Career Center

The American Counseling Association (ACA) is the world’s largest organization representing professional counselors in various practice settings.  Our vision: Every person has access to quality professional counseling to thrive.  Our mission: Promote the professional development of counselors, advocate for the profession, and ensure ethical, culturally inclusive practice.  Our values: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Integrity, Proactive Leadership, Professional Community & Relationships, Scientific Practice & Knowledge, Social Justice & Empowerment. 

All American Counseling Association team members are encouraged, supported, and expected to demonstrate The Way We Work Values: Be Flexible, Be Creative, Be Empowered, Be Inquisitive, Be Collaborative and Be Respectful.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Director of Marketing will work closely with the Chief Communications and Marketing Officer to develop and implement integrated marketing strategies and plans to support membership, products, services, and programs. The Director builds strong relationships internally between the marketing team (direct reports & vendors) and key program areas of the association: membership, publications, advocacy, meetings, education, strategic partnership programs, awards, and other departments. The Director builds brand awareness and loyalty for ACA to promote the mission and differentiate it from other mental health organizations and enhances perceptions of ACA among key constituencies, including members, policymakers and media. Develops and executes strategies to increase the public’s awareness of ACA and cultivates relationships with key constituencies.

This is a hands-on role directly responsible for developing and implementing promotional campaigns, managing external vendors, project planning and execution, budget development and management, and campaign performance tracking/reporting. This position has supervisory responsibilities.

In addition to the below list of responsibilities, the Director of Marketing will carry out assigned tasks that are consistent with the general responsibilities of the position.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develops and implements integrated marketing plans for key products, services and programs across traditional and digital channels, including inbound/outbound, web strategy and content marketing, paid digital, SEO, e-mail marketing, social media, print advertising, and direct mail.
• Conducts research and serves as a conduit for requisite market insight. Provides information to support the marketing goals and objectives for key products and services.
• Supervises three direct reports: Sr. Manager, Graphic Design; Graphic Designer; & Sr. Manager, Multimedia Services.
• Manages contracted services from external vendors.
• Manages use and execution of ACA marketing channels and digital assets to increase engagement with ACA content and programs.
• Coordinates opportunities for cross-selling and cross-promoting between and among ACA products and services.
• Leads efforts to ensure the ACA brand is consistent and leveraged through execution and management of marketing efforts: print ads, digital ads, websites, email, collateral literature, exhibits and other in-person events, giveaways, signage, and other promotional initiatives.
• Collaborates with peers and across programs to ensure brand integrity and opportunities are maximized.
• Owns and improves marketing analytics, including tracking, analyzing, and communicating business results for all campaigns and assigned projects.
• Leverages data to define target markets/segments to develop effective acquisition, retention, cross-sell, and campaign strategies.
• Collaborates with the Chief Communications and Marketing Officer to establish and report department KPIs.  Responsible to meet or exceed goals. 
• Leads project management of market research initiatives needed to inform organization and marketing strategies in partnership with external research partners.
• Leverages channel platform reporting, Google Analytics, and performance dashboards to inform strategic priorities, initiatives, and performance.
• Leads the creative vision across ACA and develop ideas and concepts for campaigns and content that have positive, measurable audience impact across multiple channels.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Demonstrated ability to think strategically, innovatively, and creatively using sound business judgment and quantitative skills. Results-driven, diplomatic, collaborative, and possessing a data-informed mindset.
• Strong leadership, organizational and communication skills; understanding of quality principles, professionalism, continuous learning, customer focus, teamwork and partnering skills; ability to manage multiple projects and campaigns simultaneously, adhere to deadlines, and adapt to change.
• Ability to create and deliver highly effective presentations to senior leadership.
• Strong business acumen. Self-directed, highly motivated, deadline driven, and customer-service focused with the ability to work independently with a high level of personal accountability to produce results rapidly and within deadlines. A strong leader adept at leading and developing high-performing teams.
• Experience or exposure to creative development, and an understanding of all current and emerging marketing methods and tactics to reach respective targets is required.
• Advanced skills in marketing strategy development; digital, traditional, and social media; audience segmentation; marketing automation; first-, second-, and third-party audience activation; and marketing analytics.
• Knowledge of copy writing, graphic design, layout, creative development process, including campaign development and execution.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree, preferably in Marketing, with 10+ years of experience. Experience in an association, or other nonprofit organization is preferred.
• 2-3 years’ experience in a supervisor role, managing workflows and/or cross-functional teams.
• 1-3 years’ experience with CRM platforms, marketing platforms, websites (Sitefinity preferred) and their integrations.
• Experience with creating and managing multiple user journeys and UX/UI.
• Ability to demonstrate effective and efficient use of software: Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft Teams/Zoom.
• Comfortable presenting to groups and the ability to work well with internal client groups.
• Expert abilities with data analytics and quantifying marketing ROI, recommendations, and
• Demonstrated skills, knowledge, and experience in the creation and execution of marketing and communications campaigns and activities.
• Superior written and oral communication skills with the ability to convey information in an easy to understand, compelling, and engaging manner.
• Excellent project and time management skills with the ability to multitask and work in a deadline-oriented environment.
• Outstanding interpersonal communication skills with the ability to work as part of team and collaborate.
• Strong proficiency in MS Office Suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook and Adobe PDF editing tools.
• Experience working with project management systems (preferred).
• Experience working with iMIS RISE website content management system (preferred).
• Experience working with Informz or other email marketing provider (preferred).

An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Pro Disabled and Veteran Employer

At ACA, Equal Employment Opportunity is our commitment and goal. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, gender, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, marital status, or any other protected status designated by federal, state or local law.

About American Counseling Association

The American Counseling Association (ACA) is the world’s largest organization representing professional counselors in various practice settings. Our vision: Every person has access to quality professional counseling to thrive. Our mission: Promote the professional development of counselors, advocate for the profession, and ensure ethical, culturally-inclusive practice. Our values: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Integrity, Proactive Leadership, Professional Community & Relationships, Scientific Practice & Knowledge, Social Justice & Empowerment. All American Counseling Association team members are encouraged, supported, and expected to demonstrate The Way We Work Values: Be Flexible, Be Creative, Be Empowered, Be Inquisitive, Be Collaborative and Be Respectful.

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