Description

The Director of Marketing & Communications is a senior leader responsible for developing and executing an integrated brand, communications, and marketing strategy that advances the Association's mission, reputation, and growth. This role is particularly focused on serving a membership-based, statewide professional association with an advocacy and public policy extension, balancing member engagement with external visibility and influence. The Director serves as a strategic partner to the executive team, ensuring consistent messaging, strong brand stewardship, and effective communication with members, stakeholders, policymakers, media, and the public. 
 
Internal Relationships: Reports to Executive Director. Collaborates cross-functionally with Legal, Membership, Programs, Events, and the Leadership Team. 
 
External Relationship: Board members, volunteer leaders, partners, media, vendors/ contractors, and external stakeholders. 
 
Duties/Responsibilities: 
 
Brand Strategy, Marketing & Communications 
Develop and lead a comprehensive brand, marketing, and communications strategy aligned with the Association’s mission, strategic plan, and advocacy priorities. 
Serve as the brand steward, ensuring consistent voice, visual identity, and messaging across all channels and audiences. 
Position the Association as a trusted authority and thought leader within the profession and statewide policy landscape.  
Lead audience segmentation and messaging strategies tailored to diverse member types, volunteers, partners, and stakeholders. 
Develop strategic marketing campaigns for support of events, programs, education, and initiatives.  
Collaborate with the Membership Outreach Manager to drive membership growth, retention, and engagement, clearly articulating the membership value proposition. 
Collaborate with internal teams to develop strategic marketing campaigns for the support of events, programs, education, and initiatives through strategic marketing campaigns. 
Oversee all internal and external communications, including email, website content, publications, social media, press materials, and executive messaging. 
Maintain communication workflows, templates, content calendars, and style guidelines that support distributed content creation.  
Translate complex policy, advocacy, and professional issues into clear, compelling, and accessible communications for members and the public. 
Develop key messages, talking points, and narratives that align with brand, advocacy, and organizational priorities. 
Will oversee the marketing and social media platforms and account management. 
 
Advocacy & Public Affairs Communications 
Partner with policy and advocacy leaders to support public affairs, legislative, regulatory communications, and Association stakeholders. 
Ensure advocacy messaging is accurate, timely, and aligned with organizational positions while remaining accessible to non-technical audiences. 
Support crisis communications, issues management, and rapid response as needed. 
Serve as a lead or key point of contact for media relations, including pitching stories, responding to inquiries, and preparing spokespersons. 
Build and maintain relationships with media, partners, and external stakeholders to enhance the Association’s visibility and influence. 
 
Leadership, Management & Operations 
Provide strategic direction and day-to-day leadership for a team including Marketing Manager, Web Content Coordinator, and Publication & Production Manager. 
Clearly define roles, priorities, and workflows to ensure effective collaboration, accountability, and timely execution across marketing, digital, and publication functions. 
Coach and develop team members to balance strategic thinking with high-quality execution in a lean team environment. 
Serve as an escalation point and quality-control lead for major campaigns, publications, brand assets, and external-facing communications. 
Oversee relationships with external vendors, freelancers, designers, printers, and agencies as needed. 
Manage the marketing and communications budget, ensuring effective resource allocation and alignment with strategic priorities. 
Establish goals, performance metrics, and reporting to evaluate the effectiveness of marketing, communications, and publication efforts.  
Serve as staff liaisons for External Affairs Committee and other relevant committees as needed. 

Requirements

• 7–12 years of progressive experience in marketing, communications, or brand strategy, with at least 3–5 years leading teams or functions.
• Demonstrated experience developing and leading integrated brand, marketing, and communications strategies in a complex or mission-driven organization.
• Proven ability to lead and coordinate a small, multi-disciplinary communications team while remaining appropriately hands-on.
• Strong understanding of membership-based organizations, associations, or nonprofits.
• Experience supporting or partnering with advocacy, public policy, or government affairs functions with familiarity in legislative processes, regulatory environments, or public affairs communications.
• Demonstrated expertise in brand management across digital, web, print, and experiential channels.
• Excellent written, verbal, and editorial skills, with the ability to translate complex issues into clear, compelling messaging.
• Experience managing budgets, vendors, and external partners.
• Experience working with boards, volunteer leaders, or committees.
• Digital marketing, analytics, and CRM/email marketing experience.