Senior Director, Marketing Strategy

National Geographic; Washington; Hybrid; USD 185,000 - 195,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k) with match

Paid time off

Paid holidays

Life insurance

Disability benefit

Job summary

National Geographic Society seeks a Senior Director of Marketing Strategy to develop and oversee cross‑functional marketing plans that unite brand, audience, and content strategy. You will drive multichannel campaigns, partner with Education and Advancement, and lead initiatives to grow educator, learner, and donor engagement across channels.

The role shapes long‑term brand growth, co‑authors go‑to‑market plans, and mentors a team to execute high‑impact marketing strategies in a hybrid US

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.
• 10+ years of integrated marketing and partnering with communications teams in nonprofit marketing.

Responsibilities

• Build and deploy omni‑channel marketing strategies and plans.
• Optimize marketing performance with data-driven improvements.
• Lead and develop a marketing team to execute the strategy.

Skills

Integrated marketing

Cross-functional collaboration

Analytics

MarTech systems

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Content Management Systems

SEO platforms

Digital analytics

Marketing automation

Social listening platforms

Job description

How You’ll Contribute

The Communication, Marketing and Brand team uses creative and strategic tools to further the mission of the National Geographic Society (NGS), while maintaining our place as one of the world’s most trusted non‑profit organizations and global brands. The Division’s creative minds develop and execute mission‑driven, on‑brand strategies and integrated strategic communications, marketing, creative and audience growth for the National Geographic Society and unifying our efforts across our owned channels, through owned channels, outside partners and earned media. The team is composed of seven integrated departments: Creative, Integrated Brand Marketing, Partnerships Marketing, MarCom Operations and Internal Communications, Strategic Communications, Executive Communications, and Crisis Communications and Public Relations.

The Senior Director, Marketing Strategy will develop the marketing strategy and oversee the development, execution and measurement marketing plans that bring together the brand strategy, audience strategy, content strategy and multichannel campaign design to drive business‑aligned outcomes. This leader will have the opportunity to bring the brand’s identity, purpose, and emotional connection to life through marketing strategies ensuring the brand story is consistent, aligned and amplified across the entire audience lifecycle. The Senior Director of Marketing Strategy will analyze audience research and market trends to long‑term growth strategies identifying the right offerings and messages that will drive audience engagement, growth and build and maintain brand loyalty. This role will partner closely with customer journey and channel teams to drive acquisition, retention and loyalty engagement.

The Senior Director of Marketing Strategy will be the help “architect,” creating frameworks that other marketing divisions across Advancement and Campus and Experiences use to execute defining and orchestrating brand moments across the organization to drive brand impact. This role will be an advocate for brand growth across teams and will co‑author go‑to‑market plans with partner marketing strategy teams to ensure long‑term branding is balanced against shorter‑term lead generation.

This role will partner closely with the Education division developing, executing and optimizing all marketing activities for the division and ensuring effective audience growth and engagement deployment across channels to grow our portfolio of education offerings with educators and learners alike. This leader will also partner with the Advancement team on supporting the organization’s broader fundraising goals and comprehensive campaign by building integrated Marcom plans that convert brand awareness into philanthropic growth by leveraging innovative tactics to cultivate and deepen relationships across all giving levels and prospect segments.

Your Impact

Responsibilities Include:

Build and deploy omni‑channel marketing strategies and plans (50%)

• Lead the development of comprehensive, integrated marketing plans that align with overarching business goals working across divisions translating business priorities into integrated calendars and seasonal initiatives and ensuring alignment with larger brand priorities.

• Leverage audience insight and market data in the development of marketing strategies and plans to drive program and brand performance.

• Lead development of marketing strategies and execute multi‑channel marketing plans for Education division growing impact with educator and learner audiences.

• Lead development of marketing strategies and execute multi‑channel marketing plans for Advancement division growing impact with donor audiences.

• Able to build and execute marketing campaigns and effectively lead the creative development process.

Optimize Marketing Performance (20%):

• Work with business owners, channel managers, and data analysts to optimize campaign performance and ensure campaign success.

• Develop scorecard and track campaign results, analyze data, develop campaign reports, and create action plans for campaign improvements and optimizations.

• Ensure marketing activities drive agreed to Advancement and Education goals and KPIs as outlined are delivered.

• Identify where current marketing processes can be improved or where they may need to be developed.

• Stay engaged in market trends and competition through market research and planning.

Team Development/Management (30%)

• Recruit and manage a team to support the development and execution of the integrated marketing strategy.

• Lead and mentor junior team members to build a culture of high performance, creative thinking, and risk‑taking.

• Establish and monitor staff performance and development goals, ensure accountabilities, objectives and priorities met, conduct annual performance appraisals, and administer salary adjustments.

What You’ll Bring

Educational Background

Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred. Credentials in marketing with experience working cross functionally with partner marketing teams (product, other revenue generating or fundraising).

Minimum Years and Type of Experience

10+ years of experience in integrated marketing and in partnering with communications teams with experience working in a non‑profit marketing role.

Necessary Knowledge and Skills

• Past experience in education a plus.

• Experience marketing a global brand.

• Understanding of the creative process and experience in managing agencies and working with in‑house creative teams to develop high quality and effective creative.

• Experience building integrated marketing campaigns including digital channels, content strategy and audience growth with experience in executing omni‑channel engagement activities.

• Technical proficiency and working knowledge of key Martech systems including Content Management Systems, SEO platforms, digital analytics, marketing automation, social listening platforms and audience analytics.

• Excellent oral and written communication skills and meticulous attention to detail.

• Self‑starter that is comfortable with ambiguity, able to adapt to change, and can innovate and thrive in a fast‑paced environment.

• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and relationship management skills.

• Leads by example, displaying highly collaborative, influential and creative approaches to solving problems.

• Successful track record of campaign cycles from concept to implementation to measurement.

• Proven experience deploying analytics and utilizing data to make decisions, inform future campaigns and initiatives.

Desired Qualifications

• Ability to exercise sound judgment independently when responding to inquiries and interacting with partners.

• Experience in or closely with Advancement teams and achieving fundraising goals.

• Experience working with global partners and a legacy brand a plus.

Supervision

4 direct reports, oversight of a 5 person team

Salary Information

The National Geographic Society offers a competitive and holistic total rewards package. Our compensation structure and transparent pay philosophy are based on industry‑specific market data for similar‑sized nonprofit organizations.

The salary range for this position accounts for a wide range of factors including but not limited to organizational need; specific skill sets; experience and training; certifications; and more. At the National Geographic Society, individuals are typically hired at or near the starting point of the salary range for their role, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case.

The salary range for this position is $185,250.00 - $195,000.00.

In addition, the National Geographic Society offers a competitive and comprehensive benefits package that includes, but is not limited to, medical, dental, and vision insurance; engaging and comprehensive wellness program; 401(k) retirement savings plan with matching contributions after 6 months of employment; flexible paid time off benefits with up to 22 days of paid annual leave per calendar year (15 days for new hires in their first year, prorated based on the number of pay periods remaining in the year) and 10 days of sick leave; 12 paid holidays and a paid winter break between December 25 and 31 (May not apply to all roles that are required to work during high volume seasons or essential workers. Please check with the hiring manager for confirmation.); paid parental leave, adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility benefits; learning and development opportunities; Lifestyle Spending Account; pet adoption assistance and insurance; pre‑tax transportation benefits with a generous employer subsidy; employer‑paid life insurance and disability benefit; and a variety of National Geographic discounts and perks.

Job Designation

Hybrid - At the Society, we believe in the advantages of coming together to build community, mentor and learn from colleagues, and connect more deeply with our mission. As a result, the majority of our staff are Hybrid. Our Hybrid category requires that staff work at Base Camp two days each week: every Tuesday and Wednesday. Hybrid staff are also always welcome to come in additional days each week if preferred.

Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States. This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship.

W__e encourage you to apply even if your experience is not a 100% match with the position. We are looking for someone with relevant skills and experience, not a checklist that exactly matches the job description. We want to help you grow and in return, you help us grow into a stronger, more inclusive organization.