Marketing jobs in Oxford

It also tends to be one of the more stable professions, with most employers looking to prioritise and invest in their marketing capabilities in good times as well as bad. Whether businesses are going for growth or looking to market their way out of a recession, marketers have an important (if not vital) role to play.

Marketing encompasses many different roles, with plenty of opportunities to specialise and develop niche areas of expertise. Job titles are as varied as the roles themselves – and are often nuanced to suit the cultures of different organisations or agencies.

Whether your interests lie in digital marketing, big data, business development, events, market research, PR, communications or any of the other marketing disciplines, this is an exciting time to work in marketing.

Is marketing a good career choice for me?

Markets and customers are constantly changing so you need to enjoy working at pace in a rapidly evolving, technology-driven environment which challenges you creatively as well as strategically.

Above all, you need to have a genuine interest in people and what makes them tick. The best marketers are those that understand what influences, motivates and persuades people to buy one service or product over another.

Over the course of your career, you may work for a marketing agency or in-house for a business, charity or other organisation. You may even experience both.

When you work for an agency, you will almost certainly provide marketing support and services to a number of different clients; sometimes these are clustered in one sector – for example you may specialise in marketing for professional services firms – or you may end up with a mix of clients.

By contrast, when you work in-house, you will be focused solely on your employer’s brand (or brands) which is why it is important to have a genuine interest in the sector they operate in and the products and services they offer.

Below are a selection of the roles that we most commonly recruit for at Allen Associates with a brief overview of each one:

• Marketing assistant and marketing executive

These are usually entry-level positions whose main purpose is to support the wider marketing team. A large proportion of a marketing assistant or marketing executive’s role is usually administrative, covering any number of tasks such as responding to emails, data entry and database management, customer research and media monitoring. Depending which branch of marketing you work in, you may also be required to help organise events, write press releases or blogs, gather material for the internal staff newsletter, resize images for a brochure or administer social media channels. Whatever the specifics, you should expect a busy and varied workload with lots of training and development opportunities.

• Admin and Event Manager

It is not uncommon for administrative responsibilities to be combined with a specialist area, like event management. This role is ideally suited to those with an admin background who enjoy the role but would love to do more event management or particularly enjoy organising events. It’s a logical pairing as both require strong organisational skills and attention to detail. In addition to general administrative tasks, an Admin and Event Manager will be expected to identify and book the venues, manage all catering, entertainment and equipment requirements, compile guest lists, send out invitations, manage RSVPs, create name badges and compile delegate packs. You should expect to work outside normal office hours if events are held in the evenings or at weekends.

• Administrative and Marketing Assistant

Like events (described above), it is not uncommon for marketing activities to be included within a broader administrative role, particularly where the marketing function is small or a busy team requires additional support. You may not need marketing experience per se, but an interest in marketing would be useful. Tasks might include setting up and managing databases, creating email templates, sending out email newsletters, helping to organise events, conducting research, compiling reports and social media scheduling.

• Marketing manager

This is one of the more difficult roles to define as it means different things to different organisations – and often depends on the size of the marketing team and the range of roles within it. Typically, a marketing manager has a minimum of three years of relevant experience and has developed the skills and confidence to work independently, but with strategic direction and guidance from a more senior marketer or the directors, who you will be required to report back to. You should expect to manage a busy programme of marketing activities as well as one or more people within your team and any external marketing-related agencies or suppliers.

• Marketing and communications manager

In larger organisations, this role is often divided into two, with marketing and communications fulfilling different requirements. However, small to medium-sized employers will often offer a blended role which encompasses general marketing know-how and responsibilities with excellent written and verbal communication skills and possibly some PR too. The focus tends to be external although there may also be an element of internal communications involved.

• Marketing director

A marketing director is usually a board member and has overall responsibility for the marketing function. This role is usually strategic, making sure that all marketing activities are on-brand, on-message and effectively aligned to wider, commercial aspirations and objectives. Leadership, people management and wellbeing, budgets, sales targets, governance and best practice are among the capabilities required of this role.

• Head of Marketing

This role is very similar to the marketing director role, except it does not usually include a seat at the top table. Having said that, a head of marketing will be expected to report to the board and will be seen to play a pivotal role in devising and implementing an organisation’s marketing strategy.

• Business development manager or business development director

A business development manager or business development director will be sales-orientated with a focus on lead generation, revenues and return on investment. This role usually sits within the wider marketing function and in some organisations, the head of business development may have overall responsibility for the marketing and communications team.

Job titles

The roles described above vary significantly from employer to employer – and if they are agency-side or in-house.

In marketing agencies, clients are referred to as ‘accounts’ so you will often see vacancies for account executives, account managers and account directors.

Job titles also often depend on the sub-sector of marketing they are aligned to. This means that you can expect to see assistant, executive, manager, associate, director and ‘head of’ roles within:

• Digital marketing
• Social media marketing
• PR
• Communications
• Copywriting
• Internal communications
• Business development
• Event management
• Project management
• Market research
• CRM and data management
• Sales
• Fundraising
• Admissions
• Sponsorship
• Brand
• Campaigns

Apply for marketing jobs in Oxfordshire

To do your best work, you will need to buy into and support the agency, business or organisation that you work for as well as the products or services that you are required to market.

At Allen Associates, we understand this which is why we take the time to get to know where your interests lie. We go beyond the role to find the opportunity that is right for you.

Marketers are in demand in Oxford and across Oxfordshire and we have a proven track record of attracting interesting vacancies and great candidates at all levels. We work closely with marketing agencies as well as in-house marketing teams within businesses and public sector organisations, so whether you’re looking for a temporary or interim position or a permanent role, we would love to hear from you.

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