Top Marketing, Communications & Digital Roles for H2 2025
With emerging technologies, global turmoil, climate change and more all impacting the business agenda, it’s no wonder that the pace of evolution seems dizzying at the moment. The same trend is occurring across marketing, communications and digital recruitment too. The capabilities and skills that organisations attracted and nurtured a few years ago have evolved with new requirements, meaning employers need to either train their existing staff or seek new skills externally.
While we may have seen a lot of disruption economically at the beginning of the year, there are green shoots in the UK, particularly now the dust has settled in relation to changes such as the NICs increase. Consequently, we anticipate the reins being loosened and employers seeking to bolster their workforces once more as we move throughout the final part of 2025.
In-Demand Communications & Marketing Roles for the Second Half of the Year
Content Strategists (with AI Proficiency)
Content is still king, and professionals who can balance the ability to leverage an array of AI tools with a deep understanding and expertise in SEO and content marketing will be highly sought after. These specialists are the driving forces behind organisations’ ability to maximise the potential of their wider marketing activity and their customers' search intent. The best professionals will already incorporate AI into this activity, but, crucially, will recognise its limitations and use it as an assistant, rather than a guide. Tools such as ChatGPT, CoPilot and DALL-E are all invaluable in brainstorming and idea generation, for example, but organisations should seek content specialists who recognise that a balance must be struck between artificial intelligence and human expertise.
Gabriel Charles, Senior Consultant, Marketing & Digital at VMA GROUP, discussed the growth in demand in this area:
‘In a saturated and cost-conscious market, the marketers who can harness AI to produce smarter, faster, and more personalised content will gain a competitive advantage. In H2, prompt fluency and AI-guided creativity skills aren’t just nice for marketers to have, they’re essential for staying ahead.”
Public Affairs Specialists
Alongside the rise of AI, one of the main drivers of this increasingly shifting market is the political world, and while the UK doesn’t face quite the same challenges as the US does in this respect, the development of new legislation and laws all drive change, and organisations must adapt to meet evolving requirements. Companies are now navigating an increasingly complex landscape shaped by regulation, political volatility, and rising expectations around corporate accountability. Public affairs specialists play a pivotal role in managing these issues and developing ways for their employers to capitalise on them.
But, crucially, they’re not only responding to change, they are helping to shape it. What sets the very best public affairs specialists apart is their ability to operate across disciplines. They will blend political intelligence with communications fluency, legal awareness, and business acumen, and can brief a CEO, draft a ministerial letter, provide advice on ESG disclosure, and manage stakeholder fallout, amongst many other specialisms. This breadth of expertise makes them particularly valuable in sectors which face intense scrutiny, such as energy, technology, financial services and healthcare, and is one of the reasons why demand for their skills will only grow.
Julie Mazzei, Account Director, North & Midlands, discussed the factors behind the increased need for public affairs practitioners.
“As organisations navigate the ever-changing geopolitical world, public affairs specialists will be increasingly sought after. Employers will need people who can advise the company's stance on a range of issues, and ensure a business is engaging its key stakeholders, both in central and regional government, to help shape public policy.”
Change Communication Leaders
With such an enormous amount of political and legislative flux, change communications leaders will also be in significant demand throughout the rest of this year. These professionals design strategies that manage messaging for organisations facing periods of change, and businesses should seek clear and effective communicators with the ability to embed empathy throughout all of their activity. The best change communications specialists blend these qualities with effective stakeholder management and the ability to ensure that plans are integrated into the wider business and face minimal resistance.
Currently, interim change professionals are in particularly high demand as Deborah Le,Principal Consultant, Interim & Contract at VMA GROUP, outlines:
“From an interim perspective, we have seen a rise in change communications roles in the last 12 months based on organisational redesign and new ways of working, so I expect that to continue. They tend to be longer in length, typically 12 months (or six months to start with and then extending to 12+ months), and pay attractive day rates, usually circa £500 per day.”
While the market has been challenging in the first half of this year, the clouds appear to be parting, and more organisations may look to expand their communications and marketing teams to capitalise on new opportunities. If your business is looking to recruit its next communications, marketing or digital specialist, don't hesitate to get in touch.
