Marketing & Communications Director

About the role

This role offers the chance to influence how food is experienced across education settings balancing innovation, nutrition, sustainability, and enjoyment while delivering measurable commercial growth. You will lead the development and execution of integrated marketing, brand, participation, and communications strategies across a diverse portfolio spanning State Schools, Independent Schools, Universities, and Colleges. From high-profile campaigns and digital transformation initiatives to stakeholder engagement and brand positioning, this is a unique opportunity to shape a forward-thinking and purpose-led food service business.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership
• Develop and deliver a comprehensive marketing, communications, and brand strategy aligned to business growth objectives.
• Act as a key member of the senior leadership team, contributing to commercial strategy, innovation, and sector positioning.
• Lead the development and evolution of the Education sector brand strategy, ensuring consistency, differentiation, and market relevance across all channels and sub-sectors.
• Drive participation strategies that increase meal uptake, engagement with food offers, and student interaction with on-site and digital initiatives. Brand & Customer Experience
• Champion a customer-first approach to enhance the student dining experience.
• Develop compelling brand propositions and campaigns tailored to different education sectors.
• Create initiatives that drive participation, loyalty, and repeat engagement among students, staff, and campus communities.
• Drive innovation across food concepts, promotions, digital engagement, and customer communications. Client Engagement & Business Growth
• Partner with Operations and Business Development teams to support client retention, mobilisations, renewals, and tenders.
• Create communication strategies that demonstrate value to school leaders, governors, and university stakeholders.
• Support proactive and sensitive client communications when required.
• Use participation data, customer insights, and market trends to identify growth opportunities and improve customer engagement. Campaigns & Communications
• Lead multi-channel marketing campaigns across digital, social media, on-site marketing, PR, and external communications.
• Design campaigns specifically aimed at increasing participation in dining programmes, promotions, events, and wellbeing initiatives.
• Oversee crisis communications, media responses, and communication governance frameworks.
• Ensure messaging aligns with key themes including wellbeing, sustainability, food education, and inclusivity.
• Lead and optimise relationships with external marketing and PR agencies. Digital & Data-Driven Marketing
• Drive digital innovation including social media strategy, video content, loyalty initiatives, mobile apps, and online ordering platforms.
• Build data and analytics capability to improve campaign effectiveness, customer engagement, participation rates, and commercial performance.
• Develop segmentation and targeting approaches that increase participation among different student audiences and education settings. Innovation & ESG
• Work closely with culinary and nutrition teams to bring innovative food concepts to market.
• Support and communicate ESG initiatives including sustainability, food waste reduction, and healthy eating.
• Ensure all communications align with school policies and relevant government guidelines.
• Create participation-led campaigns that encourage healthier choices and sustainable behaviours across education communities. Leadership & Performance
• Lead and develop a high-performing marketing and communications team.
• Foster a culture of creativity, collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Manage marketing budgets effectively with a strong focus on ROI and performance metrics.
• Set and monitor KPIs related to brand awareness, customer participation, engagement, and campaign effectiveness. About You
• We are looking for a strategic and commercially astute marketing leader with significant senior-level experience within food service, hospitality, retail, or a comparable B2B2C environment.
• You will bring:

Additional Information

Marketing & Communications Director Education Sector | Compass Group Location: Flexible with travel to Chertsey 1-2 days per week We are looking for an exceptional Marketing & Communications Director to lead the strategic direction of marketing, brand, participation, and communications across our Education sector portfolio. This is a high-impact leadership role for a commercially minded, creative, and customer-focused marketing professional who is passionate about shaping the future of food in education. Working closely with the Education CEO and senior leadership team, you will play a pivotal role in driving growth, increasing participation and engagement across education sites, strengthening client relationships, and positioning the business as a market leader within schools, colleges, and universities.

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