Marketing Manager in Paignton

Paignton Zoo in Devon and Newquay Zoo in Cornwall are among the South West’s most loved and leading wildlife attractions. With rich, fascinating histories, strong foundations in conservation, education and research, and a diverse collection of over 2,800 animals across both sites, these zoos offer an exciting and dynamic environment to lead. Both zoos have recently become part of Libéma, one of the Netherlands’ leading leisure organisations, bringing new opportunities for innovation, collaboration and growth. This is a permanent contract, working 37.5 hours a week.

Ready to lead bold campaigns, grow audiences and shape the future of two leading conservation zoos? We’re looking for a creative, commercially driven Marketing Manager to elevate our brand, boost visitation and inspire a high‑performing team.

The Role

In this role, you’ll bring together a motivated, capable and confident marketing team that knows exactly what it’s here to do: grow visitation and boost customer engagement across both zoo sites. This includes defining and embedding the brand strategy, translating it into a clear brand identity, and using this as the foundation for the overall marketing and media strategy. You’ll guide the strategic direction of our marketing and sales activity, using insight and data to improve campaign performance and overall effectiveness. You will identify key market developments, trends, and opportunities within the leisure and tourism sector while translating strategic objectives into impactful marketing and sales initiatives. You will establish and maintain a clear, distinctive market positioning for both parks, ensuring that brand identity, values, and storytelling remain strong and consistent. Additionally, you will develop and optimise product propositions for B2C audiences—including tickets, memberships, and events—and work closely with the Sales Manager and Libéma’s executive team to shape and manage an effective pricing strategy. You’ll shape creative, high‑impact campaigns that deliver strong results and maintain a consistent, modern brand across all channels. You’ll also work closely with external partners and industry bodies to raise our profile, while delivering targeted communications and engagement activities that enhance the visitor experience. This is a hands-on leadership role in a seven-day-a-week business, and as part of our duty management rota, you’ll occasionally work weekends and bank holidays to ensure smooth operations.

Candidate Profile

We’re looking for a confident, hands-on marketing leader with experience in leisure, hospitality, visitor attractions or any other customer-focused environment.

• A degree in Marketing, Communications, Business or a related field, plus evidence of ongoing professional development.
• Proven experience leading a marketing team or function, ideally within a commercial, visitor attraction, leisure, tourism or retail environment.
• A strong track record of creating and delivering marketing strategies that drive revenue, visitation or customer growth.
• Hands-on experience running multi-channel campaigns across digital, print, PR, social, email and outdoor media.
• Confident managing marketing budgets and maximising return on investment.
• Skilled in using data and analytics to guide decisions, improve performance and report on results.
• Experience working with external agencies and collaborating across departments.
• Strong brand management experience, ensuring consistent and high‑quality visual identity.
• Able to build relationships, manage stakeholders and represent the organisation externally.
• Experienced in monitoring performance and driving continuous improvement.
• An inspiring leader with the ability to motivate, develop and performance-manage a team.
• Commercially minded, with the ability to spot and drive revenue opportunities.
• Excellent communicator with strong influencing and relationship-building skills.
• Analytical, solutions-focused and confident interpreting data and KPIs.
• Highly organised, able to juggle multiple campaigns, deadlines and budgets.
• Creative and able to turn ideas into effective marketing activity.
• Strong attention to detail and excellent organisational skills.
• Confident using marketing and digital tools such as CRM systems, email platforms, analytics software and social media management tools.

At our Zoos, we believe taking care of our team is just as important as caring for our animals. That’s why we offer a benefits package that’s packed with perks: enjoy 33 days of paid holiday pro-rata (yes, even Bank Holidays!), and access to top‑tier training—from First Aid to driving a tractor. Your family can join the adventure too, with free zoo entry for loved ones, plus sweet discounts on food and retail while you’re on site. We’ll make parking a breeze with free staff spaces and support your wellbeing through our Employee Assistance Programme. Fancy joining the Firearms team? Opportunities await—pending a few conditions, of course. We proudly champion equality of opportunity for all our team members. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and identities, including but not limited to age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, and marriage or civil partnerships. Inclusion isn’t just a policy—it’s part of our culture. Everyone deserves the chance to thrive here.