Senior Data Analyst – Marketing Strategy Insight and Proposition
Advert Reference Number: 1244
Job Location: Milton Keynes, Remote/Hybrid
Department: Strategy and Insight
Closing Date: 9 December 2025
Weekly Working Hours: 37
Contract Type: Permanent
The Open University is the UK’s largest university, a world leader in flexible part‑time education combining a mission to widen access to higher education with research excellence. Find out more about us and our mission by watching the short video.
About the Role
The Senior Data Analyst plays a key role in advancing The Open University’s evidence‑based marketing strategy. The postholder leads complex analytical projects that inform student acquisition, engagement and retention through robust data insight. They act as the analytical lead within the Marketing, Communication and Development Unit, delivering insights that drive audience behaviour, product performance and media optimisation to ensure marketing investment is guided by rigorous evidence and strategic insight.
Key Responsibilities
Analytical Leadership
* Lead the design and delivery of analytical projects that evaluate the effectiveness of marketing activity across all channels (digital, paid media, CRM, partnerships).
* Pro‑actively identify opportunities in the data and wider team insight, to make appropriate business recommendations.
* Develop and maintain analytical frameworks for measuring brand health, campaign performance, audience conversion and media ROI.
* Oversee the design and execution of segmentation and audience profiling to inform targeting, personalisation and proposition development.
* Direct and quality‑assure analytical work delivered by G7 Data Analysts, ensuring methodological robustness and alignment with strategic marketing priorities.
* Drive the use of predictive and econometric modelling to improve forecasting, media efficiency and campaign planning.
Insight Generation and Interpretation
* Translate complex data into clear insights and strategic recommendations, providing evidence‑based guidance to the Brand and Marketing team on performance drivers and opportunities to enhance conversion and optimise channel and media spend.
* Deliver regular reporting and dashboards (e.g. Tableau, Power BI) on campaign and media performance, providing meaningful interpretation and recommendations.
* Lead market and competitor analysis, identifying emerging market and behavioural trends through analysis of internal and external datasets to support the evolution of the OU’s student acquisition strategy.
Collaboration and Stakeholder Influence
* Act as a key analytical partner for senior stakeholders across Marketing, Communications and Development.
* Collaborate with the Proposition and Market Research teams to integrate learner insights, market trends and behavioural data into analytics.
* Present complex analytical findings to non‑technical audiences in clear, compelling ways, influencing decision‑making at senior levels.
* Build strong working relationships with agency partners and external data providers to ensure consistent, high‑quality insight.
Capability Development and Continuous Improvement
* Mentor and support G7 Analysts, building analytical capability, curiosity and confidence across the team.
* Champion the development of new tools, techniques and technologies (e.g. automation, data visualisation, attribution modelling) to enhance analytical maturity.
* Support the establishment of best‑practice standards for analytical design, governance and data quality across the Marketing data community.
Governance and Compliance
* Ensure all work complies with data protection, information security and ethical data‑use requirements.
* Maintain up‑to‑date understanding of external regulatory and market developments (e.g. OfS, LLE, APP) and their implications for marketing analytics.
About You
* Degree (or equivalent experience) in a subject with a strong quantitative, statistical, or analytical component.
* Proven experience delivering analytical and performance insights that inform marketing strategy, campaign design and media optimisation in a large, complex organisation.
* Advanced technical proficiency in large data manipulation and analysis, using tools such as SAS, SQL, SPSS (or equivalent) including advanced Excel skills.
* Experience with data visualisation and reporting tools (e.g. Tableau, Power BI, Looker Studio) for marketing or performance insight.
* Understanding of marketing analytics concepts such as attribution, media mix modelling, segmentation, funnel analysis and ROI measurement.
* Demonstrable experience translating analytical findings into actionable recommendations for senior, non‑technical audiences.
* Experience mentoring other analysts or overseeing analytical quality and standards.
* Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to build trusted relationships across diverse stakeholder groups.
* Experience working with CRM, digital marketing or campaign management platforms (e.g. Adobe, Salesforce, Google Marketing Platform).
* Understanding of higher education marketing and student recruitment environments.
* Experience using external data sources (e.g. HESA, UCAS, ONS) to contextualise marketing performance.
* Familiarity with automation, forecasting or AI‑assisted analytics in marketing contexts.
Support with your application
If you have any questions, or need support or adjustments relating to your application, the recruitment process, or the role, please contact us on 01908 541111 or email careers@open.ac.uk quoting the advert reference number.
What's in it for you?
At The Open University, we offer a range of benefits to recognise and reward great work, alongside policies and flexible working that contribute towards a great work‑life balance. Get all the details of the benefits we offer by visiting the Staff Benefits page.
We are open to discussions about flexible working. Whether it’s a job share, part‑time, compressed hours or another working arrangement, please reach out to us to discuss what works best for you.
Work location
It is anticipated that a hybrid working pattern can be adopted for this role, where you can work from home and the office. However, as this role is contractually aligned to our Milton Keynes office some attendance in the office will be required in response to business needs. We expect this to be twice per month on average.
Next steps in the Recruitment process
If shortlisted, we anticipate interviews taking place W/C 12th January.
Early closing date notification
We may close this job advert earlier than the published closing date where a satisfactory number of applications are received. We would therefore encourage early applications.
How to apply
To apply for this role please submit the following documents:
* CV
* Supporting statement (Your Supporting Statement should be no more than 1000 words and should outline how your skills and experience meets the essential and desirable criteria listed above).
You can view your progress and application communications when you are logged into our recruitment system. Please check your spam/junk folders if you do not receive associated email updates.
Equality, diversity and inclusion
The Open University is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion which is reflected in our mission to be open to people, places, methods and ideas. We aim to foster a diverse and inclusive environment so that all in our OU community can reach their potential. We recognise that different people bring different perspectives, ideas, knowledge and culture, and that this difference brings great strength. We strive to recruit, retain and develop the careers of a diverse pool of students and staff, and particularly encourage applications from all under‑represented groups. We also aspire to make The Open University a supportive workplace for all through our policies, services and staff networks.
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