Head of Marketing & Comms

The Head of Marketing & Comms will lead the marketing and communications function for Commonwealth Games England with responsibility for growing reach, engagement and loyalty to the Team England brand in line with our wider organisational strategy. 

The Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games and Youth Games are about more than sport. In Birmingham there were more medals available to women than men, and The Games set new benchmarks in innovation, inclusivity, and sustainability, leaving lasting legacies for the people and economies in the regions that host them. Unlike the Olympics and Paralympics, the Commonwealth Games sees para-sport and non-disabled sport running simultaneously. The Birmingham Games delivered the largest integrated para-sports programme of any Games to date with 59 medal events across eight para sports and reinforced the values of inclusivity across the “friendly” Games culture.  

The Commonwealth Games is truly global and diverse, with more than 5,000 athletes representing 71 teams from across the Commonwealth of Nations competing in numerous sports. The four constituent countries of the United Kingdom – England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland – send separate teams, and individual teams are also sent by Guernsey, Jersey, and the Isle of Man.

Commonwealth Games England (CGE)

CGE leads and manages the participation of Team England at the Commonwealth Games, and works closely with each sport’s National Governing Body, our funding partner Sport England (SE), the Games’ Organising Committee, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), and corporate partners. We help deliver excellent performance environments; represent England effectively within the CGF; and raise the profile and reinforce the value, reputation, and future of this great sporting spectacle.

CGE recognises and embraces the diversity of England and celebrates the many benefits it offers us as a nation and organisation. We are committed to encouraging equality, diversity, and inclusion in all our policies, processes, procedures, practices, and people development.

 

Overview of Role

The Head of Marketing & Comms will lead the marketing and communications function for Commonwealth Games England with responsibility for growing reach, engagement and loyalty to the Team England brand in line with our wider organisational strategy. 

Whilst the role will report directly into the CEO, there will be an expectation that the successful candidate will be involved across both the creation and execution of plans which reflects the lean nature of Commonwealth Games England as an organisation. 

The role will be responsible for an integrated marketing function comprising of paid, owned, and earned channel activity and for selecting, briefing and managing relationships with agencies. 

The successful candidate will drive forward a multi-channel strategy both above- and below-the-line to ensure that Team England can drive reach and relevance during and outside of Games time with the aim of building our fanbase and increasing commercial appeal for our partners. 

The ideal candidate will have strong marketing and communications experience including having led fan engagement campaigns across a variety of platforms and touchpoints and having worked in complex stakeholder environments.

 

Key Responsibilities

Create and deliver the Communications Strategy

Build on existing success to create a compelling communications strategy to build Team England’s reach and relevance in line with our overall business strategy and deliver against agreed KPIs 

Create and deliver the Fan Engagement Strategy 

Ensure that we have a compelling and consistent fan engagement strategy in place focusing on our digital platforms and experiences on and off event with the objective of creating engaging content that enables us to target new fans, grow our fanbase in line with our annual KPIs and maximise commercial potential.

Creation of a Data Acquisition Strategy

Create and deliver a strategy to identify and maximise data acquisition opportunities through marketing activations

Be the Brand Guardian for Team England and undertake an extensive brand review

Create and deliver a brand strategy for the 2026 Games with the potential for this to be refreshed for 2030 and beyond

The brand strategy should increase affinity with the Team England brand and driving enhanced commercial value. 

Oversee all brand and kit approvals, and provision of brand guidelines and assets, with specific focus on the approval of commercial partner campaigns and activations via the commercial team. 

Lead the development and activation of the 2026 Games marketing campaign.

Provide strategic direction for the overall campaign and execution to all external stakeholders. Coordinate campaign content across all digital channels.

Lead Team England’s ambassador and influencer programmes, including celebrity endorsements.

Coordinate commercial partner activations alongside and with the Team England campaign. 

Generate content opportunities and plan media activations with existing key media partners & identify new strategic partnerships in support of the campaign. 

Monitoring and Evaluation 

Manage Team England brand research to ensure our messaging remains relevant and that we are on track to achieve brand KPIs. Own post-Games evaluation report and proactively review research approach as appropriate.

Maintain and grow our relationship with athletes

Focus on the Team England Athlete Advisory Group and develop the general athlete engagement strategy in relation to brand and marketing activations & media training.

Agency Management

Management of multiple agencies and other third-party stakeholders and take the lead on agency tender and review processes

Lead a Games-time Team 

Recruit and lead an extended team to support the delivery of Marketing and Communications in the build up to Games-time

Key attributes

• Extensive marketing and communications experience 
• Demonstrable knowledge of digital marketing strategy, campaigns and platforms
• Ability to challenge the organisation’s current approach with innovative thinking and creative problem solving
• Experience of working within a major sporting environment (preferable)
• Experience of marketing and communications strategy development and delivery to meet wider organisational objectives 
• Strong track record of proving ROI against marketing and communications objectives
• A strong and clear communicator 
• Ability to motivate others 
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and respond effectively to change
• Have a strong understanding of a team ethic 
• Ability to work to deadlines and deliver projects on time and in full