Head of Marketing and Audience Growth

Location: Hybrid working, minimum 2 days a week in central London

Hours: Usual office hours are 9.30am-6pm Monday to Friday. We are open for discussions around flexible working

Bonus: Participation in incentive-based bonus scheme

Holidays: 25 days plus bank holidays, plus extra time off between Christmas and New Year

Intelligence Squared is looking for someone exceptional to lead our audience and marketing operation as we enter a new phase of growth. We produce live events, tours, memberships, podcasts and digital journalism featuring some of the most interesting thinkers, writers, politicians and cultural figures in the world. Our events regularly sell out major venues and we work with leading authors, journalists, academics and public figures across politics, culture, history, science and current affairs. We also produce Pod Save the UK with Crooked Media.

Over the past few years the business has grown significantly. Ticket revenues have expanded fast, our partnerships business has become increasingly important, and we are now at the point where marketing sits right at the centre of the company’s future growth. This is not a corporate marketing role. We are looking for someone who wants to build something.

You’ll be joining a smart, ambitious team and taking ownership of a marketing function that has evolved quickly from almost nothing into a crucial part of the business. You’ll manage one talented junior marketer plus freelancers, and you will work closely with the leadership team and the programming team across live events, memberships, partnerships and audience growth.

We need someone who is strategic, commercially minded, entrepreneurial, and highly organised – and also willing to roll up their sleeves and execute. One moment you might be planning a long‑term audience growth strategy; the next you might be rewriting ad copy for a geopolitics event that goes on sale tomorrow morning.

This role would suit someone who has already spent several years working in live events, media, publishing, culture or audience-focused businesses and who now wants significantly more ownership and responsibility. You should understand how modern audience growth actually works. Paid social, CRM, email strategy, ticket pacing, conversion funnels, audience segmentation, analytics, retargeting, creative testing – these should all feel familiar to you. You don’t need to be a technical specialist in every area, but you should know how to run campaigns, interpret data, make decisions and improve performance. Most importantly, you need excellent judgement.

Intelligence Squared sits at the intersection of journalism, culture, politics and ideas. Our audience is intelligent, engaged and demanding. The way we frame and market events matters enormously. So we’re looking for someone with strong editorial instincts who understands nuance, tone and cultural context.

We are also looking for someone ambitious. This is a role for a person who naturally goes beyond the job description. Someone energetic, proactive and hungry to build. Someone who gets excited by growth, momentum and solving problems. A person who wants to help shape the future of the company, not just manage campaigns inside it.

Responsibilities

• Leading and developing our marketing operation
• Overseeing event and tour marketing campaigns from launch through to on‑sale and performance optimisation
• Growing ticket revenue and improving event occupancy
• Improving our CRM, audience segmentation and retention strategy
• Helping grow memberships and audience loyalty
• Supporting delivery of partnership campaigns and sponsor visibility
• Overseeing paid social and external marketing support
• Building reporting systems and improving marketing analytics
• Managing and mentoring junior marketing staff
• Working closely with editorial, production and partnerships teams on campaign strategy and positioning
• Embracing AI tools and workflows across marketing, audience development and operational processes to improve efficiency, creativity, insight and performance
• Helping us think more ambitiously about how Intelligence Squared grows as a modern media and live events business

Qualifications / Requirements

• Around 6–10 years experience in marketing, audience growth or live events
• Experience working in media, culture, publishing, podcasts, events or mission‑driven brands
• Strong understanding of paid social and audience acquisition
• Experience with CRM and email marketing systems
• Excellent copy and communication skills
• Good commercial instincts and confidence with data
• A calm, practical, solutions‑oriented mindset

The role is full‑time and based in London. The salary range is between £50,000 and £60,000 depending on experience. We are committed to building a diverse team and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.