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St Christopher School
Marketing and Communications Manager
The Appointment
St Christopher School (‘St Chris’) is seeking to appoint an experienced, dynamic marketing and communications
professional to spearhead the drive to raise the profile of this successful and highly distinctive school and to place it
squarely on the local, regional, national and international map.
Reporting directly to the Head, the new role of Marketing and Communications Manager has been created to bring
together and further develop the School’s marketing activities. He/she will also be responsible for the management of
an effective admissions function.
As well as a demonstrable track record of success in marketing and/or communications, the successful applicant will
have a practical, ‘hands-on’ approach and should ideally have a social conscience, be open-minded and not afraid to
‘have a go’.
The post will most likely attract someone with a background in marketing, communications, and/or PR, either from
within the education sector or from a commercial marketing function or agency. An understanding of and empathy for
the St Chris ethos will be essential.
The School
St Christopher School is a co-educational boarding and day school of just over 500 pupils aged 3-18. It is located in
Letchworth Garden City, within easy travelling distance of London and Cambridge.
Established in 1915 by Dr Armstrong Smith, throughout its history the School has been a champion of progressive
education; at the time of its foundation the Daily Herald reported that the School was based
"not on the sameness of children, their conformity to type, but on their differences."
This concept of creating a school where all children are celebrated as individuals, regardless of their particular
abilities, was a radical concept then, but one that remains relevant and important today and continues to be one of
the distinctive characteristics of a St Chris education.
At the helm is the Head, Richard Palmer. He has long been a committed supporter of the School, having first come to
St Chris as a gap year student, returning to do his teaching practice here, and eventually coming back as Head of the
Junior School in 2004, and taking on full headship of the School in 2006.
Academic performance is ‘above average’ and the majority of its Sixth Form leavers go on to Higher Education. But a
St Chris education is about so much more than just academic achievement. As well as helping the children in their
care develop competence and resourcefulness, social conscience and moral courage, St Chris produces well-rounded,
high capability students with a capacity for friendship and a true zest for life, and the skills and confidence to thrive in
the modern world.
The role
The Marketing and Communications Manager will be responsible for the management and implementation of all
marketing and communications activities throughout the School, as well as the management of the admissions
function.
He/she will take the aims and objectives set out in the School’s Strategic Marketing Plan, and translate them into a
tactical Marketing and Communications plan with a series of targeted campaigns, activities and initiatives that will
drive recruitment across the School.
With excellent written and verbal communication skills, he/she will be responsible for crafting a set of clear and
motivating messages, encapsulating the individuality and uniqueness of the St Chris ethos, which will position St Chris
as a pioneering, forward-thinking and bold voice on the educational stage.
Applicants will need to demonstrate an ability to create rapport with a wide range of stakeholders, including pupils
and staff, and a commitment to becoming a fully engaged member of the school community.
Key responsibilities
1. Marketing and Communications
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To translate the School’s Strategic Marketing Plan into a tactical, targeted Marketing and Communications
Plan;
To implement the Marketing and Communications Plan, making creative and effective use of a variety of
channels of communication, events and other initiatives to reach and engage with parents, prospective
parents, feeder schools and the local community more generally;
To interrogate the admissions database and other data sources, analysing and reporting on key trends and
using these to develop new initiatives to drive pupil recruitment;
To manage the production of all marketing materials, including prospectuses, publications, newsletters,
adverts and press articles, ensuring they are accurate, eloquently and intelligently written, and consistent in
content and tone of voice with the School’s key messages and ethos;
To manage the website and ensure it is up-to-date and ‘on message’;
To develop and manage an effective digital and social media strategy;
To develop and manage a feeder schools’ strategy, including communications, events, and visits;
To gather and communicate news stories from across the School, relevant to its 5 target audiences (local,
Cambridge, North London, national and international), utilising a range of media;
To develop and maintain a library of good quality images and video for use in marketing materials and
communications, that capture the spirit and ethos of the School;
To become a part of the St Chris community, thereby staying abreast of news, developments, events and
achievements across the School, and using these to enhance marketing communications;
To manage the School’s media relations in order to build strong and constructive links with the media to
strengthen the School’s reputation, raise its profile and secure positive media coverage;
To develop and manage, with the support of the admissions team, the programme of open events;
To plan, commission and evaluate market and competitor research;
To recommend and manage the annual marketing budget in line with the implementation of the Strategic
Marketing Plan;
To develop, implement and evaluate the School’s advertising campaigns across both traditional and digital
media.
2. Admissions
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Together with the Registrar, to be responsible for hitting recruitment and retention targets, as laid out in the
Strategic Marketing Plan;
To oversee the effective implementation of all admissions processes and procedures;
To line-manage the admissions staff (Registrar and Assistant Registrar);
To ensure all admissions policies and procedures, including those for international recruitment, are up-to-date
and fit for purpose;
To report on admissions data and trends, together with the Registrar, as requested by the Head.
Person Specification
1. Knowledge and experience
Qualifications
Essential
 A record of good academic
achievement
Desirable
 Educated to degree level
 Holder of a relevant marketing,
PR or communications
qualification
Knowledge
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Experience
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A demonstrable understanding of
marketing, PR and communications
within an independent school setting
A clear understanding of and affinity
for the St Chris ethos
A commitment to promoting and
safeguarding the welfare of children
IT literate and familiarity with
Microsoft Office applications
At least 3 years’ proven
marketing/communications
experience in a relevant field
Demonstrable track record of
developing and implementing
successful marketing campaigns
Proven ability to interpret strategic
plans and translate them into tactical
programmes and campaigns
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Ability to analyse data and use it
to inform planning
An understanding of and interest
in international recruitment
Experience of developing and
implementing digital and social
media strategies and campaigns
Experience of working with
databases
Hands-on use of a range of
media to best effect with
different target audiences
Experience of managing budgets
2. Skills and attributes
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Warm, approachable and empathetic with a social conscience;
Keen to show a genuine commitment to the School’s ethos and to be an integral part of its community;
Energetic, enthusiastic with a ‘can do’ attitude and a willingness to ‘get stuck in’;
Innovative, creative and keen to try new initiatives, or to bring a fresh perspective to an established activity
or event;
The ability to engage with a wide variety of people and quickly build rapport;
Down-to-earth, practical;
Highly literate and articulate with exceptional written and verbal communication skills;
IT literate and social media savvy;
Numerate and analytical with a desire to interpret and interrogate data to tease out relevant and actionable
trends;
A team player who is also self-motivated and able to work on their own initiative.
Terms and conditions
1. Salary
The starting salary will be up to £45,000 per annum, depending upon experience.
2. Holidays and hours of work
Paid holiday entitlement is 25 days plus Bank Holidays, to be taken in consultation with the Head.
Standard hours of work are 40 hours per week, 08.00- 17.00, with 1 hour for lunch. However, the specific hours
of work will be determined by the requirements of the position and there will be some out of hours evening and
weekend work required as an integral part of the role.
3. Pension
The successful candidate will be entitled to join the St Christopher contributory Pension Scheme. Currently the
School contributes 8% towards the scheme and matches individual's contributions to a maximum contribution by
the School of 12%.
4. Fee remission
The School offers a fee remission arrangement for staff children who attend as day pupils. Currently a 50% fee
remission is offered to children of staff joining the School, subject to normal admissions requirements being met.
The Application Process
To find out more about this post, in the first instance please contact Judy Brown at RSAcademics for a
confidential discussion:
Tel: 07753 856420
Email: [email protected]
Applications should be completed on a St Christopher School application form (which can be found on the
RSAcademics website www.rsacademics.co.uk) and emailed, together with a covering letter addressed to Richard
Palmer, Head, St Christopher School, to our Recruitment Manager, Alice Matcham, at
[email protected]. There is no need to submit a CV.
The Head, Richard Palmer, is also happy to answer candidates’ questions. He can be contacted at
[email protected]
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Closing date for applications: 10am on Tuesday, 24th May 2016.
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Interviews will be held during June.
St Christopher School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and
expects all staff to share this commitment. It further expects all staff to understand and comply with the School’s
Health and Safety Policy statement.
RSAcademics is a specialist provider of external relations, strategic marketing and management consultancy to
independent schools, set up by Russell Speirs in 2002.
The external relations and marketing services provided by RSAcademics range from market research and
assistance with fundraising to marketing planning, brand positioning and audits of schools’ marketing, admissions
and development activities. RSAcademics helps Governors, Heads and Senior Staff with cultural change,
leadership development, personnel recruitment and strategic planning and by providing training and coaching.