Senior Director- Brand Marketing & Strategy

Reports to: Chief Marketing Officer Department: Marketing Level: Senior Vice President / Officer Location: Richmond Based / Hybrid Role

Position Summary

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, this role provides strategic leadership for the bank’s Advertising, Media, Brand Sponsorships, Events & Hospitality, Regional Events and Branch Merchandising programs.

This leader will translate the bank’s brand strategy into compelling, integrated experiences that build awareness, consideration, preference and loyalty among current and prospective, personal and business customers. The Senior Director will ensure that the bank presents a consistent, distinctive and relevant brand across paid, owned and experiential channels while maximizing the business and brand value of marketing investments.

The role requires a combination of strategic vision, creative leadership, business acumen and operational discipline, with the ability to influence senior executives and business leaders across the organization and the marketing team.

Key Responsibilities

Brand Strategy & Development

• 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, ensuring consistency and excellence across all customer-facing channels and experiences.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen brand differentiation, relevance and emotional connection with key audiences.
• Develop and maintain brand standards, guidelines and governance across the organization.
• Leverage customer insights, market intelligence, competitive trends and brand performance data to inform strategic decisions.

Advertising & Creative

• Lead the development and execution of the bank’s integrated advertising strategy across traditional, digital, social and emerging channels.
• Establish a clear creative vision and ensure campaigns consistently reflect the bank’s brand strategy and personality.
• Oversee agency relationships, creative development, production and campaign execution.
• Ensure advertising programs deliver brand-building impact and contribute to measurable business results.
• Establish effective processes for balancing brand consistency with innovation and speed to market.

Media Strategy

• Develop and oversee the bank’s media strategy and investment approach across paid media channels.
• Optimize media investments based on audience insights, business priorities, performance and brand objectives.
• Partner with internal teams and external media agencies to develop integrated media plans and measurement strategies.
• Stay current on evolving media platforms, consumer behavior, technology and emerging opportunities.
• Establish clear performance measures and accountability for media effectiveness and return on investment.

Brand Sponsorships

• Lead the strategy, evaluation, negotiation and activation of the bank’s corporate sponsorship portfolio.
• Ensure sponsorship investments align with the bank’s brand positioning, target audiences, community priorities, geographic footprint and business objectives.
• Ensure the approach to investments is integrated with other brand-building investments across the footprint to appropriately support our varied markets.
• Develop activation strategies that extend sponsorship value beyond logo placement to create meaningful customer and community engagement.
• Establish measurement frameworks to evaluate sponsorship effectiveness, brand impact and business value.
• Manage relationships with key external partners, properties and organizations and ensure contract benefits are effectively realized.

Events & Hospitality

• Develop an enterprise strategy for brand events, experiences and hospitality opportunities.
• Oversee high-impact customer, community, prospect and executive events that reinforce the bank’s brand and relationships.
• Create differentiated experiences that bring the brand to life and deepen connections with key stakeholders.
• Partner with business lines, market leaders and community teams to ensure events support strategic business objectives.
• Establish standards for brand presentation, guest experience, hospitality and measurement.

Branch Merchandising & Physical Brand Experience

• Lead the strategy for branch merchandising and the physical expression of the bank’s brand across its retail footprint.
• Ensure branch environments, signage, displays, collateral and merchandising consistently reflect the brand experience.
• Partner with Retail Banking, Branch Operations, Facilities and other stakeholders on branch brand standards and implementation.
• Identify opportunities to use the branch network as a powerful customer engagement and brand-building channel.
• Develop scalable standards and processes that balance brand experience, customer needs, operational requirements and cost.

Leadership & Enterprise Partnership

• Serve as a senior advisor and strategic partner to the CMO and other members of the executive leadership and Marketing teams.
• Build strong partnerships with Consumer Banking, Wholesale Banking, Wealth, Community Impact Team, Corporate Communications, Digital, Product, Sales, HR and other functions.
• Lead, develop and inspire a high-performing team of brand marketing professionals.
• Establish clear 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 across the organization, building alignment among stakeholders with different objectives and perspectives.
• Champion a culture of creativity, customer-centricity, curiosity, collaboration, accountability and continuous improvement.

Measurement & Business Impact

• Establish a comprehensive framework for measuring advertising effectiveness, media performance, sponsorship value and experiential impact.
• Develop executive-level reporting that connects brand investment to business outcomes.
• Monitor brand awareness, consideration, preference, engagement and other relevant brand health measures.
• Use data and insights to optimize marketing investments and improve effectiveness.
• Manage significant budgets with strong financial discipline and accountability for return on investment.

Risk, Governance & Compliance

• Ensure brand marketing activities comply with applicable banking regulations, legal requirements and internal policies.
• Partner effectively with Legal, Compliance, Risk and other control functions to ensure appropriate review and governance.
• Maintain strong standards for brand reputation, customer trust and socially responsible marketing.
• Ensure third-party agencies and partners adhere to applicable bank standards and requirements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Communications or a related field; MBA or advanced degree preferred.
• 15+ years of progressive experience in brand marketing, advertising, media, integrated marketing or related discipline.
• Significant leadership experience within a matrixed organization; financial services or banking experience strongly preferred.
• 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 closely 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.

Leadership Competencies

The successful candidate will be:

• Strategic: Sees the broader business opportunity and translates enterprise strategy into compelling brand strategies.
• Brand-driven: Understands how to build a distinctive, trusted and differentiated financial-services brand.
• Commercially minded: Connects marketing investment to customer, growth and business outcomes.
• Customer-centric: Uses customer insights to shape experiences and communications that matter.
• Influential: Builds alignment and credibility with executives and partners across the organization.
• Creative: Brings curiosity and fresh thinking while maintaining disciplined execution.
• Analytical: Uses data, measurement and insights to make informed decisions.
• Collaborative: Creates strong partnerships across business lines and corporate functions.
• Accountable: Establishes clear goals, manages resources effectively, delivers results, takes ownership for mistakes and learns from them.
• Executive presence: Represents the brand and marketing function with credibility internally and externally.

Success in the Role

Success will be measured by the leader’s ability to:

• Strengthen bank’s overall brand health, differentiation and relevance.
• Build greater consistency, synergies and impact across advertising, media, sponsorships, events and physical brand experiences.
• Increase the effectiveness and return on the bank’s brand marketing investments.
• Create distinctive customer and community experiences that reinforce the bank’s brand promise.
• Establish a disciplined, integrated approach to brand development and activation.
• Build strong enterprise partnerships and elevate the strategic role of brand marketing within the organization.
• Develop a high-performing and cohesive brand marketing team and agency ecosystem.
• Protect and enhance the trust and reputation that are foundational to the bank’s brand.
  
  

Compensation offered will be based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to education, work experience, skills, certifications, and geographic location, etc.

Eligible teammates may participate in a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability coverage, paid time off, retirement savings through a 401(k) plan, wellness resources, and other programs designed to support teammates' health and financial well-being, subject to plan terms and eligibility requirements. In addition, certain positions may be eligible for incentive compensation, bonuses, or other variable compensation, subject to applicable plans and performance criteria. General information on our comprehensive benefits package can be found by visiting Employee Benefits | Banking Career Benefits | Atlantic Union Bank

We are proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We maintain a drug-free workplace.