The Opportunity We are seeking a talented VP, Marketing and Brand Strategy to be responsible for setting and executing the holistic marketing and brand strategy for CO-OP Financial Services, a payments and financial technology company created by and for credit unions.
This role will serve as the lead strategist, ideator, insights synthesizer, messaging creator, differentiator and overall leader of the marketing team reporting to the EVP, Chief Experience Officer.This role will work closely with other leaders of the Marketing/Experience department as well as Strategy, Product and Sales leadership in order to effectively build and execute an enterprise marketing strategy that achieves company-wide growth goals.
The incumbent leads the development of the marketing and brand strategy for the company to create company awareness to both internal and external groups.
The position is directly responsible for Brand Messaging, Content, THINK, Brand Governance and Paid Media Strategy and Demand Generation.This position is flexibly-remote.
That means that this position is currently remote due to COVID.
Once we make the transition back into the office, there may be flexibility for a hybrid schedule of both remote and in-office work.
What You Can Look Forward to Act as supervisor to direct reports ranging from Manager to VP level.Perform annual performance reviews.Interact on a daily basis to inform decisions and set strategic direction based on each function.Display strong leadership skills in order to lead team to success in achieving both marketing and company-wide goals.Able to inspire and motivate teams and individuals, and able to identify attract, develop and retain top talent.Marketing PlanningResearch, develop strategy and execute integrated marketing plans to drive client awareness across all marketing channels.Work with across Comms, Marketing and Experience functions to develop cohesive GTM strategy and ensure that the right message is being distributed across all channels to move audiences up the path to revenue.Conduct and direct integration of market and industry research to gain insights and trends related to the industry.Create holistic messaging strategy for the org: internal and external, to reinforce new product and strategy direction building the brand and the pipeline for the enterprise.Stay abreast of marketing innovation, media trends, and competitors to differentiate CO-OP and help the organization win.Innovate and build – create new excitement and bold engagement opportunities for the brand.Control and monitor budget allocated to marketing and brand activities.Set and achieve KPIs and tie to economic performance in concert with VPs and SVPs across Sales org and Product organization.Market MessagingSet marketing messaging by deeply understanding CO-OP, the payments industry and our audience of credit unions and unique personas by synthesizing product releases, market insights and competitive differentiation to help the company break through market noise and create clarity and purpose around the brand.Oversee the activities of the Director of Content Management, aggregate rolled up product story lines from individual products and connect to client outcomes and overall brand story.Develop and execute content marketing and media strategy in order to maintain CO-OP’s position as the leading industry thought leader.Lead quarterly cross-functional editorial board to create story angles and themes that pay off outcome-based messaging to guide.Demand GenerationDetermine the appropriate marketing channels in concert with the VP of Demand Gen, used to convey company messaging including all forms of paid/owned/earned media, direct marketing, sales enablement, content marketing, events and owned channels.Develop and execute multi-channel marketing strategy for new and existing products to ensure products are successfully launched to the market.Set performance metrics and achieve them.Brand Management and GovernanceSet and Manage ongoing brand governance including verbal, visual and logo guidelines for B2B and Consumer brand family.Oversee Experiential Marketing and Industry RelationsUnderstand key industry organizations and stakeholders to build strong relationships and corporate presence.
Work with VP of Experiential Marketing and Events.Research and Competitive IntelligenceUnderstand the products and services offering and approach of key competitors; communicate products and services differentiation to sales and provides input to senior leadership.Participate in situational planning – investigating consumer, credit union, payments, competitive and other relevant trends to drive ongoing marketing direction.Lead research partners (EY, Accenture, Mercator, Aite, etc.) to develop insights that drive messaging, premium content development and execution.Manage brand research benchmarking.Leadership and ManagementLead and mentor marketing team members, ensuring that the Department is staffed with highly motivated and skilled professionals who will contribute to the company’s overall successEstablish positive working relationships and trust with other senior and executive leaders within the organization.Actively supports and embraces our core values of Work as Partners, Communicate Openly and Honestly, Demonstrate Excellence and Champion Change in all interactions.Act as leader of those reporting to you as well as peer groups by setting strategy and direction for executing against marketing and company-wide goals as well as leading and developing a team of marketing professionals.Work cross-departmentally with leaders of other departments including, but not limited to, product and sales to achieve shared goals.VP and Above Expectations within CO-OP’s CMX OrganizationCritical thought on area of ownership, generating new thinking on strategies to better achieve goals (marketing, communications or CX).Anticipate what’s next and document in a connected business plan with the ability and acumen to defend why that that approach is on strategy.Anticipate where your plans intersect with CMX teammates and other interconnected/impacted functional areas with enough time to properly plan to execute well.Acumen to document plans, business cases and communicate them to peers and C-level executives.Translate and operationalize strategic plans into tactical execution plans that bring the work to fruition in the manner that was expected.
Work with Experience Operations to budget and slate work accordingly.Each leader holds their own and participate equally.Team leaders have the ability to make choices about unplanned work or requests that come to CMX based on how that work achieves or does not achieve Marketing, Communications or CX goals.Manage budget for area of ownership Manage time wisely and make suggestions to improve time constraints.Guide and coach teams to learn to do 1-9 and create coaching plans to build strength at all levels.Regular and reliable attendance.Responsible for reporting risks that are identified to the appropriate team and/or management.
Additionally, responsible for managing, monitoring and reporting risks within the scope of your work area, to include, but not limited to Information Security risks.Actively supports our CO-OP culture and embraces our core values of Work as Partners, Communicate Openly and Honestly, Demonstrate Excellence and Champion Change in all interactions.
What You’ll Need to Succeed Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, or related field plus 8 – 10 years related experience or equivalent training and/or experience.Minimum 12-15 years relevant work experience required.8-10 years minimum of management experience.Proven marketing and leadership experience.Absolute mastery in marketing strategy development and execution across all channels: digital, print, direct, social, and other emerging channels.Strong knowledge of product marketing, content marketing, media and sales enablement fundamentals and strategies.Digital marketing and marketing technologist, strong understanding of email marketing.Must be well knowledgeable of brand strategy and execution.Strong understanding of B2B, B2C and B2B2C marketing strategies.Skilled specifically at developing integrated product marketing strategies for complex product sets.Adept in all areas of content marketing, including strong understanding of the capabilities and role of marketing automation (Marketo and/or Pardot), social media, monitoring and measurement, SEO and more.Outstanding written & verbal communications skills as well as strong presentation skills.Ability to make quick, accurate decisions on a frequent basis, remain flexible and able to react quickly to change.Demonstrated success building organizational capabilities through process design, organizational development, recruiting and training and a hands-on leadership style.Collaborative in working with colleagues and vendors.
Exceptional collaborator and influencer ability to engage with multiple stakeholders (marketing leads, sales, merchant points of contact, operations, finance, growth, product, senior management) and quickly build relationships needed to accomplish program objectives.Skilled at conflict resolution and negotiation, able to set clear expectations and demand high performance for self and others.Ability to develop, clearly articulate, and sell complex marketing plans.
Strong analytical skills up front modeling, as well as back-end tracking and reporting.Highly motivated self-starter with a structured yet adaptable work-style able to work well in a fast-paced team environment while having a focus on quality, and good attention to detail.Adept in online and traditional marketing, and highly skilled in visual communications.Must be a nimble, creative and innovative thinker, adept in all areas of engagement, digital, content, demand generation and brand with deep experience understanding how strategic, integrated marketing can drive financial growth for an organization.
Ability to influence and build relationships with others.Ability to thrive in fast-paced, flexible, high-growth environment.Master’s degree in Business Administration preferred.Agency and/or start-up experience helpful.Experience in credit union or financial technology industry preferred.
Why Join CO-OP?
CO-OP is committed to fostering a workplace where every employee feels valued, respected, and connected.
We are dedicated to understanding, attracting and engaging a diverse workforce; ensuring that our employee base reflects the consumers we serve; cultivating a workplacein which every employee can live up to their full potential.
The result of this effort is an inclusive environment where diverse talent thrives.
You will be part of an organization that focuses on a strong culture and embodies the credit union movement philosophy of People Helping People.
CO-OP’s commitment to reflecting our own core values and purpose extends beyond how we serve our clients and the products that we deliver.With more than 35 years of industry leadership, CO-OP Financial Services is the largest, most comprehensive credit union service organization in the nation.
CO-OP serves as THE credit union technology engine, bringing payments solutions, engagement services and strategic counsel to help credit unions optimize member experiences to consistently provide seamless, personalized multi-channel offerings, while delivering secure, sophisticated fraud mitigation service.CO-OP serves more than 3,000 client credit unions, with 60 million debit and credit cardholders, nearly 30,000 surcharge-free ATMs and more than 5,600 shared branches nationwide.
Our vast technological ecosystem facilitates more than 6.5 billion transactions every year and equips credit unions of all sizes to deepen member engagement and prosper in the fast-paced world of fintech.
The Perks Fun, challenging and, collaborative work environment with passionate colleagues that care deeply about the intersection of technology and human-centered financial services.Great Work/Life Benefits – Paid Time Off (PTO), Maternity, Parental, Family Care, Adoption Leave Programs, Community Volunteer Time Off, and 10 Paid Holidays.Health benefits – medical, dental, & vision plus wellness programs and gym reimbursements.401K with generous company match.Tuition reimbursement.