Head of Marketing

Freightliner is the UK's largest maritime intermodal logistics operator, transporting containers from all major deep-sea ports to our national network of inland terminals, as well as a leading operator in the UK Heavy Haul rail freight market. Freightliner has operations across Europe offering both Intermodal and Heavy Haul rail freight services seamlessly connecting European countries and the UK.

In the UK the Freightliner Group operates under a number of legal entities including, Freightliner Ltd, Pentalver Transport Ltd, and Pentalver Cannock Ltd.

Main purpose of the role:

To drive Freightliner’s commercial and strategic growth by developing and delivering a targeted marketing strategy that strengthens brand position, enhances customer value proposition, supports revenue generation, and builds influential relationships across industry, government, and key stakeholders.

Core Responsibilities:

1.    Proposition Development & Positioning:

•    Define and articulate a clear, customer-focused value proposition for rail freight vs road (cost efficiency, reliability, scalability);
•    Translate operational capabilities (network reach, intermodal solutions, capacity) into compelling commercial offerings;
•    Segment markets (e.g. shipping lines, BCOs, merchant) and tailor propositions to sector-specific needs;
•    Work closely with operations and commercial teams to ensure propositions are deliverable and differentiated;
•    Work with Head of Pricing to develop pricing and service models that reflect long-term contracts and volume commitments;
•    Promote MyHub as a key customer value proposition, positioning it as a simple, efficient, and user-friendly platform that makes it easier for BCO and Merchant customers to do business with the Company, supporting both acquisition and customer satisfaction.

2.    Brand, PR & Communications:

•    Lead strategic PR activity to position the business as a trusted, modern and sustainable freight intermodal partner;
•    Develop thought leadership campaigns, in collaboration with the Policy and Government Affairs team, highlighting rail’s role in decarbonisation, economic growth and wider government priorities;
•    Manage media relations, industry press, and crisis communications – the latter if, and where, required;
•    Produce high-quality marketing collateral (case studies, white papers, digital content) to support sales and stakeholder engagement;
•    Enhance Freightliner’s social media presence by creating engaging, insight-led content that enhances brand visibility, supports commercial objectives, promotes sustainability credentials, and strengthens engagement with customers, industry stakeholders, and government audiences;
•    Ensure consistent brand messaging aligned to parent company (e.g. group-level positioning such as CMA CGM where applicable).

3.    Industry Engagement:

•    Build strong relationships with key industry bodies (e.g. Rail Freight Group, Logistics UK, ORR, RSSB);
•    Support coordinated engagement with industry associations and partners to ensure consistent positioning on key policy and market issues;
•    Represent the company at industry and customer conferences, forums and trade events to enhance market visibility and presence;
•    Monitor competitor activity and wider logistics and market trends to inform marketing strategy;
•    Arrange industry related activities, including corporate hospitality most appropriate to our customer base and budget to ensure ongoing engagement with key customers;
•    Draft high quality, compelling award winning industry submissions for key industry accolades appropriate to the intermodal market;
•    Collaborate with customers and partners to develop joint campaigns and showcase success stories aiming to improve stickiness as appropriate.

4.    Government & Stakeholder Advocacy:

•    Coordinate engagement with journalists and trade press on policy and advocacy issues, ensuring input is well managed and all messaging is consistent with agreed Freightliner positions;
•    Support engagement with government departments (DfT, Network Rail, ORR, RSSB, Department for Business & Trade) and regulators;
•    Contribute to relevant policy discussions and submissions promoting modal shift from road to rail;
•    Align messaging with national transport and decarbonisation strategies to secure funding/support, aligning with other industry players to boost impact, as appropriate;
•    Work closely with Policy and Government Affairs to ensure all external messaging, campaigns and publications accurately reflect agreed policy positions and regulatory priorities;
•    Support the development and amplification of policy aligned thought leadership, including coordinating publication across marketing channels and industry platforms;
•    Collaborate with industry bodies and other operators, in conjunction with Policy and Government Affairs, to align messaging on key strategic issues in order to maximise collective impact and influence
•    Develop advocacy materials demonstrating economic, environmental and capacity benefits of rail freight;

5. Sustainability as a Core USP:

•    Position sustainability at the centre of the marketing narrative (reduced carbon emissions vs road, energy efficiency, congestion reduction) at every opportunity;
•    Quantify and communicate carbon savings to customers (e.g. CO₂ reduction per tonne/km);
•    Support ESG reporting and ensure marketing activity aligns with corporate sustainability commitments;
•    Develop campaigns encouraging modal shift and behavioural change among customers and suppliers;
•    Support the marketing and wider knowledge and understanding of the ISO accreditations and their importance to our commercial offering;
•    Collaborate with internal sustainability/engineering teams to communicate innovations (e.g. electrification, alternative fuels, longer trains).

5.    Commercial Enablement:

•    Equip sales teams with clear messaging, data and tools to win new business across the various propositions;
•    Support tender responses with compelling value propositions and evidence-based benefits;
•    Develop a structured repository of compelling standardised responses for frequently asked tender compliance queries to ensure consistency and professionalism of response to all tenders;
•    Manage and optimise Salesforce CRM, ensuring data integrity, campaign attribution, and alignment with agreed marketing and sales processes;
•    Work with the BI team to develop meaningful dashboards and reports to track campaign effectiveness, lead conversion, and ROI adjusting strategy based on performance data;
•    Establish structured post tender review sessions to evaluate outcomes, capture lessons learned and drive continuous improvement.

6.    Internal Alignment & Change:

•    Act as a bridge between commercial, operational and corporate teams to ensure consistent and on brand messaging;
•    Support organisational change (e.g. post-acquisition positioning, brand separation) through clear communications and alignment with CMA CGM as the parent company;
•    Drive continuous improvement in onboarding and CRM processes, enhancing user experience, data integrity and operational efficiency to support customer acquisition, retention, and long-term engagement.

Behavioural Competencies:

1.    Strong corporate affiliation and always puts the needs of the business first;
2.    Attacks goals and objectives with drive, energy and enthusiasm with a passion for excellence;
3.    Embraces new challenges, is hands on as required, and gets things done;
4.    Sets high standards of work for self, and team, and consistently achieves these;
5.    High level of integrity and openness, combined with commitment to good governance;
6.    Leads by example and provides honest and clear leadership that helps drive results;
7.    Listens attentively to others’ perspectives and provides constructive feedback and coaching;
8.    Exhibits and lives the Group’s core values.
 

Our commitment to you, once you join our team, is to foster growth and provide developmental opportunities to ensure you reach your utmost potential.

We are looking for the most committed and reliable individuals who possess the knowledge, skills and experience needed for their roles.

In return we can offer competitive pay, excellent benefits, a competitive pension scheme and a rewarding career in an award-winning team.