under pressure within tight budgets and deadlines
  10. Ability to adapt flexibly and responsively to changing circumstances

The following are desirable and will strengthen your application:

  1. Knowledge of contemporary (i.e. current) children’s literature/publishing
  2. Experience of product development - especially taking new products to market
  3. Sales experience - including working alongside sales teams

The following are general requirements:

  • Must be eligible to work in the UK, with supporting documentation
  • Must be able to work remotely (home office) and from London
  • Willingness to work flexibly in accordance with the demands of the work, which will include occasional evenings and weekends

APPLICATION PROCESS

Please send the following to applications@pop-up.org.uk:

  1. A CV containing only relevant skills and experience, over no more than 2 pages*
  2. A covering letter addressing the essential and desirable skills and experience set out in this job description, over no more than 1 page (max 500 words)*
  3. An example of a marketing asset or product you were responsible for producing in the past 18 months, provided as an attachment in PDF or JPG form or as a video

*Please note, because we are seeking strong communicators with good copy skills, we will be taking the presentation of applicants’ CVs and covering letters into account when shortlisting for this position

The application timeline is as follows:

  • Friday 19th February at 10am - deadline for applications
  • Monday 22nd February - notification of shortlisted applicants
  • Wednesday 24th February - a first (short, 30 mins) online interview

EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY STATEMENT

Diversity is at the heart of our model in terms of the places we choose, the artists with whom we work, the audiences we strive to reach, and our organisational culture. We value cultural and linguistic diversity, because it enhances the richness and variety of our artistic output and enables us to connect with multicultural audiences. Candidates with a BAME (Black, Asian or minority ethnic) background are encouraged to apply as they are currently under-represented at this level.

Marketing & Comms Manager

Pop Up Projects CIC, London
Freelance, Permanent
Trade
Administration, Events, Marketing, Communications, Sales, Business Development, Project Management
Reference: 
Marketing & Comms Manager
Salary description: 
£32,000-£35,000 p.a. pro rata, depending on experience/current salary

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Minimum 3 but ideally up to 5 years in a manager-level marketing/comms role