Senior Director- Brand Marketing & Strategy

Atlantic Union Bank Careers • Glen Allen, VA

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Director of Brand Marketing is a senior marketing leader responsible for strengthening, differentiating and growing the bank’s brand across customer and community touchpoints. Reporting directly to the Chief Marketing Officer, the role provides strategic leadership for Advertising, Media, Brand Sponsorships, Events & Hospitality, Regional Events and Branch Merchandising programs. The Senior Director translates the bank’s brand strategy into integrated experiences that build awareness, consideration, preference and loyalty among personal and business customers, while ensuring a consistent and relevant brand across paid, owned and experiential channels and maximizing the value of marketing investments.

The role combines strategic vision, creative leadership, business acumen and operational discipline. It leads enterprise brand strategy and development; advertising, creative and media strategy; sponsorships; events and hospitality; branch merchandising and physical brand experience; measurement and business impact; and risk, governance and compliance. The Senior Director serves as a strategic advisor to the CMO and executive leaders, builds cross-functional partnerships, leads and develops a high-performing brand marketing team, and manages agency relationships and significant budgets.

The successful leader will strengthen brand health and differentiation, improve the effectiveness and return on brand marketing investments, create distinctive customer and community experiences, establish integrated brand practices, build enterprise partnerships, develop a cohesive team and agency ecosystem, and protect the bank’s trust and reputation. This is a Richmond-based hybrid role.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Communications or a related field.
• At least 15 years of progressive experience in brand marketing, advertising, media, integrated marketing or a related discipline.
• Significant leadership experience within a matrixed organization.
• Demonstrated experience leading multiple disciplines across advertising, media, sponsorships, events, experiential marketing and/or physical brand environments.
• Proven ability to develop and execute enterprise-level brand strategies.
• Experience managing marketing budgets and external agency relationships.
• Strong understanding of customer insights, marketing analytics and brand measurement.
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior executives and lead through a matrixed organization.
• Exceptional communication, presentation and relationship-building skills.
• Strong business acumen, strategic thinking and financial management capabilities.
• Demonstrated ability to balance long-term brand building with near-term business objectives.

Nice To Haves

• MBA or advanced degree.
• Financial services or banking experience is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the Chief Marketing Officer and senior leadership to define and evolve the bank’s brand strategy, positioning, architecture and value proposition.
• Translate brand strategy into integrated marketing programs that support enterprise priorities, customer growth and business objectives.
• Serve as a senior brand steward and maintain brand standards, guidelines and governance across customer-facing channels and the organization.
• Use customer insights, market intelligence, competitive trends and brand performance data to inform brand decisions.
• Lead integrated advertising strategy across traditional, digital, social and emerging channels; establish creative vision and oversee agencies, production and campaign execution.
• Develop advertising processes that balance brand consistency, innovation and speed to market, and ensure campaigns contribute to measurable business results.
• Develop and oversee media strategy and investment across paid channels; optimize investments and establish media performance measures and accountability.
• Partner with internal teams and external media agencies on integrated media plans and measurement, and monitor evolving platforms, consumer behavior and technology.
• Lead the strategy, evaluation, negotiation and activation of the corporate sponsorship portfolio, aligning investments with brand positioning, audiences, community priorities, footprint and business objectives.
• Develop sponsorship activations and measurement frameworks, manage external partner relationships, and ensure contract benefits are realized.
• Develop an enterprise strategy for brand events, experiences and hospitality; oversee customer, community, prospect and executive events.
• Partner with business lines, market leaders and community teams to ensure events support business objectives and establish standards for brand presentation, guest experience, hospitality and measurement.
• Lead branch merchandising and the physical expression of the brand across the retail footprint, including environments, signage, displays, collateral and merchandising.
• Partner with Retail Banking, Branch Operations, Facilities and other stakeholders on branch brand standards and implementation; create scalable processes balancing customer experience, operations and cost.
• Serve as a senior advisor and strategic partner to the CMO, executive leadership and Marketing teams, and build partnerships across business and corporate functions.
• Lead, develop and inspire a high-performing team; establish priorities, performance expectations and accountability across the function.
• Manage agency and external partner relationships with a focus on strategic value, quality and financial discipline; influence organizational alignment across stakeholders.
• Champion creativity, customer-centricity, curiosity, collaboration, accountability and continuous improvement.
• Establish frameworks to measure advertising effectiveness, media performance, sponsorship value and experiential impact; develop executive reporting connecting brand investment to business outcomes.
• Monitor brand health measures and use data and insights to optimize marketing investments; manage significant budgets with financial discipline and accountability for return on investment.
• Ensure brand marketing activities comply with banking regulations, legal requirements and internal policies in partnership with Legal, Compliance, Risk and other control functions.
• Maintain standards for brand reputation, customer trust and socially responsible marketing, and ensure third-party agencies and partners follow applicable bank standards and requirements.

Benefits

• Medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Life insurance
• Disability coverage
• Paid time off
• 401(k) retirement savings plan
• Wellness resources
• Certain positions may be eligible for incentive compensation, bonuses or other variable compensation, subject to applicable plans and performance criteria.

What This Job Offers

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