Senior Director of Brand Marketing

National Forest Foundation (NFF)

exists to transform America’s love of nature into action for our National Forests, building toward a world where caring for our forests is second nature. A brand’s greatest value is often the part you can’t hold in your hand: the trust, belonging, and shared purpose that turn curious people into committed supporters, and good partners into great ones. As our Senior Director of Brand Marketing, you’ll grow that value, shaping how a beloved national conservation brand shows up and turning it into real results for forests, for people and for the partners who invest in both. If you see possibility everywhere a brand can go, we’d love to meet you. This is an exempt, full-time position.

About the NFF

As the official national partner to the US Forest Service (USFS), the National Forest Foundation was chartered by Congress in 1990. Today, the NFF advances forest resiliency, healthy watersheds and wildlife habitat, and recreation for all by working with communities and organizations across the country. The Foundation has grown significantly in the last few years in programmatic impact, revenue and support, and organizational capacity. NFF leads with impact, deploying roughly 90% of its expenses towards projects and programs across the country’s 193-million-acre National Forest System. NFF is forward-thinking and innovative, with ambitious strategies and goals to advance and prepare forests for a new economy.

Position Function

NFF is growing, and building our brand is key to expanding that success. This is a build-and-run role: from day one, you’ll lead brand and partnership marketing while building the strategy, playbook, measures, and team that help it scale. You’ll be marketing’s lead partner to the Advancement team. You’ll work hand in hand with the Senior Director of Corporate Partnerships to help companies see what’s possible when they invest in our forests, co-creating activations, content, and results that help partners reach their goals while helping NFF grow. You’ll also lead our three-person field marketing team, building a trusted brand community by community, and deepen relationships with the public, moving people from curious to engaged to invested. In your first year, success looks like: a brand health dashboard in place and reporting; a repeatable partner marketing playbook and valuation approach; 10 high-value partner activations delivered and measured; and growing engagement and investment from partners and supporters.

Position Duties and Responsibilities

The Senior Director of Brand Marketing will:

Brand Strategy, Stewardship & Measurement

• Steward and evolve NFF's brand position (purpose, personality, voice and value proposition) and translate brand positioning into campaigns, communications and activations that signal distinct brand value, support growth and inspire engagement
• Define and evolve brand architecture, ensuring clarity in the relationship between programs, products and the NFF master brand
• Set and steward brand and co-brand standards internally and externally and lead brand approvals
• Spearhead brand research; track peer organizations and wider landscape to sharpen differentiation; build and maintain brand health dashboard to track and report on awareness, trust, consideration, engagement and other key indicators across entire audience relationship continuum; bring best practices from leading nonprofit and corporate brands into how NFF works
• Serve as an advisor to the CMO and Executive Leadership Team on high-level brand marketing challenges, risks and opportunities; manage the brand marketing budget, research partners and related agencies, and measure return on brand and partner marketing spend

Advancement & Corporate Partnership Marketing

• Serve as the strategic marketing partner to Advancement, aligning marketing and advancement strategy across all giving audiences with significant support for corporate partnerships, collaborating closely with the Senior Director of Corporate Partnerships to develop annual partner marketing plan
• With the Senior Director of Corporate Partnerships, establish partner selection criteria aligned with brand fit and reputation, develop benefit package criteria, and help shape partnership proposals
• Write creative briefs and work closely with the Content & Creative team to build a scalable portfolio of marketing offerings that serve as building blocks for Corporate Partnership proposals and sponsorship packages, supporting new partner pitches and partner benefit commitments
• Collaborate closely with the Senior Director of Corporate Partnerships to understand partner goals
• Spearhead marketing strategy and creative concepting for high-value corporate partners, leading idea generation with internal and external creative partners, developing concepts hands-on when needed
• Lead implementation across the marketing team to deliver every partnership marketing commitment
• Agree on success measures with each high-value partner before launch, including what data each side will share; measure and report each activation's marketing performance, total media valuation and progress toward the partner's stated business objectives, using a consistent valuation approach that informs stewardship reports, renewals and package pricing
• Lead post-activation reviews with the Advancement team and partners, and turn learnings into next-year plans and renewal pitches

Brand Engagement & Activations

• Spearhead creative strategy and implement brand storytelling through campaigns, activations and assets that signal distinct brand value and inspire audiences to engage more deeply
• Work across the marketing team to shape content strategy that meets audiences where they are with an eye toward building brand trust, deepening engagement and supporting Advancement goals
• Spot trends and emerging opportunities for audiences and partners to connect with NFF in meaningful new ways, including non-revenue content, media and other partnerships that grow brand awareness, trust and engagement for both partners
• Equip staff, field teams, partners and stakeholders with brand training and current brand materials so they use the brand confidently and correctly across all platforms, communications and activations
• Lead NFF's field marketing team and function, building a trusted brand from the ground up and helping local teams harness the brand to reach their local goals, including bringing regional corporate partnerships to life on the ground
• Build and grow the team and capabilities as needed to attract new donor and investor audiences across the full fundraising spectrum and inspire existing supporters to deepen their investment

Education and Qualifications

NFF expects the Senior Director of Brand Marketing to bring the following education and experience:

• Bachelor's degree required; MBA strongly preferred or equivalent experience
• 10+ years of experience in brand marketing, brand strategy or partnership marketing, with experience in both corporate and nonprofit settings; conservation experience preferred
• P&L (Profit & Loss) or general management experience; runs the work like a business owner, not a campaign calendar
• Demonstrated success in brand building and brand health measurement, including tracking studies and dashboards, and in building a partner marketing playbook and function from limited structure
• Demonstrated success developing and supporting corporate partnerships, including shaping partner-facing deals with commercial rigor and a clear understanding of what corporate partners look for in a nonprofit partner
• Track record of conceiving and delivering original brand partnership activations that create value for both partners
• Experience tying marketing to measurable business outcomes, including measuring and valuing sponsorship or partnership marketing and assigning financial value to marketing deliverables
• Proven track record in stewardship and building brand trust
• Demonstrated ability to expand investment through effective marketing, attracting new donors and partners and inspiring existing supporters to give more
• Deep understanding of the creative process and how to bring a brand to life through creative assets and execution
• Experience managing budgets, agencies and research partners
• Experience building and leading teams, including growing team capacity to meet expanding demand
• Must be authorized to work in the United States

Abilities and Skills

NFF expects the Senior Director of Brand Marketing to possess the following proven abilities and skills:

• Strategic and systems thinker who connects brand decisions to organizational goals, partner needs and long-term mission impact
• Exceptional writer and speaker who can make the case for brand value, in both story and numbers, to executives, corporate partners and colleagues alike
• Relationship builder who earns trust quickly and leads through influence across the organization
• Creative innovator and idea generator who harnesses the intangible but real value of a brand to open new opportunities
• Navigates ambiguity with confidence and drives change, bringing others along
• Uses data, evidence and test-and-learn approaches to make decisions, with demonstrated success improving campaigns and activations over time
• AI-fluent and curious, with experience experimenting with AI to make brand marketing more efficient and effective
• Careful steward of budgets, resources and the public trust NFF and its partners have earned
• Inclusive people leader who coaches, develops and inspires a high-performing team, setting clear goals and creating room for others to grow
• Collaborative, deeply curious self-starter with a growth mindset and a bias toward action

Location

The location for this position is flexible throughout the lower 48 continental United States. This position is a remote/work-from-home position and requires reliable internet access and a dedicated workspace.

Travel

This position is expected to travel approximately 25% of the time for partner meetings, activations, and team gatherings.

Compensation

NFF offers a competitive compensation and benefits package that reflects our total rewards strategy. The salary range for this position is $140,000 with the ability to grow to $175,000 based on performance over time. Starting salary within this range is determined by a combination of experience, internal equity with comparable roles, and organizational budget, and is assessed annually as part of NFF's compensation review process.

Benefits

NFF is proud to offer our staff:

Health and Wellness

• Medical and dental insurance paid at 75% by the organization for you and any dependents.
• Vision insurance paid 50% by the organization for you and any dependents.
• Health savings account (HSA) with employer contributions between $1,878-$3,750 per year, predicated on coverage type.
• Healthcare and dependent care flexible spending accounts (FSA).
• Employee assistance program (EAP) at no cost.

Financial Wellbeing

• 403(b) retirement plan with a 5% employer match after one (1) year of service.
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance at no cost.
• Basic life and AD&D insurance at no cost, with voluntary life insurance options.
• Whole life insurance at a discounted rate

Flexibility and time off

• Employees start with 35 days of annual leave, sick leave, personal leave and holidays (annual leave accrual rates increase with years of service)
• Family & medical leave for up to sixteen (16) weeks with up to four (4) weeks paid.

Personal Development

• Training & Development Programs
• Professional development reimbursement for up to $1,000 per year.

Journey of a Lifetime

* The opportunity to support an incredible mission and travel to / work in spectacular locations.

To Apply

Applications must include both a cover letter and resume. Incomplete packages will not be considered. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. This posting will close on December 11th, or earlier if filled. Please visit our careers site to apply online.

The National Forest Foundation is an equal opportunity employer – meaning we provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to any characteristic protected by applicable law. Further, we prohibit discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in all aspects of employment, including recruitment, hiring, promotion, compensation, benefits, training, and termination. We strive to foster a work environment where every individual is respected, valued, and treated fairly. This statement reflects our unwavering dedication to fairness, respect, and equality in employment practices and sets the foundation for a positive work environment.