Brand and Sponsorships Specialist

Gowling WLG • Toronto, ON

5d • CA$70,000 - CA$90,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

At Gowling WLG, brand, marketing, and sponsorships are crucial for building connections, strengthening relationships, and shaping brand perception. This role is integral to creating profile, supporting business growth, and engaging meaningfully with clients, colleagues, and communities. We are seeking an experienced, strategic, and collaborative Brand & Sponsorships Specialist to influence our market presence and client interactions. Reporting to the Brand & Marketing Leader, this newly created position will support the Firm’s growth engine, brand-to-demand initiatives, and sponsorships within a team-based setting. Collaborating closely with the Business Development & Marketing department and go-to-market teams, you will act as a brand steward, developing and executing integrated marketing campaigns, sponsorships, and brand programs to drive growth across Canada, while enhancing market presence, reputation, and client engagement. The ideal candidate is a marketing professional with a strong client service orientation, bringing creativity, storytelling, attention to detail, and sound business judgment to translate Firm priorities into effective brand strategies and campaigns that yield measurable results. This role is for an ambitious, intellectually curious individual driven by impact, who thrives in a fast-paced environment, anticipates needs, brings forward new ideas, and takes ownership of outcomes. As a lifelong learner, you are dependable, thoughtful, and focused on delivering excellence. This role offers a significant opportunity to expand brand and sponsorships expertise and lead initiatives from inception in a dynamic professional services environment.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in business, marketing, or a related field; Master’s degree an asset
• 5+ years of experience in marketing with a strong focus on omnichannel campaigns; B2B or professional services experience preferred
• Exceptional understanding of brand and marketing fundamentals, as well as best practices and trends across all go-to-market channels
• Proven track record of delivering integrated campaigns that drive real business impact
• Passionate about sponsorships strategy, creating brand, client and community impact through strategic activation and deriving value from sponsorships
• A sharp strategic mindset paired with strong creative instincts and business acumen
• Exceptional project and stakeholder management with attention to detail and a service orientation with the ability to build trust and advise senior stakeholders and partners of the Firm
• Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills – a natural storyteller with the ability to pitch, persuade and connect with audiences, including through visual representation
• Data fluency: you’re comfortable understanding the data, recognizing patterns, and turning insights into action and/or ideas for consideration
• A passion for marketing, innovation, and building meaningful brand experiences that connect with audiences
• Highly organized with the ability to work cross-functionally with colleagues at all levels of the Firm and seamlessly manage multiple, often competing, priorities
• Highly accountable and a proactive self-starter focused on delivering results and high-quality execution

Nice To Haves

• You think big but execute with precision
• You’re both analytical and imaginative, and know when to lean into each
• You thrive in fast-paced environments and bring energy to everything you do
• You’re not afraid to challenge the status quo and push for better

Responsibilities

• Build brand strategies that challenge the status quo and push the boundaries while maintaining brand integrity, enhancing brand perceptions and elevating brand experience
• Create compelling brand narratives that advance the Firm’s brand, visibility and credibility
• Design and deliver end-to-end omnichannel brand-to-demand programs and campaigns that inspire and engage target audiences, while converting opportunities into results
• Shape and execute brand, marketing, and content strategies that bring our programs and initiatives to life, extending reach, deepening impact, and ensuring resonance across channels and key audiences
• Collaborate cross-functionally across Business Development & Marketing and with other Firm stakeholders to ideate, build alignment, and ultimately, deliver gold-standard excellence, including seamless execution across social, digital, events, internal and external communications, and other mediums
• Contribute to annual and quarterly planning, monthly dashboard reporting, and specific campaign reporting against defined metrics
• Support brand reviews to ensure materials align with brand standards and Firm guidelines
• Enable brand consistency by creating and refreshing brand assets for the Firm, updating and maintaining the Brand portal
• Contribute to initiatives that enhance the end-to-end client experience and strengthen relationships with a strong understanding of how marketing drives growth, and the value and art of positioning and design in influencing perceptions
• Translate business goals into captivating marketing campaigns and go-to-market strategies that propel the Firm’s growth
• Conduct market and brand research to identify trends, opportunities, and differentiators, in addition to proactively identifying issues, risks, or gaps and escalating appropriately
• Demonstrate curiosity and a growth mindset by continuously seeking innovative and out-of-the-box approaches, actively suggesting new ideas, incorporating feedback, best practices, and shared learnings into day-to-day work and team processes
• Provide strategic consultation and thoughtful recommendations to senior internal stakeholders and partners, advising on sponsorship opportunities, partnerships, and investment decisions
• Lead the planning, activation, and evaluation of sponsorship initiatives to maximize brand visibility, audience engagement, and measurable business impact while managing relationships with partners and ensuring seamless execution
• Develop and execute sponsorship strategies and programs that align with business objectives and brand priorities, including management of the Firm’s sponsorships tool and resource
• Champion bold, insight-driven ideas that break through the noise and bring campaigns to life in fresh and impactful ways, including through design, copy, placement, and brand experience
• Ensure consistency and creative excellence across all touchpoints
• Proactive project management, communication, and cross-functional team collaboration to ensure campaigns and programs are delivered on time and on budget
• Work with the Brand & Marketing Leader to define KPIs and success metrics for brand-to-demand programs and sponsorships, in addition to marketing campaigns where appropriate
• Evaluate performance, extract insights, and continuously optimize strategies and plans through post-mortem analysis
• Create and share post-campaign reports, results and recommendations with stakeholders and leadership in a clear, compelling way, with a high level of accountability
• Track performance of national sponsorships, develop recommendations for future improvement and investment, update playbooks and resources to integrate best practice guidance
• Establish and maintain strong working relationships across the full Business Development & Marketing department and leadership
• Provide strategic marketing consultations and influence decisions across internal teams
• Help foster a culture of creativity, accountability, and collaboration

Benefits

• 100% employer-paid health, dental, and mental health coverage, plus an annual lifestyle spending allowance
• Benefits coverage for Firm members and their dependents from day one!
• 15+ vacation days and hybrid work flexibility
• Parental leave top-up for 26 weeks (after 12 months of full-time employment)
• Group Retirement Savings Plan with employer match
• Financial protection through short & long-term disability, life, accident & critical illness insurance
• Employee & Family Assistance Program, guided CBT, and an internal network of 120+ trained Mental Health First Aid responders
• Recognition awards, appreciation events, and a supportive, collaborative work culture
• Perks and preferred pricing programs, referral bonuses and more

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level