Director of External Relations

St Lawrence College is seeking to appoint a Director of External Relations to deliver outstanding marketing, communications, development and alumni relations, and pupil recruitment and retention strategies for the College. This is a new and exciting role, which will contribute to the strategic direction of the whole College, working within the Senior Leadership Team, on the promotion of key aspects of the College’s outstanding educational provision.

This position will be suited to a highly experienced marketing / admissions professional, able to deliver a full range of activities relating to advertising, branding, media relations, PR and social media.  An in-depth knowledge of boarding schools will be an advantage together with experience of recruitment of international students. This is a fulltime position available for an immediate start.

Background

St Lawrence College has a rich 140 year history and a reputation for excellence. The genuine feeling of community is tangible and there is no doubt that the Christian values, boarding ethos, all-through nature of the school and focus on the individual contribute to a feeling of care and compassion that permeates every corner of the campus.

The College’s aim is to ensure that every individual achieves their potential and this is most clearly illustrated in its excellent Value Added academic results. These are underpinned by High Performance Learning; an understanding that intelligence is not fixed and that high performance in education is achievable by all. We are proud to have been one of only 14 schools globally to have been granted the status of a World Class High Performance Learning School.

This belief in the potential of every child is also seen through our pastoral provision. Our dedicated team of Housemasters and Housemistresses provide excellent pastoral and academic support to the pupils in their care. Our strong Christian ethos also ensures that our pupils develop an understanding of tolerance, diversity, faith and forgiveness.

St Lawrence has a long history of sporting excellence and boasts an exceptional team of coaches who have helped a number of our teams to win National Championships and our pupils to gain International Honours. However, it is not just sporting excellence that is prized as we aim to provide our pupils with a genuinely holistic education. Our children are exposed to a raft of opportunities and experiences to find their forte, whether this is in the creative arts, charity and service activities or the CCF. The leadership opportunities and understanding of self, community and teamwork that come from our broad ranging extracurricular programme are essential to developing global citizens who are outward facing, confident, emotionally intelligent and equipped with the skills to lead in the 21^st century marketplace.

This position offers an outstanding opportunity for a strategically minded, outward-looking and committed individual to join a vibrant and ambitious school community at a truly exciting time in its development.

Further information on St Lawrence College can be found at www.slcuk.com

The Role

This position is pivotal in developing and implementing a communications strategy that raises the College’s reputation, presence and profile, locally, nationally and overseas, and enhances parental satisfaction.

The successful candidate will review and reinforce the College’s corporate brand and image, and develop and implement an integrated marketing strategy and action plan in order to recruit and retain the brightest pupils from Nursery to Year 13, and increase our appeal to international boarders.

The role will report directly to the Head of College and will be a key public face of the School. The successful applicant will lead, motivate and build excellent relationships amongst the Marketing, Admissions and Development departments and contribute to the strategic direction of the whole school, playing a vital role to its ongoing success.

The Person

 The College is looking for an energetic, confident team player with strong interpersonal skills who is able to develop and maintain productive working relationships across the entire College with all key stakeholders both internal and external.

The successful candidate will have professional experience of brand development and a record of accomplishment for creating integrated multi-channel initiatives. It is also expected that they will have a recognised qualification in marketing and be educated to degree level.

This is an exciting role for a passionate individual who is able to deliver in areas such as advertising, branding PR, media relations, and social media.

Key Responsibilities:

 Strategy

•  Development, management and oversight of the school’s strategic external relations plan in line with the overall school strategy;
• Research into the College’s marketing and communications needs and use the outcomes of this research to inform future actions
• Work with senior colleagues across the College to develop and implement a rolling integrated marketing strategy in order to increase the quality of student applications and ensure that admissions targets are met
• Devise a series of ancillary schemes to support the integrated marketing strategy, including a communications strategy that raises the profile of the College locally, nationally and overseas, liaising with other departments as required
• Formulate and develop parental surveys to monitor the College’s admissions process, inform future marketing and admissions policies and strategies, as well as wider College plans
• Track the performance and actions of competitors
• Define and monitor a series of key performance indicators in respect of the efficiency and effectiveness of the College’s marketing, admissions and development strategies and report on these directly to the Senior Leadership Team
• Feed all strategy information into the College’s Strategic Development Plan
• Respond to the needs of the Head of the Junior School to implement the Junior School Improvement Plan

 Marketing and Public Relations

• Direct and oversee all marketing and communications activities
• Be the first point of contact for all media, dealing with all enquiries professionally and producing quality and timely press material, including adverts
• Establish, reinforce and communicate the corporate image and brand, advising on continuity of the corporate image in all publications
• Manage the creation, development and co-ordination of all communications, design, advertising and social media with the marketing team. Coordinate and inspire colleagues to use social media to promote the school on brand.
• Measure the success of external communications and advertising and report back to the Senior Leadership Team
• Lead the production of newsletters, annual reviews (Lawrentian) and new digital strategies to foster productive relations with pupils, parents and the local community
• Ensure good internal communications through regular meetings and briefings with the Head of College, Head of the Junior School, the Bursar and with other relevant staff
• Develop the appearance of the College’s website to ensure it is appealing, up to date, accurate and relevant
• Be responsible for the creation of appropriate marketing materials, including promotional material, professional-quality business documents and presentations
• Attend relevant School events and arrange any marketing or public relations aspects for such occasions

Admissions

• Oversee the work of the admissions department from enquiry to students taking up their place, with a view to maintaining capacity enrolment of students, in liaison with the Head of College
• Liaise with the Head of College, Head of the Junior School and the Bursar to set and monitor admissions targets, to make recommendations to reach these targets and to report to the Senior Leadership Team in respect of them
• Visit and otherwise foster relationships with feeder schools at all key entry points in order to promote the College to prospective parents
• Attend UK and overseas recruitment fairs and events to promote the College and recruit domestic and international boarders.
• Foster excellent relations with national and international agents to ensure the development of our boarding market
• Identify new markets, nationally and overseas, and propose plans to develop such markets where appropriate
• Ensure that the admissions data on the College’s data management system is up to date and accurate and is being used effectively
• Undertake tours and liaise with prospective pupils and their parents
• Work with the admissions department to coordinate the College open days and evenings and other marketing events as appropriate
• Oversight and management of the scholarship and other award application processes in agreement with the Head of College
• Maintenance of efficient systems for the request, circulation and storage of references and other documentation required in respect of pupil admissions;
• Ensuring that efficient systems are in place to support UKVI visa applications being made by prospective pupils;

Development

• Oversee the Development function and assist in fundraising and legacy programmes, as well as foster Alumni relations.

Leadership and Management

• Lead the members of the Marketing, Admissions & Development team, including supervising their work and carrying out annual reviews

Finance

•  Prepare the annual budget and work within an agreed annual budget in liaison with the College Accountant

Other:

• Ensure the College’s admissions and marketing work is compliant with data protection legislation, including GDPR
• Ensure the College’s admissions data is ISI compliant

Salary:

The salary on offer is competitive.

Benefits:

The College provides a supportive working environment. Students are enthusiastic, co-operative and able and colleagues get on well together.  There is a strong sense of community.

Other benefits to working at St Lawrence College include:

• Access to the College’s pension scheme
• Access to Benenden Health Care
• Free Lunch
• Free on site parking
• Free use of the on site Gym facilities
• Medical Centre on site
• Access to the Employee Assistance Support Programme
• Commitment to professional development
• Exceptional working environment including landscaped grounds and a number of listed buildings

Applicants should complete the Staff Application Form which can be accessed directly from our website: www.slcuk.com  and send it to the HR department: hr@slcuk.com

Applications will be considered upon receipt, therefore early applications are encouraged.

Closing date: 09 January 2023

The College reserves the right to interview and appoint before the closing date.

St Lawrence College is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening including checks with past employers, prohibition orders and enhanced DBS Disclosure.