At a Glance
- Tasks: Drive commercial growth and audience engagement across a portfolio of brands.
- Company: Join Mark Allen Group, a values-led media business with trusted brands.
- Benefits: Enjoy a hybrid work environment, autonomy, and a culture of passion and creativity.
- Why this job: Lead significant brands and make impactful decisions in a dynamic industry.
- Qualifications: Senior leadership experience in B2B publishing and a track record of monetising audiences.
- Other info: Be part of a team that informs and supports vital professional communities.
The predicted salary is between 36000 - 60000 ÂŁ per year.
This role is based in our Hawley, Dartford office, with regular travel to our HQ in Herne Hill. Start date 1st April.
The Publishing Director is responsible for driving commercial growth, audience engagement and performance across a defined portfolio of brands. This is a senior leadership role, with clear accountability for revenue, product performance, content strategy, and commercial outcomes. The role exists to increase the value of our audiences, improve monetisation, and ensure our brands remain commercially relevant, differentiated, and sustainable in a competitive and evolving market.
A key focus of the role is making clear, evidence-based decisions on where to invest, where to evolve, and where to stop, balancing commercial ambition with long‑term brand health. The Publishing Director will work closely with commercial, marketing, editorial and data teams to deliver measurable growth in audience engagement, revenue and profitability.
Our Organisation
Mark Allen Group is a values‑led business. We are looking for a Publishing Director who delivers strong commercial growth, audience engagement, and performance outcomes in a way that reflects our values of Passionate, Creative, Nurturing and Fair.
- Passionate: Brings energy, pace and ownership to driving commercial growth, audience engagement and revenue performance.
- Creative: Thinks differently about content, formats and commercial models, using insight and data to challenge legacy approaches and improve results.
- Nurturing: Develops editorial and commercial leaders, raises standards, and builds confidence and capability through change.
- Fair: Makes balanced, transparent decisions, sets clear expectations, and applies standards consistently across teams and brands.
What type of person would best fit?
- Commercially sharp, with strong judgement on where to invest and where to stop.
- Confident in making evidence‑based decisions that improve audience engagement and revenue.
- Comfortable leading change in established brands and legacy environments.
- Clear and direct in setting expectations, while bringing people with them.
- Practical, outcome‑focused and resilient under pressure.
This role requires a leader who can balance commercial pace with responsible leadership, ensuring results are delivered sustainably and with integrity.
Key Responsibilities
Commercial Logic: Revenue is a function of engagement depth, not reach. Authoritative content attracts the right audience. Engagement proves influence. Influence is what advertisers, sponsors, and partners pay for. The Publishing Director is accountable for designing editorial and content strategy backwards from monetisation and commercial outcomes.
Commercial Accountability:
- Deliver sustained revenue growth driven by audience engagement.
- Translate editorial engagement into monetisable products and propositions.
- Build clear commercial pathways from content to revenue.
- Hold teams accountable for engagement metrics that directly support monetisation.
- Make clear, timely decisions to stop content and products that do not deliver engagement or revenue.
Leadership and Culture:
- Build a culture where editorial teams clearly understand how engagement drives commercial value and long‑term sustainability.
- Set clear, transparent KPIs linking editorial performance to commercial outcomes, and hold teams accountable against them.
- Develop confident editorial and commercial leaders who think in terms of engagement, conversion, yield and ROI.
- Challenge legacy thinking constructively, helping teams move beyond a separation of editorial success and revenue.
Editorial Content as a Revenue Engine:
- Ensure editorial strategy is explicitly designed to drive engagement, loyalty, and influence.
- Build content that attracts senior, high‑value professional audiences.
- Use engagement data (time spent, return frequency, and conversion) to guide editorial investment.
- Ensure every major editorial initiative has a clear monetisation rationale.
- Balance credibility and independence with commercial outcomes.
Audience Engagement and Monetisation:
- Define audiences based on depth of engagement and commercial value, not scale alone.
- Turn engagement into revenue via advertising, sponsorship, events, awards, webinars, research, data products, subscriptions, and premium content.
- Work closely with sales to package engaged audiences into high‑yield propositions.
- Increase yield per engaged user across the portfolio.
Product and Portfolio Leadership:
- Own the publishing product roadmap with engagement‑led commercial logic.
- Launch new content and products quickly, test engagement, and monetise quickly.
- Scale products where engagement converts into revenue.
- Make clear decisions to discontinue products where engagement does not justify ongoing investment.
Experience and Profile:
- Senior leadership experience in B2B publishing or B2B media.
- A proven track record of monetising engaged professional audiences.
- Deep understanding of how editorial content drives commercial performance.
- Confidence in owning revenue targets and engagement KPIs.
- Strong experience working with sales and commercial teams.
Why join Mark Allen Group?
- Be part of a specialist media business with strong, trusted brands and loyal professional audiences.
- Work in a hybrid environment that encourages collaboration.
- Lead commercially significant brands with real autonomy and accountability.
- Contribute to work that informs, connects and supports industries that matter.
- Join a culture grounded in passion, creativity, fairness and long‑term thinking.
How to apply: Upload your application via our careers site. You may include a short video introduction if you wish (optional). References or recommendations can also be shared (optional).
Right to Work: Applicants must have the right to live and work in the UK. We do not offer visa sponsorship.
About Us: For over 40 years, the Mark Allen Group has built and grown specialised media brands that inform, connect, and support professional communities. We operate across healthcare, education, agriculture, business, finance, travel, retail, exhibitions, and critical communications, combining trusted content, data, events, and insight. We are a commercial media owner with a long‑term mindset, balancing strong legacy brands with innovation and evolution. Our people play a central role in shaping how our audiences engage with us today and how we grow for the future.
Publishing Director in Dartford employer: Mark Allen
Contact Detail:
Mark Allen Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Publishing Director in Dartford
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Get out there and connect with industry folks on LinkedIn or at events. The more people know you, the better your chances of landing that Publishing Director role.
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your expertise! Create content that highlights your knowledge in commercial growth and audience engagement. Whether it's a blog post or a video, let your passion shine through!
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for interviews by knowing the company inside out. Understand their brands, audience, and how you can drive revenue and engagement. This will show you're not just another candidate!
✨Tip Number 4
Apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen. Plus, you can include a short video introduction to really stand out from the crowd!
We think you need these skills to ace Publishing Director in Dartford
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Your Passion: When writing your application, let your passion for publishing shine through! We want to see how excited you are about driving commercial growth and audience engagement. Share specific examples of how you've done this in the past.
Be Creative: Think outside the box when it comes to your application. Use engaging language and a unique format if you can. We love creativity, so don’t hesitate to showcase your innovative ideas on content strategy and monetisation!
Highlight Your Leadership Skills: As a Publishing Director, you'll be leading teams, so make sure to highlight your leadership experience. Share stories that demonstrate how you've nurtured talent and built a culture of accountability and performance in previous roles.
Keep It Relevant: Tailor your application to the role by focusing on your experience in B2B publishing and how it relates to our values. Make sure to connect your skills with the key responsibilities outlined in the job description. And remember, apply through our website!
How to prepare for a job interview at Mark Allen
✨Know Your Audience
Before the interview, research the company’s brands and their target audiences. Understand how they engage with their content and what monetisation strategies they employ. This will help you demonstrate your knowledge of audience engagement and how you can drive commercial growth.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Style
Be prepared to discuss your leadership approach, especially in nurturing editorial and commercial teams. Share examples of how you've developed leaders in the past and how you plan to build a culture that aligns with the company's values of being passionate, creative, nurturing, and fair.
✨Bring Evidence-Based Insights
Since the role requires making clear, evidence-based decisions, come armed with data and examples from your previous experience. Highlight specific instances where your decisions led to increased audience engagement or revenue, showcasing your ability to balance commercial ambition with long-term brand health.
✨Prepare for Scenario Questions
Expect questions about how you would handle specific challenges related to content strategy and monetisation. Think through potential scenarios where you might need to stop underperforming products or pivot strategies, and be ready to articulate your thought process and decision-making criteria.