About Us

Nestled in the picturesque Hunter Valley on 32 acres of green space, Hunter Valley Grammar School (HVGS) is an independent, non-selective, secular, coeducational day school for students from Preschool to Year 12.

Our innovative curriculum and co-curriculum activities foster curiosity, critical thinking, and entrepreneurialism, preparing students for the challenges of tomorrow's workplaces.

About the Role

The Head of Advancement and Marketing leads Hunter Valley Grammar School's Marketing, Communications and Enrolment department and is accountable for building demand for a Hunter Valley Grammar School education.

As the School's senior marketing professional, the role develops and implements strategies that strengthen the School's brand, enhance its reputation and generate sustained enrolment demand. Working within the Executive-endorsed Marketing and Communications Strategic Framework, the Head of Advancement and Marketing establishes departmental priorities, manages the marketing budget and ensures resources are directed towards activities that deliver measurable outcomes.

The role is accountable for the volume and quality of enquiries entering the School's enrolment pipeline and for the data, insights and reporting that inform decision-making and demonstrate marketing effectiveness. Through a disciplined focus on performance, the Head of Advancement and Marketing continuously evaluates and refines strategies that build understanding of the HVGS story and bring to fruition the HVGS Enrolment Strategy.

Leading the School's marketing, communications and enrolment functions, the role combines strategic leadership with hands-on delivery, personally driving key initiatives while managing agency partners and internal resources to achieve agreed objectives.

Work Pattern: This position is a permanent, full-time position.

Key Duties

Leadership

- Provide strategic leadership and management of the Marketing, Communications and Enrolment department, ensuring activities align with the School's vision, values and strategic priorities.

- Lead, develop and support a high-performing team, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement and customer focus.

- Provide expert marketing and communications advice to the Principal, Business Manager, Executive Team and school leaders on matters relating to brand, enrolment growth, market positioning and stakeholder engagement.

- Establish clear priorities across the marketing, communications and enrolment functions, ensuring resources are directed to activities that deliver measurable outcomes.

- Develop departmental capability by ensuring plans, processes, reporting frameworks, systems and knowledge are documented, maintained and embedded within the team.

- Manage and oversee the intake, prioritisation and delivery of cross-functional marketing and communications requests from across the School.

Demand Generation and Enrolment Growth

- Develop, implement and continuously optimise strategies that generate enquiry and demand for Hunter Valley Grammar School that support the achievement of enrolment targets.

- Design, execute and evaluate acquisition campaigns aligned to priority entry years, target audiences and enrolment objectives.

- Lead the development of marketing initiatives that strengthen market awareness, increase enquiries and maximise conversion through the enrolment pipeline.

- Own and optimise the prospective family journey from initial awareness through to enrolment, identifying barriers, opportunities and areas for improvement.

- Lead the School's organic search strategy, including website performance, search engine optimisation, content effectiveness and local directory presence.





- Develop and manage email marketing, enquiry nurturing and audience engagement programs that support conversion and retention objectives.

- Manage external marketing agencies and suppliers, establishing clear objectives, performance measures and return on investment expectations.

- Build and strengthen referral, advocacy, alumni and community partnerships that contribute to enrolment demand and brand awareness.

Marketing Performance, Data and Insights

- Establish and maintain reliable reporting and visibility across the enquiry-to-enrolment pipeline using the School's marketing, enrolment, analytics and student management platforms.

- Ensure enquiry source data is accurately captured and maintained to enable performance measurement and channel attribution.

- Develop and monitor key performance indicators across all stages of the enrolment process, setting baselines, targets and continuous improvement measures.

- Analyse market intelligence, customer insights and performance data to inform planning, decision-making and investment priorities.

- Report regularly to the Business Manager and Executive on marketing effectiveness, enrolment demand, campaign performance and return on investment.

- Maintain governance and oversight of departmental reporting, data quality, marketing technology platforms and related systems.

Strategic Planning and Budget Management

- Implement the Executive-endorsed Marketing and Communications Strategic Framework and translate it into an annual operational plan with defined objectives, target audiences, timelines, deliverables and measures of success.

- Develop and manage the department's operating and marketing budgets, ensuring expenditure aligns with strategic priorities and delivers measurable value.

- Monitor departmental performance against approved plans and budgets, identifying risks, opportunities and corrective actions as required.

- Ensure projects, campaigns and initiatives are effectively prioritised, sequenced and resourced to achieve agreed outcomes.

Brand, Communications and Content Management

- Act as the custodian of the Hunter Valley Grammar School brand, ensuring consistent application across all communications, marketing activities and stakeholder touchpoints.

- Provide final oversight and approval of public-facing marketing and communication materials to ensure alignment with the School’s strategy, values, style guide and brand standards.

- Maintain and evolve the School's messaging framework to ensure a clear, compelling and distinctive position in the education market.

- Set content priorities and strategic direction, ensuring content investment supports enrolment demand, brand positioning and stakeholder engagement objectives.

- Establish and maintain standards for brand application, messaging, content development and communications across all School channels.

- Oversee the planning and delivery of marketing and communications activity to ensure it is audience-focused, aligned to strategic priorities and achieves measurable outcomes.

About You

- Relevant tertiary qualifications in Marketing, Communications, Business or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of professional experience and demonstrated achievement.





- Manage one’s own annual accreditation requirements including fee payment and maintenance of a current Working With Children Check (WWCC) clearance.

- Demonstrated success developing, implementing and optimising marketing campaigns that have delivered measurable growth in enquiries, leads, applications or customer acquisition, with the ability to articulate strategy, execution, outcomes achieved and lessons learned through data-informed evaluation.

- Proven experience translating organisational objectives into marketing strategies and operational plans with clearly defined goals, target audiences, measures of success and budget allocations, together with experience managing and reporting against marketing budgets and investment priorities.

- Demonstrated success leading and developing high-performing multidisciplinary teams, with the ability to establish priorities, manage competing demands and foster a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement.

- Evidence of success operating in a hands-on leadership role that combines strategic direction with personal ownership and delivery of key initiatives, balancing long-term planning with operational execution.

- Highly developed communication, influencing and presentation skills, with demonstrated ability to engage, advise and challenge senior leaders, present strategic recommendations, justify investment decisions and report against agreed outcomes.

Desirable:

- Experience within an independent school, education setting or another high-value, relationship-based service environments.

- Understanding of the International Baccalaureate (IB) philosophy and programmes.

- Experience using enquiry management, CRM and website content management systems.

- Knowledge of admissions and enrolment processes and the factors influencing enrolment conversion and retention. For a complete picture of the role, you can find the full Job Description on our website.

Benefits

At HVGS, we're dedicated to empowering our staff to thrive in the dynamic realm of teaching and learning. We uphold this commitment by equipping our educators with cutting-edge tools and skills necessary to excel in their profession. Moreover, HVGS offers a suite of exclusive benefits to our valued staff members, including:

- 15 days Personal Leave for all full-time, permanent staff (prorated for part time staff)

- Generous professional development opportunities.

- Access to Fitness Passport, which provides you and your family with flexible access to a wide range of gyms and pools, at a discounted price.

- State-of-the-Art teaching and learning infrastructure.

- Access to our comprehensive Employee Assistance Program.

- Access to Staff strength and conditioning sessions and the school gym, rowing facility.

- Salary Sacrificing options, including novated leasing.

Join HVGS and be part of a supportive community committed to your skilled growth, well-being, and success.

How to Apply

Applicants must apply by completing the online Job Application form here: https://www.hvgs.nsw.edu.au/about/employment/

Applications submitted via SEEK’s ‘apply for job’ button will not be considered.

For a confidential discussion regarding the role, please contact Human Resources on (02) •••• •444 or ••••@hvgs.nsw.edu.au. Enquiries made through Seek’s pilot chat function are not currently being monitored.

Applications close: 5:00 pm on Monday, 14 September 2026.

Hunter Valley Grammar School reserves the right to interview and appoint prior to the closing date.

Applications received after this date will not be considered. HVGS is an equal opportunity employer. All staff must have a current Employee Working with Children Check.

📌 Head of Advancement and Marketing (East Maitland)
🏢 Hunter Valley Grammar School
📍 East Maitland