International Student Recruitment Manager

Salary: £35,116 - £37,174 with progression to £45,413  per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 05 May 2025

Are you passionate about international student recruitment and keen to play a key role in growing the global profile of a leading business school? Newcastle University Business School is seeking an experienced and strategic International Student Recruitment Manager to drive our international recruitment and conversion strategies.

As the International Student Recruitment Manager, you will lead the development, implementation, and evaluation of international recruitment strategies to attract high-calibre international students to Newcastle University Business School. Working collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders, you will ensure alignment with the University’s strategic priorities and contribute to the School’s ambitious growth plans.

This is an exciting full time, open-ended opportunity for an individual with expertise in international marketing and recruitment, strategic planning, and stakeholder engagement. The role requires international travel and the ability to work effectively across multiple teams to enhance student recruitment and conversion rates.

Why Join Us?

Newcastle University Business School is located in Newcastle City Centre and at the gateway to the Newcastle Helix, a £350million partnership between Newcastle University, Newcastle City Council and Legal and General, where business meets Science.

Newcastle University is a Russell Group institution, and the Newcastle University Business School is home to 4000 students and is one of an elite group of Business Schools worldwide to hold triple accreditation from the three internationally recognised accreditation bodies: AMBA, AACSB, and EQUIS. This is testament to our reputation for our world leading Research and Teaching.

This role offers a fantastic opportunity to contribute to the School’s international growth, engage with global stakeholders, and make a real impact on student recruitment strategies.  If you are a strategic, driven, and globally minded professional, we would love to hear from you.

How to Apply To apply

Please submit your CV and a cover letter outlining your suitability for the role, addressing the Key Accountabilities and Person specification in the attached job description. For more information, please contact Jen Simpson, Head of Engagement, Recruitment and Marketing, Jennifer.Simpson@Newcastle.ac.uk.

Join us in shaping the future of international recruitment at Newcastle University Business School!

The Role

To lead the development, implementation and evaluation of international student recruitment strategies to achieve Business School recruitment targets for high-calibre international students, ensuring alignment with University strategic priorities and planning.

Develop strong relationships with key stakeholders within the Business School and within central University teams to plan and deliver strategically aligned recruitment events and campaigns with a clear focus on conversion activities within key markets.

Grow and develop the Business School’s brand reputation through collaboration with colleagues and external partners to enhance student recruitment and conversion rates to support ambitious growth plans.

Key Accountabilities

• Manage the development, implementation and evaluation of Business School and University recruitment strategies, with a particular focus on the recruitment and conversion of international students to meet targets for recruitment and other aspects of international activity
• Proactively coordinate relationships with colleagues based in the Universities International Office to identify and arrange recruitment opportunities in key international markets and align the participation of appropriate staff on international visits and delegations representing the Business School (and other Faculties as required)
• Act as a key source of information in the interrogation and dissemination of management data to provide informed decision making on recruitment and conversion strategy development, including market-led data, country insights and reports, regular in-cycle applicant reporting
• Plan, coordinate and support in conjunction with Business School, University International Office and Faculty teams:
  • Collaboration with Central and School level Marketing colleagues to identify opportunities and requirements for subject-focused campaigns that support lead generation and conversion, including sharing insights, data and recruitment targets to support decisions
  • Agent training and communication and the coordination of travel by appropriate academic colleagues including briefings
  • Impactful processes for student enquiry handling; co-ordination of student interviews including in-country offers; stakeholder management for specific markets; School-level scholarship offers and recruitment partnership activity
  • Monitoring of budgets and justifying spend in accordance with priorities to provide insights on ROI in relation to recruitment and conversion activities in key international and home markets 
• Organise and personally undertake participation in international recruitment and on-campus events either virtually or in-country where appropriate
• Contribute to the development and on-going management of international recruitment partnerships and other internationalisation objectives, in collaboration with Faculty colleagues, International Academic Selectors and Internationalisation Manager 
• Collaborate with the Business School’s Alumni Relations Team to develop an integrated approach to support recruitment and conversion activity in key markets
• In coordination with the Universities International Office, review, develop and ensure an effective and proactive working relationship with ‘INTO’, to maximise the recruitment and conversion of students through this channel
• Provide support to the Directors of Student Recruitment and Senior Colleagues within the School for identified aspects of student recruitment planning and strategy delivery
• Line management responsibility to include workload planning, prioritisation and colleague development within the School and at Faculty level
• Work closely with colleagues/teams at School, University and Faculty level to: deliver Business School strategy, ensuring alignment with the University’s strategies, policies, guidelines and approaches; share best practice in a service culture; and undertake joint planning with a commitment to change management in order to maximise impact and effectiveness 
• Other duties, as defined by line manager, which support the successful achievement of the Universities strategic objectives   

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Excellent interpersonal, communication, negotiation and influencing skills with the ability to develop effective working relationships with a range of staff and to work well within and across teams
• Excellent communication, presentation and report writing skills
• Experience of market research and competitor analysis with the ability to undertake research and collect, manage and interpret data
• Proven ability to use initiative, think strategically and to adopt a creative approach to problem solving
• Excellent project management skills, including time management and organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise workload, work under pressure and to meet multiple deadlines
• Experience and understanding of customer relationship management
• Awareness of current issues affecting Higher Education., in particular an understanding of the issues and complexities of international marketing and recruitment
• Experience of budget management
• Willingness and availability to undertake international travel to support the delivery of strategic objectives throughout the year
• Line management experience, with ability to lead and develop staff (Desirable)

Attributes and Behaviour

• Thinking Strategically – has the ability to see the ‘big picture’, to think strategically and manage complex problems and issues
• Communicating – uses clear, concise and accurate communication, tailoring the approach accordingly and encouraging a two-way communication process
• Embracing change – recognises the need for change and is forward looking.  Promotes the benefits of change to others and regularly comes up with new ideas.  Has the willingness to adopt to new ways of working and to make improvements
• Influencing – persuades, convinces and influences others in order to achieve results and gain support
• Team Working – works collaboratively with others, plays a positive role in teams and establishes and grows relationships across the project where different skills, expertise and opinions are valued
• Developing Talent – motivates and develops self and others to achieve high performance.  Demonstrates a positive approach to developing skills and performance.

Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent level qualification plus experience in a similar role or significant vocational experience, demonstrating development through progressively more demanding, relevant roles
• Chartered Institute of Marketing qualification or other relevant marketing qualification (Desirable)

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silver  Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 28070