Development Manager For Digital marketing

ABOUT ACUITY PROFESSIONAL

Acuity Professional is a UK-based professional services group providing specialist advice and support to businesses, entrepreneurs, property owners and private clients across the United Kingdom. Our core service lines include: Accountancy & Taxation, Making Tax Digital, Finance Function Services, Tax Advisory, Corporate Finance, Wealth Management, Mortgages, Defined Benefit Pension Advice, Adviser Support Services, and Paraplanning Services.

Following a successful period working with a consultant, Acuity is now building an in-house strategic marketing function to support the next phase of growth. This is a rare opportunity to build and lead that function from the ground up.

ROLE OVERVIEW

We are seeking a commercially minded growth leader capable of building a high-performing digital marketing department that generates authority, trust and qualified opportunities across multiple professional service lines.

The Development Manager for Digital marketing will be responsible for building, leading and scaling Acuity's inhouse marketing function. The role combines strategic leadership with hands-on delivery. The successful candidate will be accountable for generating qualified opportunities for Acuity's UK business divisions whilst establishing the systems, processes and team required to support long-term growth.

This role is not simply about running campaigns. It is about building a commercially focused marketing function capable of delivering measurable business growth. Candidates must have direct experience marketing to UK audiences. Experience in the UK professional services sector is strongly preferred.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Strategic Marketing Leadership

• Develop and own Acuity's marketing strategy across all service lines
• Create annual and quarterly marketing plans aligned with business objectives
• Establish clear growth priorities, marketing KPIs and reporting framework
• Work closely with UK leadership to identify new growth opportunities
• Ensure all marketing activity supports Acuity's positioning as a specialist advisory business

2. Digital Growth & Lead Generation

• Build audience nurturing programmes and develop campaigns tailored to specific UK market segments
• Focus on quality and relevance of leads rather than volume alone

3. Authority & Thought Leadership

• Position Acuity as a recognised expert and leading UK advisory brand
• Build thought leadership campaigns including: articles, white papers, case studies, video content, webinars, LinkedIn content, and email campaigns
• Support personal brand development for senior partners and subject matter experts
• Ensure all content reflects UK professional services standards and buyer expectations
• Understand how professional services firms build trust and credibility through expertise-led marketing

4. SEO & Content Marketing

• Develop content strategies across all Acuity divisions: Accountancy & Taxation, Making Tax Digital, Finance Function Services, Tax Advisory, Corporate Finance, Wealth Management, Defined Benefit Pensions, Adviser Support Services, and Paraplanning Services, working with the UK team who can provide all the content that is required

5. Marketing Operations & Analytics

• Design and implement marketing processes and reporting systems from scratch
• Establish dashboards tracking: lead volumes, cost per lead, conversion rates, campaign ROI, and marketing contribution to revenue
• Recommend future marketing technology and automation solutions as the business grows including evaluating whether tools such as HubSpot, Salesforce or similar are appropriate
• Use data to drive continuous improvement across all channels

6. AI & Marketing Innovation

• Identify opportunities to improve marketing efficiency using AI
• Implement AI-assisted content and marketing workflows where appropriate
• Evaluate emerging technologies and tools relevant to Acuity's growth ambitions
• Support innovation across the marketing function using Acuity's AI technical team in India

7. Social Media & Brand Presence

• Own and manage Acuity's social media presence with primary focus on Meta platforms (Facebook and Instagram), supported by LinkedIn, targeting UK SMEs, business owners and professional services decisionmakers
• Develop a consistent content calendar aligned to Acuity's service lines and the UK professional services calendar (e.g. tax year, Making Tax Digital milestones, Budget announcements)
• Tailor content appropriately for each platform brand awareness and engagement on Meta, professional thought leadership on LinkedIn
• Build Acuity's brand presence by amplifying partner expertise and driving meaningful engagement with UK audiences
• Track performance metrics follower growth, engagement, content reach and contribution to lead generation across all platforms

8. Team Building & Leadership

• Recruit specialist marketing talent and manage internal resources and external suppliers

9. Agency & Vendor Transition

• Lead the transition from Dentsu to an in-house capability, retaining and improving what is working
• Manage specialist suppliers and freelancers where required, based in India
• Ensure strong commercial performance from all marketing investments

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

Essential

• 4-7 years of digital and strategic marketing experience, with at least 5 years in a leadership role
• Experience across: Google Ads, LinkedIn Marketing, SEO, Content Marketing, Email Marketing, and Analytics & Reporting
• Experience building or scaling a marketing function from scratch
• Minimum 5 years managing and developing a marketing team
• Strong commercial awareness understands how marketing contributes to revenue and profitability

Strongly Preferred / Highly Desirable

• Experience building thought leadership programmes and supporting senior executives in developing personal brands
• Experience using AI within marketing workflows

CORE COMPETENCIES

• UK Market Expertise - Deep knowledge of UK digital marketing channels, buyer behaviour, and professional services sector dynamics
• Strategic Thinking - Translates business objectives into measurable growth plans with clear priorities and KPIs
• Commercial Accumen - Understands how marketing contributes to revenue and profitability
• Authority Marketing - Understands how trust-based businesses win clients through expertise, credibility and thought leadership
• Data Fluency - Makes decisions from data; comfortable with analytics, dashboards, and performance metrics
• Builder's Mindset - Thrives in a zero-to-one environment; creates new systems, processes and teams from the ground up
• Stakeholder management - Manages cross-geography relationships effectively; communicates clearly to nonmarketing senior audiences

SUCCESS MEASURES FIRST 12 MONTHS

• Successful transition from agency-led (Dentsu) to in-house marketing
• Establishment of Acuity's marketing function and operating model
• Delivery of agreed lead generation targets for UK service lines
• Improved cost per qualified lead
• Increased website traffic and conversion rates
• Recruitment and development of an in-house marketing team
• Implementation of marketing reporting and performance dashboards
• Creation of a scalable growth platform capable of supporting all Acuity service lines