Marketing Manager

OUR VISION FOR THE MARKETING MANAGER

The Marketing and Storytelling team at Making Waves Foundation supports the organization’s ambitious strategic plan and mission to expand access to educational opportunities by leading strategy and implementation and providing consultation for the spectrum of marketing and storytelling. This includes leading branding, marketing, storytelling, digital and multimedia strategy, and supporting internal communications.

Reporting to the Director of Marketing and Storytelling, the Marketing Manager is an integral member of the team, working with team members across the organization, with student interns, outside vendors, and independently.

The Marketing Manager supports the organization’s mission to provide educational opportunities and reach more students, leading a variety of marketing and storytelling projects and campaigns from conception to assessment – particularly for student and family audiences, focusing on social media, web, and digital channels.

The Marketing Manager provides leadership and champions marketing expertise and best practices in integrated marketing, content creation, peer-to-peer marketing, digital advertising and email marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and accessibility and inclusion in marketing. The Marketing Manager also contributes to team initiatives related to brand management, storytelling, development and fundraising, and more. Based on the final candidate's preference, the title of this role can be Marketing Manager or Marketing Specialist. This does not impact compensation.

In the first year in the role, the Marketing Manager will be responsible for:

• Collaboratively developing a plan for marketing and engagement strategies for college and career access and success programs, planning for the lifecycle of student, family, and alumni experiences with our brand.
• Building working relationships, getting fully acquainted with, leading, and making recommendations around software, systems, accounts or channels within role.
• Developing targeted marketing campaigns and multimedia projects for college and career access and success programs.
• Developing new tools, processes, and media organization for user-generated content and peer-to-peer marketing.
• Contributing to overall marketing and storytelling planning and projects, brand management, and team building and knowledge management.

OUR COMMITMENT TO THE MARKETING MANAGER

We are proud of the above-market total rewards package to our employees in line with our guiding principles of centering transparency and equity, rewarding expertise and performance, and championing professional wellness. This is a full-time, exempt role, and will be eligible to receive:

• A competitive base salary range of $75,055-$101,545 based on requisite work experience and performance during the interview process. In line with our commitment to equity, fairness, and transparency, we have adopted a no salary negotiation policy.
• 51 total days off per fiscal year (a combination of company-paid holidays, vacation, sick, and personal time).
• 100% employer paid medical (Kaiser HMO Platinum), vision, and dental benefits for the full-time staff member and a spouse/domestic partner or dependent child(ren).
• Lunch on in-person days (5x a month) and free access to Grubhub+, 3% retirement match, a $750 HRA account to help fund mental health benefits, FSA for medical and childcare expenses, and an annual professional development stipend.
• A hybrid work environment where staff work from the office on five (5) common days a month with flexibility to work remotely otherwise. There are occasional additional in-person meetings and events that this role would be responsible to attend.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

This job description reflects Making Waves Foundation’s assignment of essential functions and qualifications of the role. Nothing in this herein restricts management's right to assign, reassign, or eliminate duties and responsibilities to this role at any time.   

Lead program marketing planning, implementation, and assessment (35%)

• Plan marketing research and engagement strategies for college and career access and success programs across channels
• Collaboratively lead program marketing campaigns from conceptualization to assessment; manage content and materials including websites social media, email marketing, Google Ads, videos, photoshoots, branded and promotional items.
• Support marketing for events and programs for student and alumni engagement.
• Serve as the primary marketing contact for the Program team, providing leadership and working collaboratively on projects and questions. Create internal processes for managing multiple projects, defining project scopes, roles, and meeting deadlines.
• Contribute to and coordinate with the Marketing and Storytelling content calendar and projects for Making Waves Foundation and Making Waves Academy such as fundraising campaigns, impact reports, leadership communications.

Lead digital, multimedia, and integrated marketing for student and family audiences (30%)

• Manage and provide expertise for student-facing and family-facing social media and explore newer platforms. Plan marketing and engagement strategies, create content, and develop student and alumni generated content and peer-to-peer marketing.
• Lead or collaborate on web, email marketing, Google Advertising, and digital content strategy for the foundation’s student, family, and alumni audiences. Consult and collaborate on text message, chatbot, and student portal marketing and communications.
• With support from vendors and interns, manage or contribute to video projects and photoshoots; occasionally take or edit photos, create visuals, or produce short videos.
• Manage and contribute to digital activity and impact reports.
• Support implementing best practices in accessibility, diversity, equity, and inclusion, SEO, and user experience.

Support Marketing and Storytelling team projects (25%)     

• Support the Director of Marketing and Storytelling and other team leaders, contributing to brand management and messaging, web strategy, news, development marketing and storytelling, leadership and internal communications.
• Support the Director of Marketing and Storytelling with administrative work such as team knowledge and media management, management of the Marketing Resources and Requests site, meeting administration, process improvement, proofreading, research projects, and budget and vendor management – including with photography, videography, and design vendors.
• Help champion Marketing and Storytelling team strategies, projects, and brand management; present at All-Hands or team meetings; on occasion, serve as back-up to Director.
• Support the Director of Marketing and Storytelling with managing, mentoring, and overseeing projects with student interns. 

Actively engage in continuous improvement and organization processes (10%)

• Research, schedule, and participate in professional development opportunities in service of professional growth and impact on the organization.
• Participate in organization processes and rituals (e.g., goal setting, engagement surveys, All-Hands meetings) and provide feedback to improve our work in the future.
• Participate in Marketing and Storytelling goal setting and strategy activities, leading several initiatives, and providing recommendations or solutions for challenges.
• Actively track and assess best practices in marketing, create new or improved multimedia opportunities, and present on new approaches or new strategies.

Project management and communication

The following responsibilities are included throughout the role:

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills in taking and making project requests, managing projects inclusively, considering others’ perspectives, and receiving and providing feedback.
• Strong project management and communication skills to set and meet deadlines and provide updates, ask questions, or express the need for guidance.
• Initiative to manage multiple cyclical projects – improving processes and approaches overtime.
• Manage assigned and independent projects, setting scope, objectives, timelines, steps, deliverables, and assessment while planning for input and approvals.

KEY EXPERIENCE, QUALIFICATIONS, AND SKILLS

Required Qualifications:

• 4+ years of full-time work experience in marketing and communications or related field.
• Experience with working with or learning various digital and multimedia software and systems (e.g., web content management systems, social media channels, email marketing tools, Adobe Creative, Canva, Giphy, Google Analytics and Ads, Asana).
• Strong portfolio of marketing, storytelling, web, or social media projects – and skills in planning, writing, editing, content creation, and project management and assessment.
• Commitment to championing diversity, equity, and inclusion in marketing.
• Strong attention to detail and willingness to double check work.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills in managing projects collaboratively and inclusively and considering the perspectives of others. Experience working collaboratively and inclusively as a part of cross-functional teams.
• Experience with creating, managing, and assessing content for websites, social media, and other channels, while strategically growing engagement. Knowledge of social media and digital advertising, Google Ads, accessibility standards, and search engine optimization (SEO).
• Experience managing projects independently, including multiple projects at the same time.
• A bachelor’s degree or four years of relevant work experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience or enthusiasm for working at education, nonprofit, or social impact organizations.
• Experience or enthusiasm for marketing to high school and college student and family audiences – and supporting fundraising marketing projects.
• Experience working in roles that require leadership, problem-solving, follow-through, attention to detail, and written and verbal communication.
• Experience leading projects through entire lifecycle from conception to launch to assessment.
• Knowledge or experience around user experience, user-generated or peer-to-peer marketing.

How you work and what you value:

• Culture Values: Relates and aligns with our mission and core values (drive impact, promote equity, build community, do hard things, learn and grow). Committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Building Relationships: Develops beneficial internal and external relationships to achieve results. Consistently demonstrates the ability to work effectively with others across, including inspiring, challenging, and supporting self and others to be at our best.
• Planning and Executing: Able to organize, prioritize, track, and manage workflow. Strong project manager who has strong attention to detail and executes to reach goals. Consistently tracks tasks to meet goals, timelines, and milestones, and effectively follows through on plans.
• Strategic Thinking: Identifies and prioritizes opportunities to pursue and problems to solve. Makes connections between a range of data, information, or ideas and creates actionable strategies or solutions.
• You are excited to innovate, enjoy the iterative nature of that work, and are an entrepreneurial self-starter.

ABOUT MAKING WAVES FOUNDATION

Making Waves Foundation is a private operating foundation located in Richmond, California. With a unique focus on college attendance and graduation, Making Waves Foundation has supported historically underrepresented and underserved students in pursuing their dreams for more than 30 years. The foundation supports Making Waves Academy, a public charter school in Richmond, California, educating more than 1,100 students, and leads a college success program, which provides coaching, scholarships, financial and career support for more than 500 college students as well as a network for more than 500 Wave-Maker alumni.

Our unique, holistic educational model supports students academically, socially, emotionally, and financially on their journey to, through, and beyond college. In 2020, Making Waves Foundation launched a new ten-year strategic plan centered on increasing the effectiveness of our existing program and expanding that programming to reach more students across Contra Costa County in the Bay Area.

RELEVANT POLICIES AT MAKING WAVES FOUNDATION

We require all staff members who work on-site to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as defined by the CDC. Accommodations or exceptions can be requested directly to someone on the People & Culture Team for medical or religious reasons.

Making Waves Foundation strives to build a staff that reflects the cultural diversity of the communities that we partner with. Making Waves Foundation provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. We encourage BIPOC identifying individuals to apply.

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