Senior Brand Marketing Lead

PNC; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 91,000 - 203,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Dental & vision

Life insurance

Disability insurance

401(k) with match

Pension plan

Stock purchase plan

Dependent care reimbursement

Back-up care

Adoption & surrogacy reimbursement

Educational assistance

Wellness program

Job summary

PNC is seeking a Senior Brand Marketing Lead to define and activate a strategic pillar within the brand. You will shape audience-centric narratives, partner with Corporate Responsibility, and drive integrated campaigns across channels to strengthen brand relevance and trust.

The role requires building a differentiated value proposition, translating enterprise priorities into compelling storytelling, and guiding creative teams to deliver bank-wide impact.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in integrated marketing, brand strategy, or related discipline.
• Experience building new brand propositions, strategic platforms and activation models.
• Ability to translate enterprise priorities into a clear strategic proposition and narrative.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve a strategic pillar within the PNC brand, including audience opportunity, positioning, value proposition, narrative and messaging architecture.
• Partner with Corporate Responsibility to translate investments into differentiated brand storytelling.
• Establish an integrated activation strategy aligning enterprise priorities with audience needs and cultural context.
• Lead creation of marketing plans, content architecture, channel roles, and market activation.
• Guide internal creative teams and external agencies from briefing through execution to ensure brand distinction.

Skills

Brand strategy

Integrated marketing

Audience insights

Storytelling

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, journalism, or related field

Job description

Position Overview

At PNC, our people are our greatest differentiator and competitive advantage in the markets we serve. We are all united in delivering the best experience for our customers. We work together each day to foster an inclusive workplace culture where all of our employees feel respected, valued and have an opportunity to contribute to the company’s success. As a Senior Brand Marketing Lead within PNC's Marketing organization, you will be based in Pittsburgh, PA; Cleveland, OH; Chicago, IL; Tysons Corner, VA; Philadelphia, PA; or Houston, TX. PNC is an in-office company that fosters a supportive culture where employees can thrive and achieve balance. We encourage candidates to connect with their recruiter and hiring manager to understand workplace expectations and ensure the role aligns with their goals. PNC will not provide sponsorship for employment visas or participate in STEM OPT for this position.

Job Description Role Overview

PNC is seeking a Brand Marketing Lead Senior to help define, build and activate a strategic pillar within the PNC brand. This role sits within Brand Marketing and will work in close partnership with PNC’s Corporate Responsibility organization to identify, shape and amplify the investments, partnerships, programs and outcomes that demonstrate how PNC delivers meaningful impact in the communities it serves. This is a highly entrepreneurial marketing role for a versatile brand builder who can create clarity and momentum around an opportunity. The individual will translate enterprise priorities, audience needs and credible proof points into a differentiated value proposition, compelling brand narrative and integrated activation strategy. Working across Brand Marketing, Corporate Responsibility, Corporate Communications, channel teams, regional partners and lines of business, the Brand Marketing Lead Senior will architect and mature the pillar through the PNC brand lens. The role will establish its strategic positioning, narrative architecture and activation model, then bring it to life through integrated campaigns, content, partnerships and experiences that strengthen PNC’s relevance, trust and brand distinction. The successful candidate will be a strategically minded, creatively fluent marketer with a proven ability to build and develop brand platforms. They will bring deep audience curiosity, integrated marketing expertise and strong creative judgment, along with the ability to translate complex enterprise priorities into a clear strategic proposition, compelling brand narrative and meaningful audience experiences that strengthen PNC’s relevance and distinction.

Key Responsibilities and Functions

• Define, build and evolve a strategic pillar within the PNC brand, including its audience opportunity, positioning, value proposition, narrative, messaging architecture and relationship to the broader brand platform.
• Partner closely with Corporate Responsibility and enterprise stakeholders to translate PNC’s investments in communities into a differentiated, audience-relevant source of brand distinction.
• Establish an integrated activation strategy that connects enterprise priorities and credible proof points to audience needs, cultural context and opportunities for meaningful brand engagement.
• Create the structure needed to move the pillar from strategy to execution, including audience priorities, content architecture, channel roles, creative platforms and market-level activation.
• Identify and connect stories, programs, partnerships, products, people and outcomes that substantiate the proposition and make it tangible to external audiences.
• Translate complex initiatives and proof points into accessible, human stories and experiences that demonstrate PNC’s relevance and value in the communities it serves.
• Lead development of integrated marketing plans, audience strategies, campaign and creative briefs, messaging frameworks, digital experiences and other assets that bring the pillar to life.
• Partner with Corporate Communications to identify opportunities for earned storytelling, executive visibility and reputation building, while maintaining clear Brand Marketing ownership of the strategy, audience plan, content ecosystem and activation.
• Work with Corporate Responsibility, Regional Presidents, local market teams and line-of-business partners to surface credible proof points and tailor enterprise narratives for local relevance.
• Guide internal creative teams and external agencies from strategic briefing and concept development through execution, ensuring the work is distinctively PNC, audience relevant and aligned with brand standards.
• Use audience insights, cultural context, business priorities, performance signals, and AI-enabled capabilities to refine the proposition, improve activation and establish practical measures of success over time.

Ideal Candidate

A builder and architect who can take an emerging opportunity from an initial strategic premise to a clear, differentiated and actionable brand platform. A strategically minded, creatively fluent marketer who can connect enterprise priorities, audience insights and cultural context to an ownable value proposition. Comfortable creating structure where it does not yet exist, working through ambiguity and refining the strategy as new insights and proof points emerge. Deeply curious about audiences and skilled at identifying the human truth that can make a complex organizational priority meaningful and relevant. Fluent in integrated marketing, with experience translating brand strategy into campaigns, content, partnerships, digital experiences and market-level activation. Embraces curiosity and continuous learning, with an openness to leverage AI and emerging technologies. A strong writer, editor and narrative thinker who can align channel owners, creative teams, business partners and communications colleagues around a shared strategy and clear roles.

Experience and Qualifications

8–10+ years of experience in integrated marketing, brand strategy, brand platform development, content marketing, corporate reputation or a related discipline. Demonstrated experience building a new brand proposition, strategic platform, marketing capability or activation model from the ground up. Experience developing audience-led positioning, value propositions, narrative and messaging architecture and integrated activation strategies. Demonstrated ability to connect organizational actions, partnerships or investments to credible, audience-relevant brand stories and integrated campaigns across owned, paid, social, digital, experiential, local and internal channels. Proven ability to counsel senior stakeholders, lead complex cross-functional work and influence decisions without direct authority. Experience managing internal creative resources and/or external agency partners from strategy and briefing through execution. Experience in community investment marketing, corporate responsibility marketing, purpose-led marketing, financial services, public affairs or another highly regulated environment is preferred, but not required. Demonstrated curiosity and working fluency with AI-enabled marketing tools, with the judgment to apply them responsibly to enhance strategic thinking, creative briefing, and marketing effectiveness. Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, journalism, public relations or a related field, or equivalent professional experience. PNC Employees take pride in our reputation and to continue building upon that we expect our employees to be: Customer Focused - Knowledgeable of the values and practices that align customer needs and satisfaction as primary considerations in all business decisions and able to leverage that information in creating customized customer solutions. Managing Risk - Assessing and effectively managing all of the risks associated with their business objectives and activities to ensure they adhere to and support PNC's Enterprise Risk Management Framework.

Qualifications

Successful candidates must demonstrate appropriate knowledge, skills, and abilities for a role. Listed below are skills, competencies, work experience, education, and required certifications/licensures needed to be successful in this position. Competencies Analytical Thinking, Artificial Intelligence, Brand Management, Collaborating, Continuous Transformation, Customer Behavior and Preferences, Decision Making and Critical Thinking, Effectiveness Measurement, Financial Services Industry, Influencing, Innovation, Problem Solving, Strategic Thinking Work Experience Roles at this level typically require a university / college degree. Higher level education such as a Masters degree, PhD, or certifications is desirable. Industry relevant experience is typically 8+ years. Specific certifications are often required. In lieu of a degree, a comparable combination of education, job specific certification(s), and experience (including military service) may be considered. Education Bachelors Certifications No Required Certification(s) Licences No Required License(s) Language Assessments No Required or Preferred Language Assessments Pay Transparency Base Salary: $91,000.00 – $202,800.00 Salaries may vary based on geographic location, market data and on individual skills, experience, and education. This role is incentive eligible with the payment based upon company, business and/or individual performance.

Benefits

• medical/prescription drug coverage (with a Health Savings Account feature)
• dental and vision options
• employee and spouse/child life insurance
• short and long-term disability protection
• 401(k) with PNC match, pension and stock purchase plans
• dependent care reimbursement account
• back-up child/elder care
• adoption, surrogacy, and doula reimbursement
• educational assistance, including select programs fully paid
• a robust wellness program with financial incentives

In addition, PNC generally provides the following paid time off, depending on your eligibility: maternity and/or parental leave; up to 11 paid holidays each year; 9 occasional absence days each year, unless otherwise required by law; between 15 to 25 vacation days each year, depending on career level; and years of service.

To learn more about these and other programs, including benefits for full time and part-time employees, visit pncthrive.com.

Disability Accommodations Statement

If an accommodation is required to participate in the application process, please contact us via email at [e-mail]. Please include “accommodation request” in the subject line title and be sure to include your name, the job ID, and your preferred method of contact in the body of the email. Emails not related to accommodation requests will not receive responses. Applicants may also call 877-968-7762 and say "Workday" for accommodation assistance. All information provided will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations. At PNC we foster an inclusive and accessible workplace. We provide reasonable accommodations to employment applicants and qualified individuals with a disability who need an accommodation to perform the essential functions of their positions.

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)

PNC provides equal employment opportunity to qualified persons regardless of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, veteran status, or other categories protected by law. This position is subject to the requirements of Section 19 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) and, for any registered role, the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (SAFE Act) and/or the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which prohibit the hiring of individuals with certain criminal history.

California Residents

Refer to the California Consumer Privacy Act Privacy Notice to gain understanding of how PNC may use or disclose your personal information in our hiring practices.

Company Culture

For nearly 160 years, PNC has strived to make a meaningful impact for our employees, customers, communities, and shareholders. We believe our success and positive reputation are built on open and honest dialogue, an unwavering focus on smart risk management, relationship-based customer service and community investments. Our inclusive workplace allows our employees to be heard, valued, and developed to do their best work. Being a great place to work means we are making a lasting difference for everyone we serve.

Total Rewards

PNC’s total rewards package includes things like time off, benefits, learning and career development, wellness programs, recognition and much more. The benefits and programs highlighted below are just a sampling of what PNC offers its employees. To learn more, visit our Total Rewards page.