Brand & Marketing Director - Leisure

About our client

Our client is a UK brand in the active space, operating locations across the country that welcome millions of people every year.

The opportunity

This is a senior role acting as custodian for a brand people genuinely care about, and at the same time someone willing to challenge how things have always been done, refresh how the brand shows up and drive initiatives that disrupt the category.

You'll spent time at site locations, experiencing the product as customers do, and using what you learn to bring bold ideas that help millions more people discover it. You'll need a deep understanding of active brands and consumer behaviour, and a strong instinct for what makes younger audiences buy, share and come back.

What you'll lead

Executive contribution. You'll operate as a senior leader with a real seat at the table, contributing to strategic discussions across brand, customer, product, trading and growth. The executive will expect clear recommendations and a strong point of view.

Proposition and experience influence. You'll shape more than the marketing. You'll bring the brand and customer lens into product, proposition and experience decisions, influencing naming, messaging, launch planning and the customer experience itself.

Brand strategy and guardianship. Senior custodian of a distinctive, trusted, commercially effective brand. You'll set how it shows up across every touchpoint, protecting what makes it loved while pushing it forward.

Always-on marketing, campaigns, creative and content. Move the business beyond seasonal campaign thinking into a year-round rhythm, building a stronger in-house creative engine across social, UGC, video, photography and PR.

Organic social, influencer, PR and partnerships. Own organic social and earned reach. You'll have a strong instinct for which creators, moments and partnerships will land because you stay close to the culture the brand needs to win in.

Paid acquisition and demand generation. Lead paid strategy alongside internal specialists and selective external partners, working closely with the Customer & Sales Director and data teams so paid activity ladders into commercial performance.

Commercial growth. Use brand, content and channel activity to grow revenue beyond the core purchase, including merchandise, gifting, events, B2B and corporate.

Team leadership. Lead and develop a 12-person Brand & Marketing team, building a culture of pace, creativity, accountability and commercial awareness.

What success looks like

At 3 months you'll have built trust with the executive and location leaders, spent real time experiencing the product, formed a clear view of the biggest opportunities, and put a practical plan in place for the next trading cycle.

At 6 months the brand, content and marketing engine will be more connected, creative standards will be sharper, and there will be a healthier link between brand activity, demand and trading outcomes.

At 12 months the Brand & Marketing function will be more distinctive, modern and commercially effective, with stronger relevance among growth audiences and a 2027 plan built on brand, product, customer insight and operational delivery working together.

About you

You're an experienced consumer brand marketing leader with serious energy and an appetite for a challenge. You know how to build brand momentum, create content people want to watch and share, grow earned and paid demand, and connect creative work to commercial outcomes. You might be an established Brand & Marketing Director, or a high-performing Head of Brand or Head of Marketing ready for a broader director-level remit.

Above all, you want a brand you can throw your energy into and feel genuinely proud of.

Essential

• Senior brand marketing leadership experience in a consumer-facing business

• Strong track record across always-on marketing, campaigns, creative and content

• Experience leading or strongly influencing organic social, PR, influencer, partnerships and earned media

• A strong instinct for the audiences, platforms and cultural moments that drive modern consumer brands

• Solid understanding of paid acquisition, performance marketing, digital, CRM, e-commerce and SEO/GEO, even if you haven't owned every channel directly

• Experience leading internal teams and managing external partners without becoming dependent on them

• Strong commercial awareness and the confidence to challenge constructively across functions

• Excellent written, verbal and visual judgement

Helpful

Experience in experience-led or lifestyle-driven consumer brands, whether in leisure, hospitality, travel, entertainment, sports, active lifestyle, retail, subscription or similar. Multi-site or location-led experience. Seasonal trading. Merchandise, branded environments or physical touchpoints. B2B, groups or corporate alongside B2C.

You as a person

Bold, creative and commercially grounded, with the energy to lift a room. A genuine people leader. Strong enough to challenge Operations, Customer & Sales and Trading without creating friction. Customer-obsessed and brand-sensitive, and comfortable moving between annual brand strategy and the detail of merchandise, signage or campaign copy.

Pragmatic, hands-on and non-corporate. You enjoy a challenge, you're happy outside your comfort zone, and you'd rather be in the thick of the business than watching from the sidelines. Getting out to locations and spending time with teams and customers will come naturally to you.

Why this role

This is a rare chance to lead the brand marketing agenda for a loved British brand at a point where it's ready to be bolder, and to do it with genuine flexibility. The role is remote, with regular UK travel to locations, so you'll spend your time where it matters: with customers, with the team and in the product. You'll shape how millions of people discover and remember the experience, and play a central role in the next phase of growth.

The package

A competitive six-figure package including performance bonus, with a long-term incentive plan launching in January 2027.

Our client is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. Applications are welcomed from all qualified candidates regardless of age, disability, gender identity, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. We are committed to ensuring that our recruitment process is fair and accessible to all, and we encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds and experiences.

Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we are unable to respond to every applicant individually. If you have not heard from us within two weeks of submitting your application, please assume that your application has not been successful on this occasion. We appreciate the time and effort taken to apply and wish you every success in your search.