Associate Director Brand and Marketing Communications

Today, 12 children and young people will be diagnosed with cancer. We ll stop at nothing to make sure they get the right care and support at the right time.

• £70,000
• 35 hours
• Permanent
• Location- Hybrid, based between home and at the London office on a weekly basis
• Closing date: 6th July 2025
• Interview date: w/c 14th 2025

Change lives in a life-changing career

When a child or young person is diagnosed with cancer, their whole world can feel like it s falling apart. Independence is taken and confidence is stolen. Stability no longer exists. The future suddenly feels uncertain.

The impact of cancer on young lives is more than medical. That s why we exist. Our specialist social workers help children and young people with cancer and their families navigate the emotional and practical impact of cancer. We remove barriers, solve problems and prioritise wellbeing. And we stop at nothing to make sure they get the right care and support at the right time.

We challenge the systems and policies that surround children and young people, we highlight gaps and campaign for change. Because we know what a better future could look like. And we know what we need to do to make that future a reality. We need to push harder, reach further and work smarter. And we need the right people on our team to help us get there. People like you.

About the role

We re looking for a Associate Director of Brand & Marketing Communications with excellent brand, marketing and digital experience at a leadership level to lead our Brand and Marketing Communications Team.

As, you'll provide inspirational leadership to a key team at the heart of our organisation. You ll be responsible for the development and execution of our brand, marketing and digital strategies. You'll also oversee the delivery of impactful and audience-driven campaigns that grow awareness, engagement and income for Young Lives vs Cancer while supporting our influencing goals.

You will be line managing our Head of Strategic Communications and Head of Digital to lead successful, teams who can creatively deliver on our organisational strategy.

The role demands an agile creative thinker with strong leadership, a strategic mindset and a deep understanding of our diverse audiences. As well as managing and inspiring your team, you ll create strong connections throughout the organisation, ensuring everyone can access the strategic and creative services they need to tell the charity s story in a way that really connects with people.

This role is subject to a criminal record check. In the event of a successful application a Basic criminal record check will be completed.

What will I be doing?

No two days are the same at Young Lives vs Cancer. So, summarising your day to day isn t easy. Here are some of the main things you ll be doing, but you ll find more details in our Role Details document.

• Lead and develop a high-performing team of marketing, brand and digital professionals.
• Lead the development and delivery of the charity s brand and marketing communications strategy, aligned to the organisational strategy and the system North Star , ensuring our positioning and voice are clear, compelling and visible.
• Champion a culture of creativity, collaboration and insight-driven decision making fully aligned with our values.
• Lead the development of our audience personas and engagement work to enable effective journeys and high-quality experiences for all our audiences, equipping the organisation to be customer-centric, insight driven and evidenced-based.
• Collaborate across directorates to align marketing, brand and audience engagement with organisational priorities.
• Provide effective leadership and direction for colleagues in your teams, ensuring accountability to build trust, good morale and teamwork.
• Ensure the voices of children and young people with cancer - and their families - influence decision-making within teams and that we are an accountable and transparent organisation to our beneficiaries, donors and other stakeholders.

What do I need?

Diverse perspectives and unique skillsets are at the heart of Young Lives vs Cancer. If you're passionate about making a positive impact and eager to learn, we encourage you to apply, even if you don't meet the criteria and person specification fully. Your potential is what matters most to us, and we re committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive work environment to help you develop.

The key skills we re looking for in this role are:

• Proven experience leading brand, marketing and communications strategy, preferably in the not-for-profit sector.
• Inspirational leadership of multidisciplinary teams.
• Success in planning and delivering multi-channel campaigns with measurable outcomes, especially within income generation and system influencing contexts.
• Experience in digital marketing, content creation and engagement through digital channels, including social media.
• Experience of audience development and user journey planning.
• Experience influencing at a senior level and managing change.
• Effective planning, budgeting and risk management

What will I gain?

For people to reach their full potential, they need the right environment. As a member of Team Young Lives, you ll be made to feel supported, valued and appreciated. Here s how we do it:

• Flexible working: we re open to working hours outside of 9 - 5 and we can talk through your flexibility requirements at interview stage
• Wellbeing and Development days: four days a year to do what works for you from personal development planning, catching up on training to going for a walk
• Generous annual leave allowance
• Great family/caring leave entitlements
• Enhanced pension
• Access to our employee savings scheme

To find out more about our benefits package, have a look on our website.

Our commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging

At Young Lives vs Cancer, we recognise that opportunities for too many people remain a condition of their sex, ethnicity, class, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation or a combination. This has never been acceptable to us as an organisation. We don t just accept difference, we value it, celebrate it, nurture it and we thrive because of it.

We re on a journey to be reflective of the diverse children, young people and families we support. We know we aren t there yet, and we re passionately committed to taking actions and making changes to be a truly diverse, inclusive and equitable organisation. This includes taking anti-oppressive action and removing barriers in our recruitment practices. We particularly welcome applications from members of minoritised communities. Our Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Belonging strategy will tell you more.

Accessibility

We re committed to providing reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process and we ll always aim to be as accommodating as possible. Please let us know in your application form of any adjustments or access requirements we could make to help you with the application process and interview.