Associate Director - Marketing

Job Title: Associate Director, Marketing

Function: EE and DL

Reports to position: Head – Programme Marketing

Location: Hyderabad

Reportees to Position: Senior Managers, Managers

Band: A2

Job Purpose

The Associate Director, Marketing is a leadership role and will be responsible for shaping and executing the portfolio's overall strategic initiatives while overseeing the development and implementation of comprehensive marketing communication strategies across 5 key business portfolios while scaling the Knowledge Brand – Programmes for Individuals, Enterprises, Government and PSUs, Online Programmes and Solutions for Academic Institutions. This role will work closely with senior executives, cross-functional teams, and external partners to stregnthen consumer preference, enhance brand visibility, and drive business growth.

The incumbent will oversee brand and communication strategy, scale SoV across digital and physical touchpoints and portfolio-wise marketing tactics – in alignment with the parent brand to drive the reach and growth of a portfolio of high-quality digital and in-person executive education programs. You will work with the leadership to define the brand architecture and the GTM strategy to enhance the brand's value and deliver the pipeline to hit quarterly and annual business goals.

The ideal candidate will be both creative and data-driven, collaborate effectively, and demonstrate the ability to grow the team effectively.

Job Outline

1. Portfolio Marketing Strategy: Lead the development and execution of EEDL strategic marketing communications plan. Conduct analyses of market trends, competitive landscapes, and industry dynamics to identify strategic opportunities and risks. Stay abreast of industry developments, market dynamics, and competitive landscape to identify opportunities and threats and adjust market strategies accordingly. Responsible for building the ISB brand equity, ensuring adherence to guidelines via consistency and alignment across all marketing communications and collateral. Monitor brand performance and sentiment metrics, identifying opportunities to enhance EE-DL brand equity, reputation and advocacy, working closely with customer success and alumni engagement teams. Drive portfolio-level positioning drawn from brand guidelines, messaging, and storytelling efforts to differentiate the organisation and strengthen EE and DL awareness and preference in the market. Define target audience segments, messaging frameworks, and communication channels to effectively reach and engage key stakeholders.
2. Marketing Operations, Budget Management and Analytics: Manage the annual marketing budget, annual expenditure and other expenses; identify short-term and long-term scheduling, budget, and resource needs. Oversee the planning, execution, and optimisation of integrated marketing campaigns across various channels, including digital, social media, email, events, and traditional media to drive YoY organic growth. Monitor key performance metrics and analytics to provide market research, forecasts, competitive analyses, campaign results, and market trends that allow for measurement of the efficacy of various strategies, identification of best practices and provide actionable insights to the team. Find tools and technologies that enable automation and scale to deliver a personalised and intuitive CX.
3. Team Management and Leadership: Provide guidance and direction to the marketing communications team, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and accountability. Build and develop a high-performing team, setting clear goals and expectations, providing ongoing feedback and coaching, and supporting professional development opportunities. Establish cross-functional working relationships and partnerships with other departments to ensure alignment and collaboration on strategic initiatives and marketing campaigns.
4. Stakeholder Engagement and Relationship Management: Build and maintain strong relationships with internal stakeholders, including programme, operations, sales teams, and senior executives, to ensure alignment of marketing communications efforts with business goals. Collaborate with senior leadership to prioritise strategic initiatives and allocate resources effectively to achieve business and marketing goals. Strategise ways to effectively and efficiently utilise in-house expertise and capabilities by way of cross-functional collaboration with Faculty, Alumni Engagement teams, Career Advancement Services, Research Centres.

Job Specification

Knowledge:

Qualification

• Master's degree in Business Administration (preferably Marketing) from a top-ranked business school.
• 12+ years marketing experience for well-established brand/s; 8+ years managing a marketing team; 2+ years responsible for sales pipeline for a region or customer segment.
• Proven track record of successfully developing and implementing marketing strategies that drive business results.
• Demonstrated experience in using data to make business cases and decisions.
• Proven ability to plan and manage extensive marketing budgets.
• Experience with edtech and knowledge of higher education systems and governing policies will be an advantage.

Skills:

Behavioural

• Excellent business verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to inspire and motivate cross-functional teams.
• Creative thinker with a passion for innovation and continuous improvement.
• Demonstrated ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and manage multiple priorities effectively.
• Ability to build and maintain strong working relationships with diverse stakeholders internally and externally.
• Ease of operating with marketing technology tools such as Salesforce, Marketo, etc.

Experience:

12 - 15 years

S.N, Key Responsibilities and % Time Spent

1 Portfolio Marketing Strategy - 25%

2 Marketing Operations, Budget Management and Analytics - 30%

3 Team Management and Leadership - 30%

4 Stakeholder Engagement and Relationship Management - 15%