Senior International Marketing Manager

Music is Universal. It’s the passionate and dedicated team at Universal Music who help make us the world’s leading music company. From A&R to finance, legal to digital, sales to marketing, Universal Music is the place to grow and develop your career within a truly commercial and innovative business that leads in everything it does.

Everyone is welcome to apply for our roles, and we are determined to ensure that no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment because of gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion, belief, age, marital status, background, pregnancy, or caring responsibilities. We also recognise the importance of diversity of thought within our teams and are fully committed to embracing the talents of people with autism, dyslexia, ADHD, and other forms of neurocognitive variation. We will always seek to make appropriate adjustments to recruitment, workplaces, and work processes to be fully inclusive to people with different needs and working styles.

About Our Department and Team: Virgin Music Group (VMG) represents the vibrant, global community of independent artists and labels. Our team bridges the gap between local creativity and global opportunity. With bases around the world, we help elevate artist campaigns through expert strategy, cross-border collaboration, and finely tuned market insights. Our London-based International Marketing team sits at the centre of this mission. We partner with independent labels to shape and execute standout campaigns across multiple territories — always staying true to the artist’s voice while unlocking international impact.

A Day in the Life of a Senior International Marketing Manager: Every day brings a fresh set of collaborations and creative challenges. You may be building a launch strategy with a partner label in Latin America one moment and advising a European indie artist on optimising their release in Asia the next. Your work will touch every corner of the globe, drawing on cultural intelligence, commercial strategy, and a deep love of music. You’ll act as a strategic consultant, trusted advisor, and operational partner. From kick‑off to post‑release analysis, you’ll manage complex, multifaceted campaigns with clarity, empathy, and innovation — always keeping our artists’ success at the heart of everything you do.

Your Impact in Role: You will play a critical role in ensuring our label partners’ music reaches the widest possible international audience. By collaborating across departments, connecting dots between global resources, and applying your knowledge of markets, media and platforms, you will help independent artists grow their global footprint. Your work will drive campaign performance, strengthen client relationships, and continuously improve how we deliver international marketing excellence.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the planning, execution and oversight of international marketing campaigns for artists across our label network.
• Act as the initial point of contact for all international campaign‑related queries from our label partners.
• Liaise with Virgin Music Group teams globally to ensure consistent, effective campaign execution across markets.
• Offer guidance and strategic input on self‑managed campaigns run by distribution clients.
• Support business development teams and label managers with service pitches and presentations for key accounts.
• Track and manage international campaign budgets, ensuring effective spend and return.
• Provide central commercial teams (digital and physical) with timely campaign information and relevant marketing budget updates.
• Continuously monitor market trends, platform developments and media strategies to inform campaign best practices.
• Facilitate cross‑territory collaboration and knowledge‑sharing between internal and external stakeholders.
• Represent the voice of the label and artist within UMG, advocating for their creative and strategic goals internationally.

Skills and Experience Required:

• A strong understanding of the global music market — including media ecosystems, platform dynamics, commercial structures and release strategies.
• Proven experience in one or more of the following areas: international marketing, domestic marketing, label management, distribution, publishing, or senior‑level freelance campaign roles.
• Practical knowledge of how independent labels operate and the unique challenges they face.
• Familiarity with global distribution infrastructure and the opportunities it offers to artists and labels.
• The ability to manage and adapt campaign strategies across a variety of genres and cultural markets.
• Excellent interpersonal skills — able to communicate confidently, clearly and sensitively with a wide range of stakeholders.
• A strategic mindset with the flexibility to support the evolving nature of the VMG business.
• Data fluency and the ability to quickly adopt new internal systems or tech platforms.
• A self‑starter attitude with the ability to work independently and prioritise a fast‑paced workload.

Our Ideal Candidate: We’re looking for someone who is globally curious, solutions‑focused and genuinely passionate about the independent music space. You understand the power of storytelling in building artist brands and have a deep respect for creative integrity. You’ll also bring the following qualities and strengths:

• A natural relationship builder who can influence and collaborate at all levels.
• Enthusiastic and knowledgeable about client needs and the wider music ecosystem.
• Open to learning, evolving and sharing your knowledge with others.
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity and change in a dynamic environment.
• A team player with a collaborative, flexible approach and willingness to pitch in.
• Self‑motivated, highly organised, and able to manage competing priorities with ease.
• Excellent written and verbal communicator — confident presenting ideas and strategies.

Bonus Tracks: Your Benefits:

• Group Personal Pension Scheme (contributions between 3% and 9%)
• Private Medical Insurance
• 25 days of annual leave (plus public holidays)
• Holiday Purchase Scheme
• Interest‑Free Season Ticket Loan
• Dental and Travel Insurance options
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Salary Sacrifice Cars
• Subsidised Gym Membership
• Employee Discounts via Reward Gateway

Just So You Know: The company presents this job description as a guide to the major areas and duties for which the jobholder is accountable. However, the business operates in an environment that demands change and the jobholder’s specific responsibilities and activities will vary and develop. Therefore, the job description should be seen as indicative and not as a permanent, definitive, and exhaustive statement.