Based in Seattle, Washington, SBI Association Management is the premier Association Management Company (AMC) in the Pacific Northwest. We provide leading innovative management services and are an ideal fit for regional, national, and international nonprofit professional associations. If you are new to the idea of working with an AMC, you can learn more about what we do here. SBI is a forward-thinking company that takes a collaborative approach to partnering with nonprofit associations. Our progressive mindset and diverse team have fueled our success and positioned us as a leader within the association management industry.

The Director serves as both a strategic leader and hands-on marketing professional. The position requires strong project management, writing, editing, design, digital marketing, and technology skills, including demonstrated proficiency in Canva and Adobe InDesign. The Director also oversees implementation of SBI's corporate marketing strategy and partners closely with the Vice President of Business Development to support client acquisition and company growth.

Leadership & Strategy

·       Inspire and establish marketing and communications best practices across SBI and its association clients.

·       Position SBI as an innovative AMC at the forefront of association marketing, communications, digital engagement, technology, and emerging tools.

·       Provide strategic marketing counsel to SBI team members and association clients, moving beyond task execution to identify opportunities to increase membership, engagement, event participation, sponsorship revenue, and overall organizational visibility.

·       Lead, mentor, and develop the Marketing & Communications team, establishing clear expectations for quality, responsiveness, creativity, accountability, and client service.

·       Collaborate closely with Association Executives, Member Services, Events, Business Development, and other SBI teams to ensure integrated and consistent client service.

·       Ensure marketing and communications deliverables meet or exceed client expectations and SBI quality standards.

·       Analyze marketing performance, workflows, systems, and procedures and recommend improvements that increase effectiveness, efficiency, and quality.

·       Stay current on marketing trends, association industry best practices, emerging technologies, AI tools, digital platforms, and communication strategies.

·       Identify opportunities to use automation, AI, templates, and technology to improve efficiency while maintaining quality and appropriate human oversight.

·       Establish meaningful metrics and reporting to evaluate marketing and communications effectiveness and inform future strategy.

·       Present marketing strategies, recommendations, performance results, and emerging opportunities to SBI leadership, association executives, boards, committees, and other stakeholders.

Team & SBI Infrastructure

·       Manage Marketing & Communications staff, team leaders, freelancers, consultants, and outside contractors.

·       Provide appropriate supervision, performance feedback, professional development, and accountability for assigned staff.

·       Establish appropriate workflows, quality assurance standards, project management processes, and review procedures for marketing and communications work.

·       Monitor team workload, capacity, deadlines, and priorities and proactively recommend resource adjustments when necessary.

·       Manage marketing and communications work within approved client scopes, budgets, staffing allocations, and timelines. Identify scope concerns early and recommend appropriate solutions.

·       Develop strategic relationships with marketing, design, technology, website, email, print, and other vendors.

·       Evaluate and recommend marketing and communications technology platforms and tools.

·       Develop templates, standards, processes, and resources that allow SBI to efficiently deliver consistently high-quality work across multiple association clients.

·       Develop and facilitate staff training in marketing, communications, writing, branding, design, technology, AI, and related areas.

·       Maintain brand standards and quality expectations across SBI and assigned client work.

Client Marketing & Communications

·       Lead marketing and communications onboarding for new SBI clients.

·       Develop comprehensive client marketing and communications strategies aligned with each organization's goals, audiences, brand, programs, events, and available resources.

·       Manage marketing and communications project plans, calendars, timelines, deliverables, and priorities.

·       Build trusted relationships with clients and serve as a strategic partner in identifying marketing and communications opportunities, challenges, and solutions.

·       Develop integrated campaigns across email, websites, social media, print, digital advertising, publications, events, and other communication channels.

·       Create strategies designed to support membership acquisition and retention, conference attendance, sponsorship and exhibitor participation, program engagement, and other client objectives.

·       Review campaign performance and engagement data and use results to recommend adjustments and future strategies.

·       Manage website projects, including new website development, redesigns, migrations, content organization, and ongoing website maintenance.

·       Oversee website content and maintenance, including the development or refinement of webpages and landing pages, and provide hands-on support when needed.

·       Perform and oversee regular quality assurance reviews of client websites, emails, publications, graphics, and other communications.

·       Ensure client communications are accurate, timely, accessible, brand-consistent, and appropriate for the intended audience.

·       Produce polished, error-free written content quickly and accurately, including under tight deadlines.

·       Write and edit email campaigns, website content, social media content, promotional materials, event communications, publications, and other marketing materials.

·       Serve as a senior proofreader and quality-control resource for the Marketing & Communications team.

·       Translate complex association information into clear, engaging, audience-appropriate communications.

·       Participate in client marketing committees and provide strategic guidance to committee members and volunteer leaders.

Creative & Design

·       Provide creative direction and maintain high visual standards for SBI and client marketing materials.

·       Demonstrate advanced proficiency in Canva, including creating and managing brand kits, templates, presentations, social media graphics, event materials, reports, digital assets, and other marketing collateral.

·       Demonstrate the ability to independently design and produce polished multi-page publications, programs, reports, brochures, sponsorship materials, conference materials, and other print and digital collateral using Adobe InDesign.

·       Work effectively within established brand guidelines while also developing new creative concepts and visual approaches when appropriate.

·       Review and provide feedback on design work produced by staff and contractors to ensure accuracy, consistency, visual quality, and adherence to brand standards.

·       Prepare materials appropriately for both digital distribution and professional printing.

·       Maintain organized creative assets, templates, brand resources, and source files to support efficient collaboration across the team.

·       Experience with additional Adobe Creative Cloud applications, including Photoshop and Illustrator, is preferred.

Digital Marketing & Technology

·       Demonstrate strong knowledge of email marketing, social media, websites, content management systems, digital campaigns, and marketing analytics.

·       Understand email marketing best practices, including segmentation, targeting, automation, deliverability, testing, and performance measurement.

·       Use data and analytics to evaluate campaign effectiveness and make recommendations for improvement.

·       Understand SEO fundamentals and website content strategy.

·       Evaluate emerging marketing technologies and recommend tools that can improve client results or SBI operational efficiency.

·       Maintain working knowledge of AI-enabled marketing and communications tools and identify responsible, effective ways to incorporate them into SBI workflows.

·       Quickly learn and work within the various association management, email marketing, website, community, event, and technology platforms used by SBI clients.

SBI Public Relations & Marketing

·       Lead the development and implementation of SBI's annual marketing and communications plan.

·       Manage SBI's brand and ensure consistent positioning and messaging across all channels.

·       Oversee SBI's website, email marketing, social media presence, thought leadership, public relations, and other external communications.

·       Identify opportunities to strengthen SBI's visibility and reputation within the association management industry.

·       Develop content that demonstrates SBI's expertise, client successes, innovation, and value as an association management company.

·       Support company announcements, awards, speaking engagements, industry participation, and other public relations opportunities.

·       Develop and maintain a content calendar for SBI's corporate marketing activities.

·       Monitor and evaluate SBI marketing performance and recommend adjustments based on results.

Business Development Support

·       Partner closely with the Vice President of Business Development to support SBI's growth strategy.

·       Assist with the development, design, editing, and quality assurance of proposals, presentations, capability statements, case studies, and other business development materials.

·       Develop marketing campaigns and outreach materials supporting prospective client engagement.

·       Ensure SBI proposals and presentations are visually compelling, professionally written, brand-consistent, and tailored to prospective clients.

·       Help develop case studies, success stories, testimonials, and other materials that demonstrate SBI's capabilities and results.

·       Support presentations and finalist interviews as needed.

·       Identify opportunities to leverage SBI's marketing expertise as a competitive differentiator in new business opportunities.

Qualifications & Core Competencies

·       A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in marketing and communications, including at least three years of experience leading or supervising marketing professionals.

·       Bachelor's degree in marketing, communications, public relations, business, or a related field preferred. An equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience will be considered.

·       Demonstrated experience leading marketing and communications strategy and execution.

·       Experience managing, coaching, and developing marketing and communications professionals.

·       Strong understanding of integrated marketing, digital communications, branding, content development, and campaign management.

·       Exceptional writing, editing, proofreading, and verbal communication skills.

·       Advanced proficiency in Canva required.

·       Professional proficiency in Adobe InDesign required.

·       Experience producing both digital and print marketing materials.

·       Strong understanding of website content management and email marketing platforms.

·       Experience using analytics and performance data to evaluate marketing effectiveness and guide strategy.

·       Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple clients, projects, priorities, and deadlines simultaneously.

·       Demonstrated ability to translate organizational goals into measurable marketing strategies and clearly communicate results to executive leaders, boards, committees, and other stakeholders.

·       Experience managing client expectations, project scope, budgets, staff capacity, and competing priorities in a professional-services or multi-client environment.

·       Exceptional attention to detail and commitment to quality assurance.

·       Ability to balance strategic leadership with hands-on execution when needed.

·       Ability to anticipate needs, identify opportunities, recommend solutions, and take ownership of projects without requiring significant direction.

·       Strong client-service orientation and ability to communicate effectively with association executives, volunteer leaders, staff, vendors, and other stakeholders.

·       Ability to learn new technology quickly and adapt to changing client and organizational needs.

·       Association, nonprofit, professional society, or association management company experience strongly preferred.

·       Experience working in an association management company or another multi-client environment is highly desirable.

·       Ability to travel periodically for client meetings, conferences, staff meetings, and other business needs.

·       Ability to occasionally work outside traditional business hours when required by client meetings, events, deadlines, or urgent communications.

Success in This Role

Success in this position requires someone who can think strategically while also executing at a high level. The Director will primarily lead strategy, team performance, quality, and client outcomes while remaining capable of stepping into hands-on execution when priorities, deadlines, or client needs require it. This may include developing a comprehensive marketing strategy, coaching a team member, reviewing analytics, proofreading an email campaign, providing creative direction, refining a Canva asset, working in an InDesign publication, addressing a website issue, or helping develop a client proposal.

The ideal candidate is proactive, highly organized, creative, technologically curious, detail-oriented, and committed to continually improving how SBI delivers marketing and communications services to its clients.

What We Offer

 

As the leading Association Management Company (AMC) in the Pacific Northwest since 1981, SBI Association Management is known for providing innovative technology solutions, marketing, event management, financial, and executive services to manage and grow member-based professional societies and associations. Our success is deeply rooted in building a seasoned, strong team with a culture of collaboration, integrity, and transparency.

 

We work hard together and laugh even harder. We value problem solvers and change agents, and your contributions will be truly appreciated. Join us and add your talents to our exceptional team.

 

Benefits & Perks:

 

·       11 paid holidays

 

·       Paid vacation and wellness time

 

·       401k with up to a 50% employer match

 

·       Employer-subsidized healthcare plans, including medical, dental, and vision insurance

 

·       Employer-paid $25,000 of basic life and accidental death and dismemberment coverage

 

·       Optional supplemental life insurance

 

·       Access to our employee assistance program (including 3 free counseling sessions, will preparation, estate planning, and more)

·       Tuition reimbursement

 

·       Paid professional association membership(s)

 

·       …and much more!

 

Equal Opportunity Employer

SBI is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This means that SBI uses its best efforts to provide equal opportunities to every employee and job applicant without regard to protected characteristics, and that SBI does not knowingly discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics. Protected characteristics means actual or perceived race, religion, creed, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ancestry, marital status, civil union status, medical condition, disability (mental and physical), military and veteran status, pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws and ordinances. SBI is dedicated to this policy with respect to recruitment, hiring, placement, promotion, transfer, training, compensation, benefits, employee activities, and general treatment during employment.