• This is a strategic role that will help to shape the future revenue model and sustainability of the organization. You will work with an established marketing function
• To create a demand generation strategy, the Head of Strategic Marketing need to understand digital and maritime sector trends and market forces, devise competitive strategies and deliver a differentiated, comprehensive, multichannel and fully integrated marketing communications programme both on and offline. This requires balancing current demands with the requirement to build future foundations to meet the long term needs.
• This will often necessitate making difficult and far reaching decisions over priority, focus and timing of change. These are likely to encounter controversy and resistance from senior level stakeholders with divisional or departmental priorities which the post holder will need to negotiate and influence.
• Scope of the remit is broad and increasingly complex as marketing and communications professionalisms develop and sub-divide. Knowledge of a variety of specialist areas (Demand generation, SaaS subscription modelling, revenue and upgrade strategy, PR/content delivery, global events & exhibitions, channel marketing, internal communications and digital marketing) requires problem-solving and decision-making on a wide variety of application techniques, including adopting new technologies/tools/techniques whilst maintaining a holistic perspective.
• Issues with business strategy are often revealed at the point of reaching the communications stage. In the most challenging instances, it is the strategy of the product and service that requires revisiting rather than the communication of it. Negotiation and influencing SCS level Heads of Divisions, our National Hydrographer (NH) and the CE forms a key part of the role to ensure business decisions are made with an understanding of consequences for the long term efficacy of our demand generation and retention strategy
• Instantaneous, spontaneous and highly visible nature of digital marketing channels, particularly social media presents irreversible risk to corporate reputation and revenue and risk will need to managed using initiative, expertise and experience in unforeseen scenarios.
• Staying abreast of current developments and best practices across the industry and in the marketing and communications profession will require benchmarking and looking outside of the business on a regular basis, to drive forward our digital communications presence and remain competitive. The post holder will need to weigh up when to continue to build on strategies or when and how to step change the strategy and deploy resources.
• Managing conflicting ideas from multiple sources on what constitutes a subscription model and ensuring that these voices are heard and taken into account, whilst steering them towards a commercial outlooks that is deliverable .
• Representing the organisation to distributors, end users and internal stakeholders and ensuring that the right balance is struck between delivery of the objective and the wider political and reputation consequences. This requires deft and diplomacy to strike the right balance.

Duties

• The top-level decision-making authority via the CCO for Marketing strategy definition and implementation of change in order to meet the objectives of the Customer Strategy
• Leading Marketing expert who is able to advise and help the CCO to shape the function to meet the needs of the Customer strategy and to lead on creating a compelling subscription model and revised value creation model.
• Complete authority to review efficacy of and recommend changes to external partnership arrangements to ensure an optimised marketing partnership network that delivers best Value-for-money and effectiveness.
• Autonomy for the redesign implementation of Marketing strategy relating delivery of demand generation positioning and all resources required to deliver it, derived from parameters provided by the corporate strategy and corporate objectives

• The subject matter expert, providing guidance, recommendations where outcomes are unclear or unprecedented.
• Senior Management Team member and key business stakeholder at dept./Divisional head level including proactive input into decision making
• Defines and leads the communication of organisation-wide initiatives ahead of cascade in order to facilitate and develop appropriate communications strategies eg communications to embed the new Corporate strategy

Experience

• Significant experience as a Marketing Director leading a marketing/marketing communications function, managing a multifunctional and sizeable team, external agencies and marketing budget in a complex commercial environment.
• Experience of managing a shift from a product based transactional model to a subscription-based service model.
• Experience of implementing an effective marketing automation platform with a demonstrable successful outcome and improved ROI
• Skilled in creation of compelling value propositions and the marketing structures behind it.
• Significant experience in leading change and able to demonstrate significant improvement in ROI & marketing efficacy based on their actions