Marketing Director

US Publishing Jobs • Chicago, IL

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Director of Marketing will define and execute the company’s U.S. marketing strategy to strengthen its market presence and align marketing activities with commercial priorities, customer needs, and growth goals. The role spans e-commerce, commercial marketing, sales enablement, pricing coordination, competitive intelligence, events, partnerships and sponsorships, and the company website. Initially, the director will take a hands-on approach, overseeing the e-commerce function and a small team. As the U.S. marketing team grows, the director will help shape its structure, hire talent, and build capabilities, with a gradual shift toward broader team leadership.

The role is based in the Chicago area and follows a hybrid work model that may require up to four set days in the office per week. Exceptions may be made for remote candidates based on experience. Remote employees must be willing to travel to the Chicago office up to 25% throughout the year. Travel within the United States and internationally may also be required for conferences, meetings, and company activities.

The company is a growing educational publisher expanding across North America, backed by a global organization of more than 80 educational companies. It publishes world language products for K–12 and Higher Education and supports educators through professional development. The position offers an annual base salary of $100,000 to $120,000, depending in part on the work arrangement, plus a bonus tied to annual company sales goals.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience.
• At least 5 years of proven marketing leadership experience.
• At least 2 years of mentorship or leadership experience managing teams, agencies, vendors, events, and cross-functional projects.
• Professional fluency in English and Spanish, with strong written and verbal communication skills in both languages.
• Experience developing marketing strategies, annual plans, budgets, campaigns, and performance reporting.
• Strong understanding of product marketing, demand generation, customer communications, and sales enablement.
• Strong commercial mindset and ability to connect customer and market insights and marketing activities to revenue, growth, and measurable business results.
• Ability to work effectively in an international, matrixed organization and align stakeholders across functions, countries, and time zones.
• Excellent writing, messaging, presentation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience with CRM, marketing automation, analytics, and digital marketing tools.
• Ability and willingness to travel within the United States and internationally as needed for conferences, meetings, and company activities.
• Must be based in the Chicago area or willing to relocate and able to work regularly from the Chicago office under a hybrid schedule; if approved for a remote arrangement, must be willing to travel to the Chicago office up to 25% throughout the year.

Nice To Haves

• Marketing experience in education (K–12 or Higher Ed), publishing, educational technology, or B2B markets.
• Preference for experience with Zoho, Zoho Desk, Asana, and Canva.
• Experience marketing K–12 curriculum, including state and district adoption markets.
• Experience with Higher Education, world language programs, educational publishing, or educational technology.
• Experience coordinating creative and production work across international teams.
• Experience with e-commerce strategy, website management, and customer lifecycle marketing.
• Experience supporting product launches across print and digital portfolios.
• Experience managing print and digital collateral production from brief to delivery.

Responsibilities

• Manage the e-commerce function and set strategic priorities for promotions, product visibility, customer experience, and commercial performance.
• Coordinate e-commerce priorities with Marketing, Sales, Orders, Operations, Finance, and other relevant teams.
• Maintain accurate and current website content, product information, pricing, merchandising, and customer communications.
• Monitor website and e-commerce performance and identify opportunities to improve customer experience, conversion, and revenue.
• Integrate e-commerce and website activity with broader marketing campaigns and product launches.
• Define and execute the overall U.S. marketing strategy in alignment with company objectives, commercial priorities, and customer needs.
• Develop annual marketing plans, budgets, calendars, and measurable objectives, including strategies for state adoption markets, open territories, and Higher Education.
• Prioritize initiatives according to revenue goals, market opportunities, product priorities, and available resources; execute key initiatives hands-on and use performance results to improve plans and resource allocation.
• Recommend future U.S. Marketing team structure and resource needs as the department grows; manage agencies, vendors, and other external partners as needed.
• Develop and execute integrated campaigns across email, webinars, conferences, social media, customer communications, and digital channels.
• Develop U.S. product positioning, messaging, and value propositions, and coordinate product launches with Sales, Product, Editorial, Implementation, and other teams.
• Lead demand generation and lead nurturing, establishing processes for lead capture, qualification, and follow-up.
• Develop customer stories, testimonials, educator interviews, and district success stories to support purchasing decisions.
• Ensure sales consultants and sales leaders have current, consistent, ready-to-use resources; develop or coordinate presentations, proposal templates, product comparisons, demo materials, playbooks, portfolio guides, and competitive resources.
• Partner with Sales and Strategic Opportunities to identify sales-material gaps and prioritize resources with the greatest commercial impact.
• Prepare sales teams to present new products, digital platforms, and updates through materials and internal communications; measure resource use and effectiveness and improve resources based on field feedback and commercial results.
• Plan and oversee U.S. marketing collateral, including catalogs, program brochures, samplers, one-pagers, standards correlations, event materials, and product- and adoption-specific landing pages.
• Lead the annual U.S. portfolio pricing process with Sales, Finance, Operations, Product, Editorial, Ecommerce, and company leadership.
• Develop and present pricing recommendations based on market conditions, customer feedback, competitive pricing, costs, margins, and commercial priorities; coordinate pricing decisions for current and new products, digital offerings, bundles, and other initiatives.
• Ensure approved pricing is implemented consistently across internal systems, the website, sales materials, price lists, and customer communications.
• Partner with the Strategic Research Data Associate to monitor competitor products, positioning, pricing, features, adoption activity, and other market developments; establish a process for collecting, organizing, updating, and sharing competitive intelligence.
• Translate competitive and market findings into recommendations for leadership, product positioning, sales resources, and commercial planning.
• Lead event strategy and coordinate conferences, webinars, and company events with internal teams and external partners; set participation goals, planning standards, lead-capture processes, follow-up expectations, and performance measures.
• Develop and maintain strategic relationships with professional associations, educational organizations, industry partners, and other stakeholders.
• Identify and coordinate partnerships and sponsorships that support brand visibility, educator engagement, lead generation, and commercial goals.
• Represent the company at conferences, association meetings, and other industry events to build relationships and strengthen its U.S. market presence.
• Evaluate event, partnership, and sponsorship results to guide future participation and investment decisions.

Benefits

• Health insurance
• 16 days of paid time off, increasing to 23 days after two years with the company
• All federal holidays off
• Retirement plan with 3% employer match
• Paid lunch break in the middle of an 8-hour workday
• Up to 12 weeks of parental leave, paid at 50%
• Monthly credit allotment toward commuter expenses
• Additional benefits and professional development opportunities
• Bonus tied to the company’s annual sales goals

What This Job Offers

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