Director of Marketing Communications

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America • Chicago, IL

just now • Hybrid

About The Position

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 3 million members in more than 8,600 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of “God’s work. Our hands.,” the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA’s roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.

The Lutheran Center (national office) is located in Chicago, Illinois. A staff of approximately 400, under the leadership of the Presiding Bishop, serve as administrators, advisors, conveners, partners, and resource people for the ELCA and its ministries. Staff lead the work of national, domestic, and global ministries and programs including Lutheran Disaster Response, ELCA World Hunger, Service & Justice, Christian Community and Leadership, and Innovation. We are also home to five of our separately incorporated ministries: The Mission Investment Fund of the ELCA, Women of the ELCA, Lutheran Men in Mission, the ELCA Foundation and the ELCA Federal Credit Union.

As a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the ELCA Foundation works with individuals, congregations, synods, the churchwide organization, and all other ELCA-related entities to develop gifts and oversee the management of assets that sustain and grow ministries of the ELCA. With over $1 billion in gifts and assets managed on behalf of the ELCA, the Foundation provides gift planning, endowment management, investment services, and donor engagement rooted in stewardship, integrity, and service.

The Director, Marketing and Communications, is a key leader responsible for shaping and advancing the ELCA Foundation’s brand presence, communications strategy and donor engagement experience. This role leads the implementation of a newly refreshed brand, oversees creative and digital strategy, governs usage across all Foundation channels, and elevates the Foundation’s national visibility and donor confidence through compelling storytelling and fiduciary credibility. The Director will manage external agency partners and collaborate with teams across the Foundation and the ELCA churchwide organization to support long-term growth and trust. The Director will also lead the ELCA Foundation’s adoption of HubSpot Marketing Hub, translating strategy into execution by connecting content, campaigns and automation to create seamless, personalized experiences and track meaningful results. This role is both strategic and hands-on, requiring a blend of creative direction, digital fluency and investment literacy.

This is a full-time, regular, exempt, hybrid position. This position requires periodic in-office presence to support executive meetings, leadership activities, and organizational events, with flexibility based on business needs.
The eligibility of a candidate for remote or hybrid positions may depend on the residency of the candidate, and the budget for the role, including salary or pay, insurance coverage, and/or tax burden. Candidates for this position must reside within the fifty United States or the District of Columbia and be authorized to work lawfully in the United States. In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification document form upon hire.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, business or equivalent experience.
• 7-10 years of experience developing and managing organizational marketing and communication plans.
• Experience leading brand strategy and implementation, including overseeing creative systems, brand rollout, or major marketing transformations.
• Experience in nonprofit or cause-driven organizations, with strong preference for candidates who can communicate fiduciary responsibility and spiritual impact with equal fluency.
• Proven ability to steward complex messaging across theological, financial and emotional dimensions of legacy and planned giving.
• Strong working knowledge of web platforms, content management systems and email marketing tools (experience with HubSpot a plus).
• Demonstrated ability to manage cross-functional collaboration and vendor relationships in a hybrid or distributed team environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead the implementation and governance of the ELCA Foundation’s refreshed brand identity, ensuring consistent application across channels, partners and materials.
• Oversee web strategy and development, including redesign and relaunch of Foundation.ELCA.org to align with brand tone, improve user experience, and serve diverse stakeholder needs.
• Lead the implementation, configuration and ongoing optimization of HubSpot Marketing Hub, ensuring integrated campaign execution, CRM alignment, marketing automation, and performance tracking to support personalized constituent journeys and data-driven strategy.
• Direct the ongoing refresh of the Foundation’s marketing materials suite, including core brochures, kits, event assets and educational resources.
• Shape and manage the Foundation’s brand voice across owned, paid and earned media.
• Develop annual marketing plans aligned with fundraising and organizational goals, integrating brand storytelling, digital growth and lead generation.
• Support perception shift efforts by elevating the Foundation’s identity as a growing, nationally competitive, fiduciary-sound fund with impact-focused results.
• Serve as internal brand steward, educating teams and partners on usage guidelines and providing creative oversight for visual and verbal expression of the brand.
• Manage agency and vendor relationships, including video production, design, digital services, and media planning.
• Collaborate with Advancement and Gift Planning teams to drive lead generation, donor engagement and stewardship initiatives.
• Track performance against KPIs, lead marketing analytics efforts and adapt strategy accordingly.
• Other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• The ELCA offers a competitive benefits package for eligible employees, including employer paid health premiums for employees, health and dependent care FSA’s, a health savings account (HSA) with an employer contribution, life insurance, and a substantial employer contribution to 403b retirement plan (no match required).
• We also offer a generous paid time-off policy including 17 paid holidays.
• All benefits commence on your start date.

What This Job Offers

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