Communications & Marketing Consultant

Are you people-oriented and enthusiastic about engaging audiences across a mix of communication channels?

We're looking for an experienced Marketing and Communications professional to provide marketing and communications support to our property teams in Kent & the East Sussex border. You'll help us grow support for our places and our work to protect nature, beauty and history.

This is a fixed term contract due to end when the previous employee returns from an internal secondment in September 2026.

What it's like to work here

Kent and East Sussex are home to some of the National Trust's most iconic and inspirational places: from the intimate Smallhythe Place, former home of Victorian actress Ellen Terry, to the landscape of the White Cliffs of Dover, the family home of Sir Winston Churchill at Chartwell and the gardens lovingly created by Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson at Sissinghurst Castle Garden.

You'll be part of the Trust's internal consultancy: a flexible resource of specialist skills and expertise. As one of a multidisciplinary team of experts, including curators, fundraisers, building surveyors and project managers, you'll be working with others to help make things happen.

Your contractual place of work will be the National Trust office at Scotney Castle in Kent.

Our hybrid working policy means you can balance office and home working with site visits and meetings at other National Trust places. We'll talk about this in more detail at interview, but you should expect to be at a National Trust site for 40-60% of your working week. You'll enjoy autonomy but need to be able to balance and prioritise competing demands.

What you'll be doing

You'll be part of our regional communications and marketing team, helping to achieve the aims of our strategy, supporting National Trust places and working closely with local teams.

Working at a regional and county level, you'll be responsible for shaping and delivering marketing communications to our Kent & East Sussex audiences, aligned with regional strategy. Working collaboratively with communications and marketing teams right across the Trust at national, regional and property level, you'll make sure plans are integrated, creating content for owned, earned and paid channels, responding to media issues as they arise and evaluating the impact of your work.

Your work will spark conversations, provide compelling reasons to visit and raise awareness and understanding of the Trust's cause and work. You'll thrive on the challenge of balancing competing demands.

You'll be leading and inspiring colleagues based in local property teams, coaching and mentoring them to improve their communications and marketing skills, knowledge and confidence.

Who we're looking for

• a skilled copywriter, creating compelling audience-first copy for a range of channels
• experience in creating communications and marketing plans and working towards targets and KPIs
• familiar with using a web content management system, search engine optimisation and developing digital content for social media and email
• experience working with the media on proactive and reactive press, including managing contentious issues
• a skilled communicator, who can build strong relationships within diverse teams, both internally and externally
• a flexible thinker and problem-solver, skilled at negotiating and building productive networks, and confident in using your expertise to influence decisions
• proactive and organised, with experience of managing projects and a talent for multi-tasking and getting things done, strongly focused on detail, quality, cost and time
• a leader for inclusion, who finds ways to create an inclusive culture

The package

The National Trust has the motto 'For everyone, for ever' at its heart. We're working hard to create an inclusive culture, where everyone feels they belong. It's important that our people reflect and represent the diversity of the communities and audiences we serve. We welcome and value difference, so when we say we're for everyone, we want everyone to be welcome in our teams too.

• Substantial pension scheme of up to 10% basic salary
• Free entry to National Trust places for you, a guest and your children (under 18)
• Rental deposit loan scheme
• Season ticket loan
• EV car lease scheme
• Perks at work discounts such as gym memberships, shopping discount codes, cinema discounts
• Holiday allowance up to 32 days relating to length of service, plus holiday purchase scheme, subject to meeting minimum criteria.
• Flexible working whenever possible
• Employee assistance programme
• Free parking at most Trust places.