Responsibilities

• Own and lead the marketing strategy for Sunward’s geographic expansion, branch openings and priority retail markets.
• Serve as Marketing’s primary strategic partner for expansion and retail-growth initiatives, working closely with Retail, Events, Facilities, Product, Analytics, executive leadership and internal Marketing teams.
• Participate in expansion and branch-planning discussions to understand organizational objectives, operational requirements, market conditions, timelines and existing research.
• Translate organizational expansion plans, market intelligence and business objectives into actionable market-entry and retail-growth marketing strategies.
• Partner with the marketing analyst to define research questions, analytical requirements, audience considerations and measurement needs for prospective, new and established markets.
• Guide the development and interpretation of demographic, geographic, traffic, behavioral, competitive and member analyses to support marketing decisions.
• Use market research and analysis to recommend target audiences, localized positioning, priority messages, channel strategies and opportunities for market differentiation.
• Develop the marketing component of market-entry plans, including audience strategy, brand and product positioning, messaging, channel recommendations, campaign timing, budget requirements and measures of success.
• Lead the marketing workstream for branch openings, developing coordinated pre-opening, opening and post-opening marketing plans.
• Coordinate marketing timelines with Facilities, Retail and other operational partners to ensure campaigns align with construction, staffing, soft-opening, grand-opening and market-readiness milestones.

Requirements

• Minimum of 6+ years of progressive experience in marketing strategy, brand marketing, retail or market-entry marketing, or a related field, including demonstrated ownership of complex, cross-functional marketing initiatives.
• Demonstrated experience developing and leading marketing strategy for new-market entry, retail expansion, branch openings or similarly complex growth initiatives.
• Demonstrated experience partnering with research and analytics functions to translate demographic, geographic, competitive and member data into audience, positioning and channel strategy.
• Experience in financial services, banking or credit union marketing preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, business administration or a related field OR relevant work experience equivalent to a bachelor’s degree.
• Deep knowledge of marketing strategy development, including audience segmentation, positioning, messaging and channel planning.
• Working knowledge of market research methods (demographic, geographic, traffic, behavioral, competitive and member analyses) and how to apply them to marketing decisions.
• Knowledge of retail and branch operations sufficient to align marketing timelines with construction, staffing and market-readiness milestones.
• Knowledge of integrated marketing channels, including paid digital media, search, social media, outdoor advertising, direct marketing, public relations, sponsorships, events and community engagement.
• Working knowledge of Sunward’s products, brand and member value proposition, and how expansion marketing supports the member and community experience.