- Closing date
- 17 Jul 2017
- Salary
- Up to £35,000
- Location
- Cheltenham
- Full-time or part-time
- Full-time
- Department
- Customer Experience and Marketing
About the Customer Experience and Marketing department
The Customer Experience and Marketing department at UCAS is responsible for:
- the conception and delivery of engaging marketing campaigns
- growing and protecting UCAS’ brand value and reputation
- providing market insight to inform the development of UCAS’ channels, services, and products
The department is divided into many different functions, covering campaigns and audience communications, commercial marketing, Digital Media, User Experience, Events, and Advertising Operations, which all work together to ensure that marketing and customer interactions are easy, enjoyable, and fulfilling.
About the role
A focus of the role is on the maintenance of our mobile hybrid news app, and native iPad version (created using Swift), plus initiation and development of new projects.
You will also be responsible for maintaining and enhancing the touchscreen technology we use for our many events throughout the year, and working with relevant UCAS and UCAS Media stakeholders on new initiatives. You will also be working with other members of the Design Team to support the SalesForce Marketing Cloud email platform, ensuring we are able to support our Marketing Communications and Ad Operations colleagues at all times.
You will be a key member of the creative team, but will also be required to work with the digital and user experience (UX teams) on occasions. Therefore, a commitment to collaborative problem-solving, as well as sophisticated design, and the creation of quality products for our various audiences, is essential. Your experience in JavaScript, HTML5 and CSS is excellent, you have a strong desire to keep learning, and you constantly seek to develop and challenge your skills through self-directed learning.
This role is ideal for a mid-weight digital designer looking to take the next step in their career, and be part of a dynamic and engaged creative team. Portfolio of your work with your application is essential.
Key duties and responsibilities:
- Challenge, explore, develop and support creative design solutions to deliver UCAS and UCAS Media marketing and communication messages.
- Design and build mobile device, desktop, and web applications for UCAS and UCAS Media, ensuring performance, quality, and responsiveness.
- Help maintain code quality, organisation, and automatisation.
- Manage, test and release all content before publishing.
- Identify and correct bottlenecks and fix bugs.
- Interrogate requirements from the marketing account managers, and advise on the best solution to meet their brief, followed by designing and developing creative HTML solutions.
- Develop and deliver standalone creative solutions which can be integrated into web pages, emails, and web apps, including the use of video and animations.
- Provide support in the delivery of creative HTML5 email solutions for UCAS and UCAS Media-related marketing and communications, and third party commercial clients as part of campaign solutions.
- Share knowledge and experience across the team, including keeping immediate colleagues up-to-date on new technologies and creative opportunities.
- Own the ongoing development of your skillset to meet UCAS’ requirements, and stretch your abilities.
Accountabilities:
- Authority to design and deliver artwork and digital files for publishing.
- Authority to make decisions about technical issues that may arise when creating materials.
- Authority to make choices about layout and design for materials.
- To be responsible for the accuracy of own work.
- Use the online workflow management tool (JIRA) to manage work priorities.
Person specification:
- Mobile and tablet web/app development skills (Swift, jQuery Mobile, Titanium, Phonegap).
- Expert HTML5, CSS3 and Javascript knowledge.
- Experience with offline storage, threading, and performance tuning.
- Familiarity with RESTful APIs.
- Understanding of web services/API interface to front-end delivery.
- Fluent in Progressive Web Apps.
- Fluent in Adobe Creative Cloud (especially Photoshop and Illustrator).
- Wire-framing and mock-up experience.
- Knowledge of UI/UX standards.
- Interest in new web technologies, new design trends, applications, and social media.
- Strong cross-device and browser compatibility knowledge.
- Strong understanding of traditional design principles, including typography, branding, and colour theory.
- Creativity and meticulous attention to detail.
- Ability to work to tight deadlines, and project manage own workload in the team environment.
- Ability to accurately assess delivery timescales for tasks and deliver to agreed deadlines.
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
Package
Up to £35,000 with 25 days annual leave, voluntary flexible benefits, paid volunteering days, and a contributory stakeholder pension. It’s not just about the financial benefits that UCAS offers – on-site you can also benefit from our restaurant, affordable gym membership, free parking, unlimited tea and coffee, and many other perks. You’ll enjoy an exciting, agile working environment, with a vibrant culture and flexible approach to work, all of which reflects our teamwork and innovative spirit.
How to apply
Please see the 
role profile (392.17 KB) and our 
application form (1.18 MB). Please fill in the form and email it to the Recruitment Team at careers@ucas.ac.uk, along with your CV.
You will receive an email confirming that your application has reached us. We endeavour to contact all candidates before or soon after the closing date. However, due to high volumes of applications, we may not be able to contact all candidates. If you do not hear from us, please assume your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.
All information you send to us will be kept in line with the Data Protection Act 1998. UCAS is committed to equality and values diversity in our workforce. We welcome and encourage applications from all candidates in line with the Equality Act 2010.
We reserve the right to close this job vacancy prior to the advertised closing date, if we feel we have found a suitable candidate.