Director, Brand & Audience Growth

Chicago Public Media; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 104,000 - 125,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental coverage

Vision care

Vacation and holidays

Life insurance

Job summary

Chicago Public Media is seeking a Director of Marketing to lead strategy, planning, and multi-channel campaigns across chicago.com, WBEZ, the Chicago Sun-Times and Vocalo. This role sits at the center of CPM’s audience growth efforts, connecting brand, content and revenue through cohesive, multi-channel marketing.

Your primary objective is to translate organizational priorities into high-impact campaigns that grow audience reach, deepen engagement, and support membership and revenue goals.

Qualifications

• 5–8+ years of experience in marketing, preferably in media, publishing, or mission-driven organizations.
• Strong creative strategy, brand storytelling, creative concepting, and copywriting skills, with a portfolio that shows it.
• Digitally savvy and fluent in social, content, and platform trends, including short-form video, creators, and emerging formats.
• Solid understanding of performance and paid media across search, social, and digital, including influencer and creator partnerships.
• Analytical mindset, with the ability to define KPIs, read performance data, and turn insights into sharper creative and channel decisions.
• Scrappy and resourceful, comfortable producing work with lean tools and knowing when to bring in agency, freelance, or production partners.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and comfortable working in a fast-paced environment

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end development of integrated campaigns across CPM's portfolio, including brand, programming, product, and audience growth initiatives.
• Lead creative strategy and messaging across social media and content marketing, and help evolve how each of CPM's brands looks, sounds, and shows up in the world.
• Own and evolve CPM's owned and organic channel strategy across email, organic social, and digital platforms.
• Build engaged communities on social media, grow newsletter audiences, and partner with Editorial and Membership teams to optimize lifecycle journeys through segmentation, testing, and performance insights.
• Bring a strong understanding of performance marketing to plan, optimize, and measure paid campaigns across search, social, and digital channels.
• Manage and mentor marketing team members, translating strategy into clear execution plans and ensuring high-quality output.

Skills

Marketing strategy

Brand storytelling

Copywriting

Social media marketing

Performance marketing

Team leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

Chicago Public Media is seeking a Director of Marketing to lead strategy, planning, and multi-channel campaigns across chicago.com, WBEZ, the Chicago Sun-Times and Vocalo. This role sits at the center of CPM’s audience growth efforts, connecting brand, content and revenue through cohesive, multi-channel marketing.

Your primary objective is to translate organizational priorities into high-impact campaigns that grow audience reach, deepen engagement, and support membership and revenue goals.