Key partnerships: Director of Global Events, Director of Operations, Director of Admissions, and Director of Academic Affairs
Team Size: 3-4
Some international travel will be required
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.The vacancy will close once a suitable applicant is found.
Early application is encouraged.
About the Role
The John Locke Institute (JLI) is looking for a strategic, results-driven Marketing Director to lead our marketing function and drive growth across all channels. You will have full ownership of JLI’s brand strategy and institutional positioning across all external channels, including but not limited to JLI’s website and digital presence. The role sets the voice, visual identity, and communications cadence that define the Institute’s public image, and serves as a final sign-off authority on all brand decisions, in close collaboration with the Director General. You will be part of the Institute’s Senior Leadership team and work closely with other members to align marketing efforts with business goals.
This role is accountable for building and developing a high-performing in-house marketing capability from the ground up, including coaching and upskilling internal promotions moving into marketing without prior functional experience.
JLI is a small, founder-led organisation of around 15–20 people. This is not a role for someone who needs a large team or agency infrastructure to be effective. Ideological compatibility with JLI's classical liberal positioning is a requirement for this role, in line with the Institute's standard for senior hires. Candidates must be able to articulate the Institute's mission with genuine conviction and enthusiasm.
What You’ll Do
- Develop and execute the JLI’s overall marketing strategy, aligned with business objectives and KPIs.
- Lead, mentor, and grow a high-performing marketing team across content, digital, brand, and campaigns.
- Own the marketing budget, allocating spend across channels to maximize ROI.
- Drive demand generation and pipeline growth for all JLI programmes and initiatives, particularly the summer schools and Global Essay Programme.
- Oversee brand strategy and ensure consistent messaging across all touchpoints.
- Analyse marketing performance data and translate insights into actionable strategy.
- Present marketing strategy, performance, and forecasts to the Senior Leadership Team to enable smart decision making.
- Stay ahead of market trends, competitor activity, and customer insights to inform ongoing positioning and marketing activity.
- Own the Institute's editorial voice across all channels — website copy, flagship emails, founder communications, social media and other publication-grade institutional copy.
- Set the content agenda: what the Institute talks about externally, in what order, and through which property.
- Cultivate strategic partnerships with schools, counsellor networks, faculty, peer institutions and intellectual outlets.
- Lead the launch and ongoing management of new ventures such as the unDebating Championship.
- Develop agency briefs, approve agency output, and decide when external execution is appropriate.
- Own the JLI website, including content, structure, SEO, reporting and analytics, ongoing development, and coordination with inhouse and external developers.
What You’ll Bring
- 8+ years of marketing experience, including 3+ years in a senior leadership role.
- Bachelor’s degree in marketing, business, or related field (Masters or an MBA is a plus).
- Proven track record of building and scaling marketing functions that drive measurable revenue growth.
- Strong experience across both brand and performance marketing.
- Excellent leadership and proven team-building skills.
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with an instinct for institutional voice and tone.
- Data-driven approach with strong analytical and budgeting skills.
- Experience in education sector is a plus.
- Experience working across international audiences, ideally including both UK and US markets.
- Working familiarity with core marketing tools — e.g. Meta Ads, Google Ads, Mailchimp, Canva, WordPress.
- Experience owning a website, including SEO and analytics, either directly or through coordinating developers.
- Creative and practical fluency with AI tools to enhance marketing output from content generation and campaign delivery to workflow efficiency balanced with sound editorial judgement.
Skills and Attributes for Success
- Strategic judgement combined with a willingness to remain hands-on.
- Confident holding a position under scrutiny.
- Able to absorb new ideas and shifting priorities from an entrepreneurial founder without losing strategic discipline or diluting the editorial standard.
- Sound editorial judgement, with the authority to define and hold an institutional standard that others must meet.
- Comfortable representing the Institute publicly at flagship events.
- Resilient and direct; not deferential for its own sake.
- Willingness to travel internationally.
Our Recruitment Process
- 2 full interviews including written task and presentation
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