Head of Marketing in Reading

Type: Full-time. Hybrid working options available.

We’re not hiring people to fill a seat or add to our headcount. We’re hiring people to craft our culture, ethos and success. This is a big deal for us, and we know it’s a big deal for you: a new role defines how you spend your days, who you spend them with, and what your future looks like. Together, we’ll shape each other’s entire trajectory. That deserves thoughtfulness, empathy and respect. It’s why this job description is deliberately detailed. We want you to know exactly what you’re stepping into. The challenges, the opportunities, the quirks of the role, and the kind of impact you’ll have.

Us Crafted is a series of life-friendly hotels and clubs where guests can be themselves and fill up on the good stuff: nature, food, wellbeing, craft, people and play. Crafted at Powdermills in East Sussex opened in November 2025 as our first hotel, with several more planned in the coming years. More specifics will follow as planning and pieces fall into place.

So, for now, here’s the sentiment behind Crafted… It’s easy to get overwhelmed by life. To switch to autopilot and go through the motions. We’re busy but not on the things we love doing, we spend more time on our phone, and we misplace our bounce and spark. We all need a tune up now and again. To escape to somewhere that makes us feel totally at ease. Not so we can step away from life, but so we can come back to it. This is where Crafted comes in. Our aim is to create a network of connected destinations that people come back to again and again because it’s where they feel good about life. Somewhere to work on life, come together, and connect locally.

You Crafted’s culture will be inclusive and agile but with ambitious goals and a start‑up mentality. We need to execute brilliantly from day one and every team member will contribute wherever they are able.

As Head of Marketing, you will be a highly organised, creative individual who will lead all marketing activities across digital, print, social, and partnerships. This role involves building a direct audience, managing external agencies, and driving growth through innovative campaigns, events, and collaborations. You'll also oversee brand execution across all touchpoints, enhance the guest experience, and ensure alignment with business objectives. This is a hands‑on role with the opportunity to grow alongside the company as we expand our portfolio, offering significant scope to shape Crafted’s marketing future.

Responsibilities

• Manage and develop the consumer brand ensuring consistent messaging across all marketing channels including digital, print, socials, partnerships.
• Create and implement an annual marketing plan and budget for the first hotel (Powdermills) as well as support with launch plans for future assets.
• Manage all brand marketing collateral, ensuring consistency and quality across assets, including guest room materials, channel‑specific support for the revenue team, and employment branding for local hiring initiatives.
• Execute the tried and tested marketing channels to ensure distribution is far and wide to start with but also invest in building a direct‑to‑consumer CRM and strategy to mitigate OTA fees and costs for the longer term.
• Build and own our own audience.
• Plan and execute quarterly marketing, programming, and event strategies for the hotel, while overseeing cultural activities such as music, events, wellness, and talks in collaboration with the team.
• Manage PR and digital agencies, reviewing and optimising strategies as needed.
• Manage creative acquisition campaigns, optimise based on data, oversee third‑party agencies, and create targeted CRM communication plans, newsletters, and audience‑specific strategies for B2B, locals, members, leisure guests, and wellness.
• Explore new and creative growth strategies including identifying new channels, formats, campaigns and partners with aligned audiences and values.
• Contribute to the continuous review and enhancement of the guest journey and ensure our technology systems are optimised to learn and convert enquiries to maximise table reservations, room bookings and meeting and events bookings.
• Website management.
• Drive investment and activations with food and drink suppliers and affiliate brands, while collaborating with the founder to establish partnerships with aligned brands and audiences and execute joint marketing initiatives.
• Drive partnerships with aligned brands and affiliates to support marketing efforts and activations.
• Lead and manage a small marketing team, providing strategic direction while staying hands‑on in execution.
• Manage and support content creation for all marketing channels and social media.
• Leverage guest data and stay updated on marketing and industry trends to drive informed decisions and maintain a competitive edge.
• Manage brand execution across all touchpoints (The Restaurant, Cocktail bar, Pub, Wellness, Hotel, Socials).
• Actively champion and promote the brands’ diversity, equity and inclusion strategy.
• Complete other tasks as necessary and reasonably required in line with business needs.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years marketing experience in a relevant hospitality sector is essential.
• Ability to prioritise and handle multiple projects at once.
• A great collaborator with stakeholder management with the wider team.
• Effective communicator and confident to present.
• Have a strong understanding of SEO & PPC and how to build an engaged consumer audience through a mixture of organic and user generated content supplemented with executing paid ads on social media and influential channels.
• Agency management experience with demonstrable results (likely to be PR and digital).
• People management experience as well as familiar with internal reporting to stakeholders.
• Commercial, numerate, and analytical.
• High attention to detail.
• Capability to convert insights into action.
• An interest and knowledge in food and drink trends helpful but not essential.
• Previous experience with hospitality technology platforms such as Muse, Revinate and other relevant programs would be helpful but also experience from other direct to consumer systems and CRM would be welcome.
• Within reasonable travelling distance to Powdermills or willing to relocate.

Together We hire people with personality who have a desire to continuously learn. Each person should bring themselves to work to shape our culture and keep us real, interesting, and original. To create a comfortable environment for all, guest and staff, we prioritise teamwork over titles: no one’s too important to lend a hand, or too new to have a good opinion. We need low egos but high expectations: people who are humble enough to jump in, and serious about making an impact.

Enjoy it: it’s still work, but if you’re having fun then so are our guests. It’s ok if you’re humming behind the bar or moving with the music.

Own it: whoever you are, and whatever your role, someone’s enjoyment is in your hands. Always keep an eye out.

Improve it: ask for feedback (and don’t be scared of what follows), and be curious. We’ll give you plenty of chances to learn and develop.

Note: positive Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles are integrated across these three values.