Senior Manager, Brand Strategy & Engagement

Riverside Hospital • Newport News, VA

3d

About The Position

The Senior Manager, Brand Strategy & Engagement serves as Riverside’s brand steward and strategic leader for brand engagement, consumer perception, employee advocacy, brand intelligence, and creative brand expression. Reporting to the System Director, Brand & Integrated Communications, this role protects, strengthens, and activates the Riverside brand across stakeholder touchpoints, using audience, employee, and consumer insights to guide brand strategies.

The position leads enterprise brand governance, consumer reputation initiatives, employee advocacy programs, brand engagement strategies, and creative development to strengthen awareness, trust, loyalty, and affinity for Riverside. The Senior Manager oversees the Brand Manager and Marketing Coordinator and collaborates with Marketing, Communications, Public Relations, Digital Content, and operational leaders to ensure the brand reflects Riverside’s mission, values, and strategic priorities.

The role leads brand guidelines and governance; StoryMakers, Brand Ambassador, and employee advocacy initiatives; brand perception and reputation strategies; and creative development for traditional media. It also leads the Brand Strategy & Insights Team, establishes measurement frameworks, reports on brand impact, and coaches and develops team members.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Public Relations, Business Administration, or a related field.
• 5–6 years of progressively responsible experience in brand management, communications, marketing, consumer engagement, or related disciplines.
• Demonstrated direct-to-consumer brand experience, including developing and activating consumer-facing brand strategies, integrated campaigns, and audience engagement initiatives that build awareness, preference, trust, and loyalty.
• Experience developing and implementing brand strategies and engagement initiatives.
• Experience leading teams and developing marketing or communications professionals.
• Ability to translate research, insights, and feedback into actionable business and brand strategies.
• Experience managing cross-functional programs and enterprise initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary steward of the Riverside brand and ensure consistent use of brand standards across organizational touchpoints.
• Oversee enterprise brand guidelines, including visual identity, voice, tone, messaging, and brand architecture.
• Lead brand governance across communications, marketing, digital, events, and community engagement.
• Partner with communications, marketing, and operational leaders to strengthen the Riverside brand experience; conduct brand assessments and recommend improvements.
• Support naming strategies, signage initiatives, affiliations, and enterprise brand decisions.
• Serve as executive sponsor and strategic leader of Riverside’s StoryMakers Creator Community.
• Lead Brand Ambassador initiatives and employee advocacy programs, coordinating with communications, content strategy, earned media, and public relations initiatives.
• Create authentic storytelling opportunities and oversee creator engagement, recognition, and participation strategies.
• Lead brand perception, consumer reputation, and audience insight strategies; translate Riverside Voice findings and employee feedback into actionable strategies.
• Identify perception gaps and trends affecting employee trust, culture, engagement, and brand advocacy.
• Develop messaging frameworks and brand strategies that reinforce Riverside’s culture, values, and employer brand promise.
• Lead the Brand Strategy & Insights Team and establish processes for gathering, analyzing, and applying employee, consumer, and audience insights.
• Monitor reputation indicators, consumer feedback, online reviews, brand sentiment, and audience perceptions.
• Partner with Human Resources, Internal Communications, and executive leadership to align employee experience initiatives with brand objectives.
• Use insights to guide storytelling, engagement programs, employer brand strategies, and brand improvements; recommend actions to strengthen trust, credibility, alignment, and brand equity.
• Develop a strategic plan and operating model for the Brand Strategy & Insights Team, ensuring insights inform measurable improvements, messaging refinements, and storytelling opportunities.
• Lead brand strategy and creative development for traditional marketing assets in alignment with brand standards, messaging, and organizational priorities.
• Partner with Riverside designers on creative concepts, messaging strategies, and visual assets for traditional media.
• Oversee print advertisements, radio creative, outdoor advertising, billboards, transit advertising, and brand-awareness initiatives.
• Provide strategic direction and final brand review of traditional media creative before production and deployment.
• Partner with the Senior Manager, Digital Media & Performance Marketing to align creative strategies with audience targeting, campaign objectives, and media plans.
• Ensure creative assets communicate Riverside’s value proposition, reinforce brand positioning, and strengthen consumer perception.
• Collaborate with Marketing, Communications, and Public Relations to maintain consistency across paid, earned, shared, and owned channels.
• Monitor brand creative effectiveness and recommend enhancements based on audience insights, market trends, and perception data.
• Lead, coach, and develop the Brand Manager and Marketing Coordinator; set priorities, goals, and performance expectations.
• Foster collaboration, innovation, continuous improvement, and accountability; guide resource allocation, workload management, and program prioritization.
• Ensure successful execution of brand programs, engagement initiatives, and strategic projects, and build organizational understanding of brand strategy and engagement objectives.
• Establish measurement frameworks for brand health, engagement, advocacy, reputation, and participation.
• Monitor performance trends and engagement metrics related to brand initiatives and storytelling programs.
• Develop executive-level reports and recommendations demonstrating brand impact and effectiveness.
• Use insights and analytics to refine and improve brand strategies.

What This Job Offers

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