Student Recruitment Brand Manager

Role Description

Marketing, Recruitment, Admissions and Outreach (MRAO)

The University of York is a member of the prestigious Russell Group. This role sits within the Marketing, Recruitment, Admissions and Outreach (MRAO) team, which is part of the Global Recruitment, Marketing and Admissions Directorate. Our energetic team focuses on attracting and retaining diverse, high-quality students to shape the University’s future. As we accelerate our international engagement and develop our new campus in Mumbai, you will play a pivotal role in architecting a compelling, consistent brand experience for students from over 140 countries. 

About the Role 

Fixed term: 24 months

As our brand expert, you will provide high-level brand advocacy, guardianship, and consultancy across all home and international recruitment activities at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Your mission is to ensure absolute brand consistency and effectiveness, whether supporting local campaigns, our strategic recruitment partners, or the distinct identity of our overseas campus in Mumbai. 

Acting as the vital bridge between marketing and creative execution, you will streamline workflows with our central Creative Services team and external agencies. You will oversee the development of student recruitment publications, manage team messaging matrices, review briefs, and act as the first point of sign-off for creative assets. Ultimately, you will ensure all marketing outputs are highly impactful, on-brand, and strategically aligned. 

Skills, Experience & Qualifications needed

To be successfully shortlisted for this role, you must demonstrate the following criteria within your application:

• Brand Guardianship: Proven experience in brand and campaign management, or a role where brand guardianship was a primary focus.  
• Creative Critique: An exceptional understanding of visual and verbal identities, alongside the ability to constructively challenge colleagues and agencies to protect brand standards.  
• Briefing & Workflows: Experience working directly with creative teams/agencies and translating complex marketing goals into high-quality creative briefs.  
• Project Management: A proven track record of managing a large volume of concurrent marketing projects, meeting tight deadlines without losing quality.  
• Data & Digital Skills: The ability to gather, analyse, and report on complex data using digital technologies. 
• Communication & Collaboration: Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with a collaborative mindset and the ability to take ownership of distinct projects. 
• International Awareness (Desirable): Experience working within international markets or overseeing brand identity for overseas campuses and partnerships is highly desirable.

The University is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive community – a place where we can all be ourselves and succeed on merit. We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums, campus facilities and services to support staff from different backgrounds. #EqualityatYork.

Interview date: 5 August 2026

For an informal discussion about the post, please contact Alex Pycock (Head of Marketing) on alex.pycock@york.ac.uk

The University strives to be diverse and inclusive  – a place where we can ALL be ourselves.

We particularly encourage applications from people who identify as Black, Asian or from a Minority Ethnic background, who are underrepresented at the University. 

We offer family friendly, flexible working arrangements, with forums and inclusive facilities to support our staff. #EqualityatYork

As a Disability Confident employer, we will ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum (essential) criteria for each position will be offered an interview.  Read more about the University of York’s commitments under the Disability Confident scheme.