Associate Director of Brand & Digital Strategy

Position Summary

The Associate Director of Brand & Digital Strategy will be responsible for executing integrated marketing communications strategies to engage and cultivate a base of supporters, enhance WRA’s thought leadership and reputation among key audiences, and increase the organization’s online presence to achieve overarching goals and advance overall work. This position will collaborate with Development, Government Affairs, and program staff to develop cohesive organizational messaging and brand alignment, drive content marketing and digital campaigns, grow WRA’s email list, support fundraising efforts, and ensure that the website is an effective donor engagement and advocacy tool. 

About Western Resource Advocates

WRA is a regional nonprofit fighting climate change and its impacts to sustain the environment, economy, and people of the West. The organization is driving state-level action to advance policies that create a healthier and more equitable future for all communities. As the go-to experts for nearly four decades, WRA’s on-the-ground work deploys clean energy and protects air, land, water, and wildlife.

Location

This position may work remotely in our seven-state region, in one of our six offices, or a hybrid of the two. Our seven-state region includes Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. WRA has offices located in Boulder, CO; Reno, NV; Denver, CO; Phoenix, AZ; Salt Lake City, UT; and Santa Fe, NM. Access to a major airport is required, as this position involves some travel.

Responsibilities 

BRAND STRATEGY & STORYTELLING

• Serve as a WRA brand ambassador internally and externally to educate staff and create buy in around the brand’s importance and the organization’s overall marketing and communications efforts.
• Manage the organization’s brand standards and tone to ensure consistency across the organization.
• Translate WRA’s work into relatable stories about the issues and impact for print and digital content creation.
• Develop long-term brand vision, positioning, and core messaging, aligning messaging narratives across campaigns, policy priorities, and fundraising activities to create a more cohesive external presentation.
• Work closely with the Marketing & Communications team and senior leadership to shape and maintain the overarching identity and perception of WRA by our target audiences. 
• Identify and execute sponsorship, paid media and partnership opportunities to enhance WRA’s brand reputation, and thought leadership.

DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY

• Oversee and execute the development and implementation of multi-channel digital, online, and social media campaigns and content.
• Manage the WRA website, including creating, auditing, and maintaining content, tracking visitor engagement. 
• Establish and evolve SEO, AEO, and GEO strategies and best practices across web content and digital channels. 
• Use data and analytics to regularly evaluate marketing and communications assets, enhance inbound marketing strategies, and refine the marketing journey and personas (e.g., google analytics, email click-through rates, social media insights, etc.).
• Provide strategic leadership for the organization’s digital presence and discoverability across search engines, AI-powered platforms, and emerging digital ecosystems. 
• Monitor changes in search and technology, audience behavior, and digital trends; translate emerging opportunities into actionable strategies; and guide teams in using tools responsibly and effectively to strengthen brand visibility, engagement, and impact.
• Utilize dashboards to evaluate overall program success and key metrics across multiple marketing channels.

CROSS-TEAM COLLABORATION

• Lead collaboration on digital and overarching brand content with the Development and Marketing and Communications teams to ensure consistency with theme, brand, design, and other content.
• Develop quarterly messaging frameworks in close collaboration with Directors and Associate Directors of Development and Marketing & Communications.
• Collaborate with senior leadership, associate directors, and staff to develop and execute integrated marketing communications plans for both donor and advocacy campaigns.
• Advise and evaluate on the implementation of ladder of donor engagement strategies and effectiveness of tactics in partnership with the Associate Director of Annual Giving and Associate Director of Donor Communications.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: 

• Manage and support a team of four staff to set and meet goals, serve as a coach, and mentor, and develop their individual professional skillsets. 
• Recruits, interviews, hires, and trains new staff.

Qualifications & Competencies

Any equivalent combination of education, training, and experience that provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the essential functions of this position will be considered. For example, the requisite experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities would include:

• At least 10 years of relevant experience in marketing and communications.
• Ability to use marketing and communications strategies to drive results toward specific outcomes and to support a variety of organizational goals, including both advocacy and fundraising.
• Experience with establishing a brand strategy and integrating strong branding into daily operations.
• Extensive experience in web and email management with a strong understanding of how to craft and execute engaging and effective digital engagement strategies across email and web. 
• Proficiency with SEO, PPC, Google Analytics (GA4) and Google Ad Words.
• Proven experience with EveryAction (or similar CRM), WordPress, and website creation and extensive knowledge of HTML and CSS.
• Experience with LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and paid and organic campaigns and how they integrate with web and email for multi-channel campaigns. 
• Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite applications and a proven ability to manage graphic designers and content creators. 
• Experience in creating an encouraging environment, giving critiques, and offering constructive feedback.
• Team-oriented with an innate ability to understand needs and objectives and manage expectations and turnaround times.
• Strong copywriting and communication skills with aptitude to produce copy of varying tone and messaging based on target audience and medium.
• Driven, highly motivated self-starter with time and project management, organizational, and multitasking skills to deliver successful results on deadline and within budget. 
• Genuine passion for the mission and work of WRA.
• Ability to work effectively with people of different backgrounds, lived experiences, and communication styles.
• Experience working with project management tools such as Asana.

Working Environment and Physical Requirements

The work environment and physical demands described here are representative of those required by an employee to perform the essential functions of this job with or without reasonable accommodation including: 

• A typical office environment with minimal exposure to excessive noise or adverse environmental issues.
• Prolonged periods of time at a desk and working on a computer.
• Position requires some travel by automobile, airplane, etc. 

Travel Requirements

Travel to meetings, conferences, donor events, and other work-related events is required within WRA’s region. This is in addition to travel required for retreats, and other internal organizational meetings. Typically, there is at least one all-staff retreat in our region each year at which attendance is required. Access to a major airport is required. This is approximately 10% of the time, depending on the location of work.

Salary And Benefits

The salary range for an Associate Director of Brand and Digital Strategy is $97,750 – $115,000 annually; salary depends on relevant experience and new staff rarely start at the top of the range. 

WRA’s excellent benefits package includes a 401(k)-retirement plan with up to 4% matching and health, dental, vision, and life & disability insurance with 100% of premiums paid by WRA. Annually, staff receive seventeen days paid vacation leave to start, twelve paid sick days, one paid volunteer day, twelve paid holidays, and WRA is closed for Winter Break between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day for additional paid time off. Employees are eligible for up to twelve weeks of parental leave, and after five years, staff are eligible for up to twelve weeks of paid sabbatical leave. Position is full-time exempt.

Deadline To Apply: Open Until Filled; applicants will be notified when the interview process begins

Diversity and inclusion are a critical component of our strategy, mission, and vision. We welcome candidates from an array of backgrounds and experiences to join our team. 

WRA is an equal opportunity employer (EOE) and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, marital status, amnesty, or veteran status.

Apply To Be WRA’s Associate Director of Brand and Digital Strategy!

Thank you for your interest in the Associate Director of Brand and Digital Strategy position with Western Resource Advocates. You will need to upload the following in PDF format:

• Cover letter to the attention of the Associate Director of Brand and Digital Strategy Hiring Panel, describing your relevant qualifications and the reason for your interest in this position.
• Resume
• Writing Sample: An integrated marketing communications campaign plan or similar work product