Hire with TOG
Looking for a role
Back to blog
Blog Career Advice

How to Become a Group Digital Marketing Manager

4 September 2026

How to Become a Group Digital Marketing Manager

​Deciding on a career path can be difficult at the best of times, with so many opportunities on the table, being sure which direction to take can often be stressful and not always clear.

Combinations of sector, industry, and job role are almost endless, so once you’ve made your choice, how do you know it is the right one, how do you understand what a role truly entails and how do you map your progress to the journey’s end?

The ‘How to become…’ series explores several successful journeys and provides insights to aid your career decision-making. To do this we have interviewed successful business leaders, employees, and employers to find out how they got to where they are today, giving insight into a range of different job roles, and offering first-hand advice on how to improve your potential and employability.

Hanifa Dungarwalla – Design Apprentice to Group Digital Marketing Manager

How did you decide that this career was for you?

I started as a graphic designer and worked as an apprentice before discovering a marketing aptitude.

What is the best thing about your role?

The continual innovation and having to push the boundaries of thinking within the marketing channel.

During your development, what skills would you say are essential for your role?

Determination, listening, and taking in as much information as possible. You don’t know everything so it’s important to make sure you listen to people who have more information and experience than you. I also think it’s important to ask yourself why you are doing something and where it fits in terms of the business and priorities. Always look back on the objective and think about why.

Being proactive is really important too, I can’t understand why you wouldn’t want to get stuck in as much as possible. When you start a new role, it’s the perfect time to learn, so make sure you use that time.

What advice would you give to someone looking to develop these skills?

Ask questions, and observe situations.

What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced during your development?

My own ambition. Sometimes, I want to do too much so it’s important to be realistic with what you’re trying to achieve.

Give one piece of advice for a potential candidate joining your business

Do what you love. There’s no point in chasing money if you aren’t happy. Find a career that excites you and makes you jump out of bed in the morning. Always challenge yourself and be the best you can be in your field.​

```html
THE ONE GROUP

Where we're from,
and how we got here

Twenty years of specialist recruitment in the East – and a lot of small decisions that added up.

TOG started in Peterborough in 2004 with a small team and a simple idea: that recruitment is a people business, done best by specialists who stay in their sector long enough to know it properly.

More than two decades on, we've grown into four offices across the East of England and Home Counties. We recruit for finance leaders, HR directors, engineering managers, tech founders, scientists, and the commercial teams that keep businesses running day to day. Between us, we've built up over 258 years of collective recruitment experience across our specialist divisions, and a network of more than 150,000 candidates we've placed, coached, or come to know across two decades in the region.

The founding principle hasn't changed. Recruitment as it should be.

OUR STORY

Key events timeline

2004

Doors open in Peterborough.

Our first office launches with a team of six on Lynch Wood. Cambridge follows the same year, giving us two offices before our first anniversary.

2015

Northampton makes it three.

Our third office opens with a team of five, quickly growing to eleven consultants covering the wider Midlands region.

2017

Peterborough moves across the road.

The team has outgrown the founding office. We move into Arena House on Lynch Wood, big enough for a growing consultant base and the back-office team that supports the whole group.

2018

Cambridge moves too.

Our second office relocates to Cambourne Business Park, giving the growing Cambridge team the space it now needs.

2023

Four offices, three counties, one very good year.

The Hertfordshire & Essex office opens in Potters Bar, extending our footprint into the Home Counties.

In the same year, we're named Business of the Year in Northamptonshire, and Employer of the Year in both Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire at the regional SME Business Awards. Three counties, three panels.

TODAY

Still growing.

Four offices, more than 258 years of collective recruitment experience across our specialist divisions, and a network of over 150,000 candidates.

Same founding principle.

SPECIALISTS BY DESIGN

What we do

We're specialists, not generalists. Every consultant at TOG focuses on one sector and stays in it. Not because it's the only way to do recruitment, but because it's how you build the depth to spot the difference between a strong CV and a strong hire.

It's also why so many of our clients come back to us years, even decades, after a first placement.

01
Accountancy & Finance
→
 02
Human Resources
→
 03
Commercial Office
Administration, customer service, project management and more
→
 04
Technology
→
 05
Engineering & Manufacturing
→
 06
Scientific
→
 07
Sales, Marketing & Creative
→
 08
Executive Search
Across all of the above
→

Beyond the recruitment itself, we produce annual salary guides, regional market reports, and the practical resources our clients and candidates turn to when they want a clearer view of what's happening in their sector.

THE WAY WE WORK

How we work

Four principles show up in every conversation and every process.
01

Be curious.

We stay interested in the market we work in, and in the people who work in it.

02

Keep it human.

We remember your kids' names and know how you take your coffee. That's just how we work here.

03

Make a difference.

We're here to help people build careers they love and businesses they're proud of.

04

Enjoy the ride.

Recruitment is a career, but it should be fun too. If it isn't, we've done something wrong.

WHAT COMES NEXT?

Recruitment
as it should be.

Hire with TOG → Looking for a role →
```