Director, Marketing Communications - Lincoln

Ford Motor • Detroit, MI

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

Lincoln, Ford’s luxury automotive brand, is seeking a Director of Marketing Communications to set the brand’s communications strategy and own its paid marketing communications. The role covers media; retail and dealer assets; sales events; Certified Pre-Owned (CPO); social and ambassador programs; experiential marketing; and brand partnerships. The Director will translate brand, customer, product, and business priorities into integrated marketing programs and lead internal and agency partners from strategy and briefing through creative development, production, deployment, optimization, and measurement. The role ensures consistent, distinctive communications across customer touchpoints and works with Lincoln leadership and teams across consumer marketing, product, digital, sales, customer experience, insights, and global marketing to strengthen brand relevance and deliver measurable results.

The Director owns Lincoln’s brand and communications strategy, integrated campaigns and go-to-market planning, paid communications portfolio, and related investment and measurement. They lead cross-functional alignment and agency relationships, manage budgets, and guide campaign evaluation and improvement. The role also leads, coaches, and develops two Senior Manager direct reports and a large supporting team, fostering accountability, collaboration, inclusion, organizational capability, and high-quality execution.

This is a hybrid position based in Detroit, Michigan. The position is leadership level 4. Visa sponsorship is not available; candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Advertising, Communications, Business, or a closely related field.
• 12 or more years of progressive professional experience in marketing communications, brand marketing, advertising, or a related field; alternatively, 10 or more years with a master’s degree or MBA.
• Ability to lead through ambiguity, resolve competing priorities, exercise sound judgment, and communicate recommendations clearly.
• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States; visa sponsorship is not available.

Nice To Haves

• Experience leading automotive marketing across paid media, brand and nameplate communications, retail and dealer assets, sales events, CPO, social and ambassador programs, experiential marketing, brand partnerships, and launch activity.
• Experience developing communications for a premium or luxury brand and translating brand positioning into distinctive customer-facing work.
• Experience leading senior managers and large supporting teams, influencing executive stakeholders, and managing complex agency, dealer, and cross-functional relationships.
• Experience managing significant paid media, marketing communications, production, experiential, brand partnership, and operating budgets and prioritizing investment against business objectives.
• Strong understanding of paid media strategy and investment, integrated channels, retail and dealer communications, sales events, CPO, social and ambassador programs, experiential marketing, brand partnerships, creative development and production, consumer insights, brand-health measurement, and campaign analytics.
• Master’s degree or MBA in Marketing, Business, Communications, or a related field.

Responsibilities

• Set Lincoln’s marketing communications strategy, translating customer, business, and vehicle priorities into audience, positioning, channel, and measurement direction.
• Lead the evolution of brand and nameplate positioning using customer, cultural, market, competitive, and brand-health insights.
• Establish strategic briefs and decision frameworks that align stakeholders, elevate creative work, and connect investment to measurable outcomes.
• Own integrated campaigns and go-to-market plans for the Lincoln brand, vehicle launches, nameplates, and priority business initiatives, from annual planning through optimization and learning.
• Set paid media and communications direction across audiences, channels, messaging, content, investment, and performance expectations.
• Align product, sales, customer experience, agencies, and other stakeholders on launch and campaign decisions; resolve trade-offs and ensure disciplined execution.
• Own paid communications across media, retail, dealer assets, sales events, CPO, social, ambassador programs, experiential marketing, and brand partnerships.
• Set portfolio strategies, annual plans, briefs, calendars, content requirements, and measurement frameworks for paid communications programs.
• Lead retail, dealer content, sales event, and CPO communications with sales, field, dealer, and retail teams, ensuring assets are timely, brand-consistent, and effective across markets.
• Direct social and ambassador strategy, including partner selection, content development, governance, activation, and performance measurement.
• Build experiential and brand partnership strategies that extend Lincoln’s positioning, reach priority audiences, and create distinctive customer experiences.
• Integrate plans with Lincoln leadership and partners across consumer marketing, product, digital, customer insights, field and dealer operations, sales, customer experience, and global marketing.
• Lead agency and external partner relationships, including strategic direction, scopes of work, resource planning, and continuous improvement.
• Build stakeholder alignment, communicate recommendations, risks, and trade-offs, and drive timely decisions.
• Represent Lincoln Marketing Communications in planning forums and senior-level reviews, connecting communications plans to business and brand objectives.
• Develop and manage paid marketing communications, media, production, partnership, experiential, and operating budgets.
• Allocate resources against customer, brand, and business priorities, communicating trade-offs and expected outcomes.
• Establish objectives and measurement plans with research, analytics, and agency partners; evaluate results and turn learnings into improvements.
• Lead, coach, and develop two Senior Manager direct reports and a large supporting team, including agency and cross-functional resources.
• Set accountabilities and operating rhythms; strengthen organizational capabilities; support career growth and succession planning; and foster an inclusive culture of accountability, collaboration, and high-quality execution.
• Navigate ambiguity and changing priorities with sound judgment, maintaining focus on customer impact, brand integrity, and business results.

Benefits

• Immediate medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug coverage.
• Flexible family care days, paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, and subsidized back-up childcare.
• Family-building benefits, including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement and fertility treatments.
• Vehicle discount program for employees and family members, and management leases.
• Tuition assistance.
• Employee resource groups.
• Paid time off for individual and team community service.
• Paid holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
• Paid time off and the option to purchase additional vacation time.

What This Job Offers

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