Chief Marketing Officer - American Humane

Washington, DC 20036

About the Job

American Humane is seeking an experienced Chief Marketing Officer that will be responsible for the evolution and integrity of the American Humane and Global Humane brand. This position will be hybrid and reports directly to the President & CEO. American Humane is committed to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. As we seek to fill this position, we highly encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds to apply.

For more than 100 years American Humane has been first in promoting the welfare and safety of animals and strengthening the bond between animals and people. We are first to serve, wherever animals are in need of rescue, shelter, protection or security. Through our innovative leadership initiatives – from our “No Animals Were Harmed®” program in Hollywood to broad-based farm and conservation animal welfare certifications, to rapid response rescue and care across the country – American Humane sets the gold standard as the most visionary and effective animal welfare organization in the nation.

Position summary:
The Chief Marketing Officer is responsible for the evolution and integrity of the American Humane and Global Humane brand and the development and deployment of marketing strategies to achieve the critical business objectives for the first animal welfare organization in the country as well as position the organization for international growth. The CMO will play a critical leadership role in defining the American Humane brand blueprint for the future, developing a strategy that defines how we go to market, redefining our value proposition, identifying target audiences, amplifying our partnerships, and driving best-in-class creative.

The CMO will oversee, grow, and improve the awareness, interest and ranking of American Humane’s brand. This critical role will determine long and short-term objectives, develop strategies to achieve those goals, and ensure the marketing team stays focused and executes high value/impact activities. The CMO will lead the analytical, creative and digital elements of marketing including brand and positioning, building advocacy and influencers, content marketing, market analytics, program sales, and fundraising support and lead generation.

They serve as the steward of the organization’s brand by providing strategic oversight of the marketing, communications and events teams, to ensure seamless integration of strategies and goals for the organization. Working in collaboration with the Chief Communications Officer (CCO), the CMO will ensure maintenance of the organization’s brand guidelines are inclusive of its visual identity, naming architecture, position, pillars and voice. The CMO provides leadership and direction over traditional marketing channels, digital marketing, creative services, and partnership and sales marketing.

This role reports directly to the President & CEO and works closely and collaboratively with the SVP & Chief Growth Officer, SVP, Chief Operating Officer (COO), CCO, AVP Corporate and Cause Marketing, Director, Digital Fundraising, and business development and program leadership.

Responsibilities:

Marketing Strategy, Vision and Leadership

Reimagine and implement a strategic marketing vision that embraces an integrated marketing approach, that positively builds the brand through awareness and engagement with American Humane programs. Promote and protect the American Humane brand and message; broaden awareness and visibility of American Humane’s programs and priorities across key audiences; and, alongside key fundraising and program team members, enhance and grow American Humane’s base of donors and program customers.
Work with the CGO, COO, CCO, AVP of Corporate and Cause Marketing, and relevant agency partners to refine the American Humane brand architecture, vision, and strategy – partnering with program leads across the organization to refine product value proposition, establish product-market fit, design brand pillars that support our programmatic offerings and program sales value propositions.
Support American Humane’s CCO and CEO on PR and executive visibility plans.
Ensure high-quality KPIs are set and employed to gauge the effectiveness of marketing across the organization and within partnership deliverables in meeting American Humane’s brand and program goals.

Drive the development of “always on” and seasonal/trend-driven marketing campaigns to increase brand awareness, consideration, and conversion.

Digital Marketing

Lead all digital marketing/channels and collaborate with CCO and Director, Digital Fundraising to build plans consistent across the organization.

Evaluate and enhance all of American Humane’s owned properties including web, digital, graphic design, social media and marketing efforts with a broad focus on growing the organization’s brand and awareness.

Oversee the planning execution and optimization of all digital marketing campaigns across various channels, such as SEO, SEM, social media, email marketing, display advertising and content marketing, aimed at a wide range of prospective audiences.
Drive acquisition efforts by formulating website optimization tactics, increasing the ability to generate new donors and customers.
Monitor and analyze key performance indicators to evaluate the effectiveness of digital marketing initiatives, making data-driven recommendations for continuous improvement.
Stay current on industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices in digital marketing to ensure AH is at the forefront of innovation in its overall marketing and brand growth efforts.
Develop and manage the digital marketing budget, ensuring resources are allocated effectively to maximize ROI.

Partnership and Program Marketing

Spearhead the development of marketing strategies for both development and program portfolios, including product positioning and naming, target audience(s), creative development, launch timing and channel approach.
Working collaboratively with program and development leadership, conduct and utilize research, data analytics, market trends and environmental factors to uncover insights and leverage them in actionable ways to achieve organizational and programmatic growth goals.

Oversee and create opportunities to provide best-in-class stewardship to corporate and foundation partners. Ensure partnership execution contributions/ commitments meet or exceed expectations of partners and internal teams by supporting logistical execution of all marketing partnership logistics – gather relevant assets, implementation details, recap reporting and optimization of meaningful marketing metrics to be tracked through the cycle of the partnerships.
Leverage partner relationships with intent to advance American Humane’s brand recognition and owned marketing campaigns.
Collaborate with development and program leadership in the creation and execution of brand partnership opportunities that will help us reach new audiences and enhance our brand positioning.

Communications

Work collaboratively with the Chief Communications Officer to ensure voice and brand consistency across the work of the organization.

Program Leadership & Business Development

Work collaboratively with program heads and staff in charge of business development for individual program areas to ensure brand consistency across the organization.

Events

Provide strategic oversight of events function to ensure brand consistency in all organizational events.

Team and Budget Management

Oversee the day-to-day activities of the marketing function including budgeting, planning, and staff development, and as needed supervise contracted marketing projects and manage relationships with associated vendors/agencies.
Build and lead a team of marketers in the development of go-to-market strategies and tactics designed to grow the American Humane brand while acquiring new donors, improving audience engagement, and increasing renewals.
Establish and monitor staff performance and development goals, assign accountabilities, set objectives, establish priorities, and conduct annual performance appraisals.
Promote a culture of high performance and continuous improvement that emphasizes learning and a commitment to excellence through a supportive and collaborative approach.
Performs miscellaneous job-related duties as requested.

Essential experience, knowledge, skills and abilities:

Bachelor’s Degree
10-15 years’ experience in a marketing leadership role required.
Deep experience building and managing a marketing team in the nonprofit space (ideally within animal welfare, or other relevant fields) or a campaign-driven organization and with proven metrics around building a global voice for an organization across key audiences.
Experience developing brand architecture and product positioning within the digital landscape, bridging together consumer data, competitive/trend analysis, and creative vision.
Excellent verbal/written communications are assumed, as is a knowledge of design, digital and social media platforms, and multimedia campaigns and implementation.
Able to work well both independently, with minimal supervision, and collaboratively as part of a team.
Highly skilled at building internal and external relationships.
Exhibits sound judgement, discretion, and professionalism.
Ability to shift gears quickly and manage multiple priorities.
Understanding of corporate partnerships, cause marketing best practices and BBB guidelines
History of supervision and/or mentorship roles.
A passion for the American Humane mission and the animals and people we serve.
Demonstrated proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, especially Outlook, Word and PowerPoint.

Direct reports:

This position will have direct reports.

Physical demands and work environment:

Position based in the DC Metro area with a hybrid work schedule based on organizational policy, need and manager discretion.
Must be able to work from a computer screen and type on a keyboard for extended periods of time as well as talk, hear and exchange information over the telephone, computer and in person.
Ability to travel, estimated 25%, and work some evenings and weekends.
Must be comfortable with occasional animals in the office or at work related events.

American Humane’s core values define our workplace, and these values serve as the cornerstone for interactions in advancing our mission and institutional goals. Employees are expected to adhere to all organizational policies and to act as role models, demonstrating American Humane’s core values:
Compassion – Being kind and caring in our interactions with others.

Accountability - Holding ourselves to the highest standards. Following through on commitments and owning our actions, behavior, and decisions.
Respect for All – Being professional, listening to others and honoring diversity in all its forms.
Loyalty to Mission – Staying focused on our purpose and our mission – our nation’s most vulnerable depend on us.
Sustainability - Contributing to being a great place to work and achieving our shared mission and goals to make a difference, now and in the future.
Honesty, Integrity, Trust – Demonstrating transparency, as trusted stewards of donor resources, supporting our leadership and one another.

American Humane (AH) is an Equal Opportunity Employer with a commitment to fostering and growing diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace and the humane space.

Source : American Humane