Manager Brand Strategy

Mohawk College; Hamilton; Hybrid; CAD 98,000 - 123,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent educational institution in Ontario is seeking a Manager, Brand Strategy to craft and guide its brand perception and image. This position involves leading relationships across key constituents of the college and managing a team of brand strategists. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in brand strategy development and the ability to influence senior leadership. The role includes budget management and developing strategic branding initiatives that resonate with target audiences.

Benefits

Defined Benefit pension plan

Comprehensive benefits package

Progressive vacation plan

Qualifications

• A four-year degree in a relevant discipline (Marketing, Business, Advertising).
• Previous experience in brand strategy development is critical.
• Experience influencing senior executive audiences is critical.

Responsibilities

• Craft and guide the perception and image of Mohawk College's brand.
• Lead relationships across the College's key constituents.
• Direct management and guidance of a team of Brand Strategist(s).

Skills

Brand strategy development

Communication

Team leadership

Analytical skills

Project management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, or Advertising

MBA

Tools

Adobe Creative Cloud

Google Analytics

Kantar

Job description

Manager, Brand Strategy

Status: Full Time

Hours: Monday - Friday, 35 hours/week

Home Campus: Fennell (hybrid work arrangements available)

Rate of Pay: Payband 11 ($98,395 - $122,994 per year)

Vacancy Status: 1 vacancy available

Posting Date: January 12th, 2026

Closing Date: January 30th, 2026 at 7:00 pm EST

We believe the rich diversity among our students and the communities we serve should be reflected within our workforce. As educators, we believe it is important to act and show leadership in advancing the principles of reconciliation, equity, diversity, and inclusion in our community.

Job Summary

The Manager, Brand Strategy is a visionary and analytical professional who will craft and guide the perception, salience and image of Mohawk College's brand. This position will report directly to the Chief Marketing Officer.

This role will need to adeptly lead relationships across the College and address the strategic needs of key constituents including the Academic division, Students & International, Foundation, Communications & External Affairs and Corporate Services.

This role will also serve as the external partner lead for identified industry, community, agency and relevant vendors required to drive departmental objectives aligned to our brand strategy.

Given the direct impact on Mohawk College's reputation, the candidate must exercise sound judgement, be mindful and have tact representing Mohawk College's voice in alignment with the brand strategy and guidelines identified by the Chief Marketing Officer while safeguarding the College's reputation.

The candidate will be equally adept at architecting & synthesizing market research, consumer behaviour, and competitive analysis to develop strategic branding initiatives that resonate with target audiences and differentiate the Mohawk College brand from its competitors.

With a keen understanding of both creative storytelling and data-driven insights, this role will leverage our newly developed brand strategy, refine it through execution and exercise relevant brand positioning, messaging, and go-to-market activities, ensuring that every aspect of the brand's presence is aligned with its core values and business objectives.

The Manager, Brand Strategy plays an important role in steering Mohawk College's long-term success by fostering emotional connections with key audiences and establishing a consistent and compelling brand narrative. Deep collaboration with the Chief Marketing Officer and Director, Brand Experience is critical to the success of this position.

In addition, this position is responsible for the direct management, performance management, and guidance/coaching of a team of Brand Strategist(s). The incumbent must be able to guide & shift the priorities of their direct report(s) based on brand health metrics / departmental priorities and manage, instruct and oversee the work that their direct reports will complete in response.

This position will be expected to, in collaboration with the Chief Marketing Officer, develop, own and manage a brand strategy budget.

As a representative of Mohawk College's brand presence, the incumbent must demonstrate professionalism and discretion in all go-to-market activities and campaigns must align with the College's brand strategy, tone and reputation. This role also requires a strong awareness of messaging approaches which directly influences the college external brand and reputation. In their capacity as the lead for brand strategy, the incumbent must demonstrate maturity and good judgement in leading the escalation process with Senior Leadership of damaging reputational content.

In addition to reputational impact, this role will also have a direct connection to strategic enrolment management efforts. As most marketing communications will be applicant and student-facing, the work the incumbent drives will directly contribute to recruitment and retention of applicants and students at Mohawk College.

This role will also inform appropriate policies related to brand strategy governance to be applied across Mohawk College. In partnership with the Chief Marketing Officer, the incumbent will contribute to annual revisions to policies for this type of work. The incumbent, based on their career experience and knowledge, will be expected to share expert insight on developing and successfully implementing brand strategy governance policy.

For the incumbent to remain in role, the following performance accountabilities must be met on an annual basis. Goals and benchmarks are to be established upon onboarding the incumbent. Final approval of metric/KPI goals are to be determined at the discretion of the Chief Marketing Officer.

Primary performance accountabilities (KPIs) include:

• Brand awareness | Consideration | Investigation | Preference | Enrolment impact (all trackable via established measurement framework)

Secondary performance accountabilities (KPIs) include:

• Client satisfaction (CSAT)

What you'll be doing

Brand Strategy Stewardship

• Leverage the newly developed brand strategy, refine it through execution and exercise relevant brand positioning, messaging, and brand identity activities, ensuring that every aspect of the brand's presence is aligned with its core values and business objectives.
• Lead relationships with and serve the strategic brand needs of key constituents across the College, including the Academic division, Students & International, Foundation, Communications & External Affairs and Corporate Services.
• Support the Director, Brand Experience in co‑leading the strategy for and the performance & KPI attainment of core Mohawk College brand channels.
• Lead cross‑functional teams to develop, propose and drive cohesive and brand and performance marketing campaigns to drive mutually beneficial objectives.
• Collaborate with the CMO and Marketing Team Leadership to align resources against other priorities shared by other departments at the College.
• Build relationships with external partners and agencies to create strategic alliances and execute best‑in‑class branding initiatives. For example, this role could be expected to build/own relationships with professional national sports, enterprise or media & entertainment organizations if there's a relevant opportunity for brand impact.
• Conduct regular competitive audits/sector environmental scans and share findings with Marketing Team Leadership to encourage a shared understanding of brand marketing trends taking shape in the sector.
• Align with CMO and Director, Brand Experience to fully understand departmental priorities and Marketing's go‑to‑market plan in order to create and manage a budget to support the brand strategy, key activations and initiatives.
• Analyze and mine insights from brand health tracking metrics to present to senior management and inform future strategies.

Brand Strategy Optimization

• Adjust marketing strategies and plans to respond to changing market and competitive conditions. This includes a thorough diagnosis of gaps that exist, development & proposal of strategy against those gaps, and a tactical execution plan to efficiently close those gaps.
• Partner with the Director, Brand Experience and Marketing Management Team to ensure brand consistency across all channels, including digital, print, and in‑person experiences. Critical alignment is required with the Social Media Strategy.
• Under the guidance of the CMO, set and manage brand and performance marketing campaign budgets. Oversee execution, performance and optimization of campaigns with chosen media partner(s).
• Analyze and mine insights from brand & performance campaign performance, assess ROI, KPI achievement and impact against brand health. Take necessary actions to improve campaign performance over time.
• Propose and implement process improvements to improve workflows when collaborating with the Brand Experience branch and Web Team.
• Actively participate in (and potentially lead) the escalation process of media communications that are sensitive or that represent potential reputational damage to CEA Leadership.
• Facilitate workshops to inspire disruptive ideas, energize internal clients and foster a culture of innovation.

Team Leadership, Governance and Partnership

• Direct management, performance management, and guidance/coaching of a team of Brand Strategist(s).
• As this position's direct reports will share accountability for building relationships across the College, the incumbent must keenly monitor and calibrate to ensure the positive health of those relationships.
• Develop, inform and collaborate on appropriate brand governance policies to be applied across Mohawk College.
• In partnership with the CMO, contribute to as‑needed revisions to brand policies and contribute toward any governance committees, working groups or motions that follow.
• Provide recommendations and guidance to College departments to ensure alignment with the Mohawk College brand, social media policies and share best practices.
• Monitor, analyze and integrate brand marketing trends / insights to optimize strategies and content in line with social media best practice.
• Drive strategic and/or tactical innovation and explore new research/technology platforms and technologies to keep Mohawk College's brand marketing practices "ahead of the curve".

Other duties as assigned.

What you'll bring to the role

• A four‑year degree in a relevant discipline (Marketing, Business, Advertising).
• An MBA is considered an asset.
• Previous experience in brand strategy development, brand planning and go‑to‑market execution across multiple marketing channels is critical.
• Internal or external client‑facing experience in selling, guiding and facilitating the completion of strategic mandates is critical.
• Previous experience in successfully influencing senior executive audiences (in particular, with challenging/atypical circumstances) is critical.
• Experience across multiple industries including post‑secondary education is strongly desired.
• Demonstrated commitment and understanding of human rights, equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility.
• The ability to communicate and work effectively with diverse students, employees, and communities.

Minimum technical proficiency in the following types of tools is required:

• Content Creation & Editing: Adobe Creative Cloud | Canva
• Brand Health Tracking: Kantar | Qualtrics
• Analytics and Performance Tracking: Google Analytics | Google Adwords
• Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | X | YouTube | Pinterest | TikTok
• Productivity: Microsoft Office

What we offer

• Progressive vacation plan starting with 22 vacation days per year plus holiday closure.
• Defined Benefit pension plan (CAAT) with contributions matched by Mohawk College.
• 93% top up of maternity and parental leave pay for 52 weeks.
• Annual employee performance incentive program.
• Comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, vision, paramedical services (massage therapy, acupuncture, naturopath, psychotherapy and psychology), short‑term and long‑term disability.
• Ability to take courses at a reduced rate for employees and dependents.

To find out more about working at Mohawk College, including our Employee Value Proposition, please visit https://www.mohawkcollege.ca/about-mohawk/careers-at-mohawk

We are committed to reconciliation and nurturing an inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible (IDEA) environment for everyone who learns and works at Mohawk College. We welcome applications from racialized persons, women, Indigenous people, persons with disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+ persons, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas.

The College is committed to fostering inclusive and barrier‑free recruitment and selection processes. If you require accommodation during any stage of the recruitment process, please contact Human Resources.

To learn more about Mohawk College's commitments, please visit the Mohawk College strategic plan webpage: https://www.strategicplan.mohawkcollege.ca/