Marketing Campaigns Lead in Southampton

JS Group's roots trace back to the University of Glasgow in the 1750s.

Originally an on-campus retailer, since 2002 we have focused on one purpose: transforming the delivery and impact of financial support to students and other beneficiaries.

Today, through our award-winning Aspire platform, JS Group partners with over 45 UK universities, charities, local authorities and philanthropic funders to deliver bursaries, scholarships, hardship funds and other one-to-many financial support to around 160,000 beneficiaries every year.

Aspire is the established market leader in UK Higher Education and we are rapidly growing in other markets such as charities and local authorities.

Higher Education remains at the heart of our business, and we have ambitious plans to accelerate our growth in the sector while taking the proven benefits of Aspire into new markets.

Charities and local authorities are a particular focus as we build new partnerships and invest in the people and capabilities needed to support our growth through to 2030.

Our long-standing relationship with Nat West Group is an important part of that journey.

Having worked together since 2021 to develop Aspire Cash, powered by Nat West Payit™ , our partnership has continued to grow, culminating in strategic investment from Nat West Group in 2025.

Together, we are creating new opportunities to extend the reach of Aspire, helping more organisations deliver financial support quickly, efficiently and securely.

About the role

We are looking for an experienced Marketing Campaigns Leadto take ownership of the planning, creation and delivery of high-impact marketing campaigns.

Reporting to the Marketing Director, you will turn our marketing strategy into compelling campaigns that build awareness, engage our audiences, generate new demand and qualified leads, and support JS Group’s commercial pipeline and growth ambitions.

This is hands-on role where you will lead campaigns from initial insight and proposition through to copy, creative development, delivery, optimisation and reporting.

Exceptional writing skills are essential: you will be one of the key voices behind JS Group and Aspire, creating persuasive, audience-led content across multiple channels.

You will primarily lead our B2B campaign activity, targeting decision-makers and influencers within Higher Education and our developing markets, including charities, local authorities and the wider public and not-for-profit sectors.

Working closely with the Marketing Director, Sales, Product and our external partners, you will help us communicate what makes Aspire different and turn insight, evidence and customer stories into campaigns that deliver measurable results.

As part of a small team, this role will suit someone who is equally comfortablethinking and doing: developing the campaign idea, writing the copy, coordinating delivery and using the results to make the next campaign even better.

About You

You understand the role marketing plays in creating commercial opportunity.

You are as interested in generating demand and bringing new prospects into the funnelas you are in building awareness and engagement, and you know how to design campaigns that turn attention into action.

You are anexceptional writer and storytellerwho understands how to turn customer needs, product benefits, evidence and insight into communications that make people take notice and act.

You are comfortable taking ownership.

You can start with an objective, develop the campaign approach, create the content, coordinate colleagues and partners, manage delivery and evaluate the results.

You understand that effective B2B marketing is about more than generating activity.

You are interested in the customer journey and how great campaigns, content and communications can build trust, create engagement and support commercial conversations over time.

You will ideally bring experience of marketing into one or more of the sectors we work within or are developing –Higher Education, charities/not-for-profit, local government/public sector, although relevant experience in another complex B2B environment will also be considered.

Key Responsibilities

• Campaign Strategy and Delivery
• Take the lead on the planning, development and execution of integrated B2B marketing.
• Take ownership of marketing’s contribution totop-of-funnel growth, developing campaigns designed to reach new prospective partners, generate qualified leads and create opportunities for the Sales team.
• Translate strategic objectives into clear campaign plans, defining audiences, propositions, messaging, channels, deliverables and measures of success.
• Develop campaigns for both our established Higher Education market and priority growth markets, including charities, local authorities and other organisations distributing financial support and payments.
• Work closely with Sales to define priority audiences and accounts, understand commercial priorities and develop campaigns that move prospects from initial awareness and engagement towards meaningful commercial conversations.
• Manage campaigns from concept through to execution, ensuring activity is delivered to a consistently high standard and to agreed timescales.
• Work with the Marketing Director to prioritise activity and ensure marketing resources and investment are focused where they can have greatest impact.
• Content and copywriting
• Take the lead in developing compelling, audience-led content and copy across JS Group and Aspire.
• Write and edit high-quality content for email, social media, websites, landing pages, thought leadership, reports, case studies, sales collateral, presentations, events and print.
• Turn complex products, data and sector issues into clear, engaging and persuasive communications.
• Develop campaign propositions and messaging that resonate with different audiences, from senior decision-makers and finance teams to student support professionals and beneficiaries.
• Identify opportunities to turn our data, customer success stories, partnerships and sector expertise into distinctive thought leadership and campaign content.
• Maintain a consistent JS Group and Aspire tone of voice across marketing communications.
• Brand and partnerships
• Champion the JS Group and Aspire brands, ensuring communications are consistent, accessible and high quality.
• Work with internal teams, customers, agencies and strategic partners to develop effective campaigns and marketing assets.
• Support marketing activity arising from our corporate partnerships.
• Help evolve our messaging as Aspire expands into new sectors while protecting the credibility and expertise we have established within Higher Education.
• Insight, performance and optimisation
• Use customer insight, market research, sector intelligence and campaign data to help inform marketing decisions.
• Establish meaningful campaign objectives and KPIs with the Marketing Director and monitor performance throughout the campaign lifetime.
• Analyse campaign performance and provide clear recommendations for optimisation and future activity.
• Work with Sales to understand how marketing activity is influencing prospect engagement and supporting pipeline progression.
• Monitor competitor activity, emerging market trends and developments across Higher Education, charities, local government, payments and beneficiary support.
• Continually look for opportunities to improve marketing effectiveness and demonstrate its contribution to JS Group’s strategic and commercial objectives.
• Events and wider marketing activity
• Maintain the marketing and events calendar, ensuring activity is coordinated across the business with support from our marketing executive.
• Support the planning and delivery of conferences, exhibitions, webinars, roundtables and other industry events.
• Coordinate external suppliers and agencies where required, working within budgets agreed and managed by the Marketing Director.
• Contribute ideas and expertise across the wider marketing function as part of a small, collaborative team.
• As the business grows, contribute to the development of marketing processes, capabilities and ways of working.

Skills and Experience

• Strong experience in a B2B marketing, campaign or content-led marketing role.
• Experience marketing to universities, charities/not-for-profit organisations, local authorities/public sector organisations.
• Demonstrable experience of planning and delivering integrated campaigns from concept through to measurement.
• Exceptional copywriting, editing and proofreading skills, with the ability to adapt tone, proposition and messaging for different audiences and channels.
• Experience developing propositions, messaging and content that support wider commercial objectives and customer journeys.
• Strong project management skills and the ability to manage multiple campaigns, deadlines and stakeholders simultaneously.
• Experience using data and insight to evaluate and optimise marketing activity.
• Confidence working with marketing technology such as CRM, email marketing, social media and campaign management platforms.
• If this sounds like a good fit for your skills and experience, we’d love to hear from you
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