One of Australia’s most established hospitality groups, Trader House, is looking for an experienced Head of Marketing & Creative to lead the marketing function, team and delivery across our diverse portfolio of venues and brands.

About us

Trader House is a collection of Melbourne and Brisbane’s most distinctive restaurants, bars and specialty food stores, led by chef, author and columnist Andrew McConnell and photographer Jo McGann.

Our Melbourne venues include Gimlet, Côte Basque, Apollo Inn, Cutler, Supernormal, Cumulus Inc., Marion, Builders Arms Hotel, Meatsmith and Morning Market—with Stokehouse, St Kilda joining the group in October 2026. In Brisbane, you’ll find Supernormal and Bar Miette.

Join a team shaping Australia’s hospitality culture across exceptional venues, each with its own identity and a shared commitment to great food, genuine service and memorable experiences.

About the role

The Group Head of Marketing & Creative is responsible for leading the marketing team and shaping how Trader House presents itself to the world.

This is a leadership role with a significant emphasis on creative direction, brand stewardship and quality of execution. You’ll have exceptional taste, a clear point of view and a highly developed understanding of what great creative work looks like. From a campaign concept or restaurant launch to a menu, photograph, film, invitation or social asset, you’ll ensure everything that leaves the marketing team feels distinctive, considered and unmistakably right for the brand.

You’ll set the creative standard across the group, translating the character and positioning of each Trader House brand into strong briefs and compelling work. You’ll know when an idea is good, when it needs pushing further and when something simply isn’t good enough. You’ll be confident giving clear, constructive creative direction and protecting the detail through to final execution.

Central to the role will be building and maintaining an exceptional network of creative collaborators. You’ll bring a strong black book of designers, photographers, videographers, illustrators, writers, stylists, agencies and other creative talent, and know who to bring into a project to achieve the right outcome. You’ll commission and direct external partners confidently, build enduring creative relationships and continually introduce new talent and perspectives to the group.

Alongside this creative leadership, you’ll lead and develop the marketing team and create the structure required to consistently produce excellent work. You’ll establish priorities, manage the group marketing calendar and ensure campaigns and projects move from brief to delivery with clear ownership, realistic timelines and rigorous attention to detail.

You’ll bring creativity and ideas to campaigns, partnerships, launches and opportunities that strengthen our brands and connect them with their audiences. Just as importantly,



you’ll know how to turn a strong idea into an exceptional outcome — sharpening the brief, assembling the right people and resources, guiding the creative process and maintaining the standard all the way through production and delivery.

Collaborating closely with senior leadership, venue teams and external partners, you’ll balance the needs of multiple brands and stakeholders while remaining a strong custodian of each brand’s identity. You’ll make considered decisions about where the team should focus its time and ensure people have the direction, support and resources they need to do their best work.

Ultimately, you will be the quality gate for the marketing function. Nothing should leave the desk because it is simply finished or on time; it should leave because it meets the creative and brand standards Trader House expects.

What you’ll bring

Significant experience leading marketing and creative output within a sophisticated consumer, hospitality, lifestyle, fashion, retail, design brand-led environment

Exceptional aesthetic judgement and taste, with a highly developed understanding of what constitutes outstanding design, photography, film, copy and brand execution

Demonstrated experience providing creative direction across campaigns, content, photography, video, design and brand collateral, from initial concept through to final execution

A strong network — or black book — of exceptional creative talent, including designers, photographers, videographers, illustrators, writers, stylists, agencies and makers

The ability to identify the right creative collaborator for a brief, commission work effectively and direct external talent to achieve an exceptional outcome

Confidence giving clear and constructive creative feedback, challenging work when necessary and pushing ideas beyond the obvious or merely acceptable

A deep appreciation for detail and consistency, with an unwillingness to compromise on work that does not meet the required creative or brand standard

Creativity and curiosity, with the ability to generate original ideas and identify culturally relevant opportunities that build brands and engage customers

A strong understanding of brand positioning, visual identity, tone of voice and customer experience, and the ability to protect these across every customer touchpoint

Proven experience leading, developing and motivating a marketing team, setting clear expectations while building capability, confidence and accountability

Excellent marketing operations and project management skills,



with the ability to translate ambitious creative ideas into structured plans and reliable delivery

Strong prioritisation skills and the judgement to determine where the team’s time, energy and resources will have the greatest impact

Confidence managing a busy marketing calendar across multiple brands, campaigns, channels and stakeholders

The ability to establish effective briefing processes, workflows, timelines and ways of working that enable excellent creative work rather than constrain it

Strong commercial judgement and an ability to balance creative ambition with business priorities, budgets and deadlines

A natural relationship builder, with the ability to develop and nurture strong, long-term relationships with creative, brand, community and commercial partners

Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with the confidence to advocate for creative quality with venue teams, senior leaders and external partners

A calm, practical and solutions-focused approach when priorities shift or deadlines compete

The judgement to know when to empower and delegate, when to provide direction and when to get close to the work to ensure the outcome is right

Experience in hospitality, lifestyle, fashion, retail, or publishing would be highly regarded.

What you can expect

The opportunity to shape the creative expression of some of Australia's most recognised hospitality brands

Genuine influence over the creative standard and marketing direction of the Trader House portfolio

The prospect to work with and commission leading creative talent across design, photography, film, writing and other disciplines

A broad creative canvas spanning venue launches, campaigns, brand partnerships, events, photography, film, print, and digital

An incredibly talented marketing team to lead, coach and develop

Close collaboration with the owners, senior leaders and experienced operators across the group

The opportunity to strengthen the systems and processes that allow ambitious creative work to be delivered consistently and exceptionally

Support and development within an established and evolving hospitality group

This is an opportunity for a marketing leader with exceptional taste, creative instinct and exacting standards.

You’ll be someone who notices the details others miss. You know the difference between something that is technically correct and something that is genuinely excellent. You understand that great brands are built through hundreds of small decisions, and you care deeply about making those decisions well.

You’ll combine that creative conviction with strong leadership and operational discipline — bringing together great people, clear priorities and exceptional creative talent to ensure Trader House continues to produce work that is thoughtful, distinctive and of an uncompromisingly high standard.

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📌 Group Marketing Manager (Melbourne)
🏢 Trader House
📍 Melbourne