Scottish Historic Buildings Trust (SHBT) is Scotland’s national building preservation charity, saving significant historic buildings at risk and giving them a sustainable future in their communities. We have restored over 40 buildings and raised more than £40 million, and in 2028 we reach our 50th anniversary.

The Marketing & Communications Manager is pivotal in promoting our charitable mission, telling the story of our restoration projects, and building the audiences and public profile that our work depends on. Our commercial activities, including weddings, events and venue hire, sustain that preservation work.

Reporting to the Director and Head of Operations of SHBT, working with project managers, internal stakeholders and SHBT Trustees, you will lead communications and audience development for the Trust and its projects.

This is an ideal role for a proven storyteller, communicator and marketer with experience in heritage and culture, who wants to shape how a national charity is understood, turning complex architectural and historical context into clear and effective communications campaigns that drive SHBT towards its key objectives and support for its projects across Scotland.

Key responsibilities

Marketing

• Management and delivery of SHBT’s digital presence, ensuring our values and brand identity are communicated clearly and consistently
• Build and deliver a rich content and editorial calendar, including blog posts and newsletters, in coordination with the events, projects and properties teams
• Commission and manage film and video content, briefing filmmakers and freelancers, guiding scripts and edits, and publishing across our channels
• Design and produce promotional material for our buildings, weddings and events, including brochures, leaflets and print, working in Canva or similar and briefing designers on larger pieces
• Monitor and measure the reach and impact of our activity, collating analytics and producing reports for senior management team meetings, fundraising documents and Board meetings, ensuring GDPR compliance
• Brief and work alongside retained specialists on website, design and campaign work, making sure content is supplied in good time

Communications

• Develop, manage and implement the communications strategy for key projects, activities and events, in coordination with the project managers
• Drive engagement on social media through content appropriate to each network, growing our reach and building relationships with the audiences that matter to us
• Drive media relations through media releases and arranging interviews with relevant outlets and partners
• Promote the Director of SHBT as an authority on the work of the Trust as a building preservation trust, and as an expert in the field of regeneration, across television, radio, print, social media and blogs

Knowledge & Engagement

• Work with the Development & Engagement Officer to develop and deliver online fundraising campaigns
• Represent SHBT and reach new audiences through networking and attendance at key events on behalf of the Trust
• Create and distribute listings for our knowledge and engagement events, including lectures, conferences and supporters’ events, and promote these to deliver capacity audiences
• Evaluate campaign performance and identify opportunities to improve

Other duties

• Facilitate the Marketing Working Group of staff and trustees, taking minutes and providing quarterly reports for the group and for Board meetings
• Manage marketing administration, including image permissions and licensing
• Manage the marketing budget, tracking spend across campaigns, design, print and film, and reporting on it to the senior management team
• Support fundraising, projects and engagement work where marketing and promotion can help

Person Specification

Essential

• Proven experience in marketing and communications, ideally in the heritage, culture or charity sector
• Excellent written communication, with the ability to write accurately and at pace for audiences ranging from funders and trustees to press and the public
• Strong working knowledge of digital communications, including social media and email marketing
• Experience of creating communications material, including web content, e-appeals and social media communications
• Confidence commissioning and coordinating film and video content at a basic level, including briefing suppliers and preparing short edits for social
• Experience of report writing
• Sound understanding of GDPR
• Experience of Mailchimp or similar for mass communications
• WordPress CMS experience
• An interest in historic buildings, their conservation and cultural heritage

Desirable

• Experience of the heritage sector, the work of building preservation trusts, or capital projects in receipt of public funding
• Experience developing relationships with media partners and building a network of contacts
• A clear understanding of marketing for an organisation which undertakes both charitable and commercial activities
• Experience using analytics tools and a CRM system
• Familiarity with AI tools, and an openness to how they can be used ethically to support the work of a heritage charity
• Ability to create simple designs in Canva, Figma, Adobe Creative Suite or similar.
• Experience managing budgets

Personal Qualities

• Creative and strategic thinker with a results-driven mindset
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Highly proactive and ability to know what needs to happen to achieve an objective without supervision
• Excellent administrative and organisational skills
• Demonstrable ability to work on your own initiative, and to meet objectives and deadlines under pressure
• Able to work outside office hours by mutual arrangement

For the right candidate, this is an exciting opportunity to make a meaningful difference, and to have a lot of fun along the way.

Reports To: Director/Head of Operations