The Role in a Nutshell
If you have spent the last few years getting good at marketing but wondering whether any of it actually matters, keep reading.
Safar has been building something genuinely important in Islamic education for 25 years. 2,000+ institutes across 70+ countries. Nearly a million books in homes and classrooms worldwide. A growing suite of digital products used by families and educators globally. All of it without a marketing department. Built entirely on trust, word of mouth, and the quality of the work.
The product is trusted. The community is real. The opportunity to grow it is enormous.
Reporting to: Projects & Technology Director (Board Member)
Role Snapshot
- Senior individual contributor role, managing briefs and deliverables from freelancers, with a clear path to Head of Growth and Marketing
- Real ownership across marketing, growth, and positioning
- Existing audience and products, with underdeveloped channels ready to activate
- Designer and developer support already in place
- Budget to test and scale what works
Safar: 25 Years of Something That Matters
Safar was founded in 1998 by Shaykh Hasan Ali, growing from a single classroom in North London into a not-for-profit Sadaqa Jariya project trusted by institutes and families around the world. Every penny from sales is reinvested into new resources, free teacher training, and expanding access to quality Islamic education. Growth has come from the quality of the work, not from building the brand.
The work is broader than most people realise: curriculum, digital products, and Journey2Jannah, a gamified learning platform for children. The users we have are the start, not the ceiling.
The Opportunity
Whether a child's first encounter with Islam feels joyful or distant often shapes their faith for life. Parents and educators are the ones in that moment, and Safar exists to give them what they need to make it count. When it works, children grow up curious, engaged, and with a genuine love for their faith.
To reach more of them, we need to grow. That is where you come in.
This is the role that builds the growth engine. A hands-on builder role with real ownership, designed to grow into Head of Growth and Marketing as Safar scales. Big ideas and sharp execution. Both matter. Neither is optional.
We will not hand you a plan. We expect you to shape one. If you are looking for a large team or a narrowly defined remit, this is not the right fit. If you want ownership, pace, and the chance to build something that genuinely matters, keep reading.
AI is a big part of how you do that at pace, less a tool and more a Chief of Staff. The things that used to fill your day happen in the background, freeing you up for what actually matters. If you have already found ways of working like that, we would love to hear about it.
What You Will Own
You will own the full journey, from how people first discover Safar to how they move through it, across Safar's physical and digital products serving indivduals, families and institutes globally. You will be responsible for improving how people move through Safar's key journeys, from discovery through to conversion and ongoing engagement.
- Growth strategy. Identify the opportunities that matter, build the plan, and execute it. Families and individuals make decisions emotionally. Institutes make decisions institutionally. You will need to hold both.
- Messaging and positioning. Turn Safar's depth into messaging that is clear, honest, and compelling wherever someone encounters the work.
- Content and campaigns. Drive the content output that keeps Safar visible and growing. The big idea that opens new doors and the consistent work that keeps them open. You will own what gets done and how, working with designers, developers, and freelancers to deliver it.
- Channels and community. The channel strategy is genuinely open. What exists is a foundation, not a ceiling. Build the mix that reaches and engages the audiences Safar needs to grow.
- Performance and learning. Build repeatable systems for growth, using data to decide what to double down on and what to stop.
What Good Looks Like in Year One
Visible, measurable, and felt commercially. More individuals, families and institutes discovering, choosing, and engaging with Safar. Conversion improving. Existing audiences going deeper into what Safar offers.
Get year one right and the function starts to form around you. By the time we review this role in twelve months, we expect to already be making the next hire. Not planning it. Making it. More hires means more reach. More reach means more children and individuals finding Safar when they need it.
What Support Looks Like
Once the plan is agreed, it is yours to execute. Real autonomy within agreed boundaries, there to protect the brand, not slow you down. A retained designer and developer are in place. Budget to test and scale what works. Access to external marketing and growth mentorship.
The data foundations are further along than most candidates will expect. A single view of the customer across Safar and Journey2Jannah is being built. Channels across email, social, WhatsApp and YouTube exist but have not been worked consistently.
What you are walking into is a small, tight team that cares deeply about the work and knows it is something bigger than commercial targets.
Who This Role Suits
You might be in the Islamic sector, in education, or a charity, with strong instincts for how Muslim families and educators make decisions and a readiness to step into something more commercially focused.
Or you might be coming from an agency, a fintech, a startup, or a consumer brand, with real marketing and growth experience and a growing sense that you want to build something that genuinely matters to the community you are part of.
Either way, you do not need to be a scholar. You do need to care about the community this work serves. This tends to suit people who have quietly outgrown their current role and are looking for real ownership, not just more responsibility. You do not need to have done this exact role before. What matters is how you think. If something in this is pulling at you, that instinct is probably worth following.
What We Are Looking For
- 4 to 8 years building and growing something from scratch or in a small team, with results to show for it
- Sharp instincts for messaging, audience, and what will land
- Equally comfortable setting the strategy and doing the work to deliver it
- Takes ownership of outcomes, not just tasks, and keeps moving when the path is not fully clear
- Energised by change and shifting priorities rather than unsettled by them
- Uses AI to move faster and think sharper, not as a shortcut around the thinking
What You Get
- A strong salary at senior marketing manager level
- 33 days leave, including bank holidays and both Eid days
- Real ownership from day one, with a clear path to leading the function
- Access to external marketing and growth mentorship
- The chance to work on something that will genuinely matter to the next generation of Muslim learners
How to Apply
We care more about how you think than a polished CV. Upload your CV and include a short video explaining why this role appeals to you and what draws you to Safar's work. Filmed on your phone is completely fine.
AI Use: We would expect nothing less. Use it to sharpen your thinking and make sure what you submit is the best version of what you want to say. What we are looking for is you, your experience, and your genuine take on this role. Not a hallucination of what you think we want to hear.
If something in this pulled at you, that is probably your answer.
