Senior Manager, Strategic Marketing Accounts Communications

Strategic Marketing Communications Senior Manager

At Schwab, you're empowered to make an impact on your career. Here, innovative thought meets creative problem solving, helping us "challenge the status quo" and transform the finance industry together.

We believe in the importance of in-office collaboration and fully intend for the selected candidate for this role to work on site in the specified location(s) 4 days a week.

In Workplace Marketing (WM) at Schwab, we help turn workplace (retirement and stock plan) benefits into something people understand, value, and use. We create engaging experiences that people connect with—helping them make the most of what they've earned so they can invest wisely, live better, and retire well.

We're hiring for an exciting opportunity within Schwab's Workplace Marketing organization, on the Participant Marketing Specialized Communications team. This team is focused on creating better financial outcomes for participants (employees of our corporate clients) by taking the mystery out of investing, and making it accessible to everyone regardless of experience, age, interest, or income.

This individual will report to the Strategic Marketing Accounts Director within the Participant Marketing Specialized Communications team. This team helps turn workplace (retirement and stock plan) benefits into something people understand, value, and use. We strip away the jargon and create engaging experiences that people connect with—helping them make the most of what they've earned so they can invest wisely, live better, and retire well.

When we do our jobs well, good things happen. More people make the most of their retirement and equity plans. More are engaged at work. And more see Schwab as a trusted partner in their financial life.

We are seeking a strategic, detail-oriented, and highly organized Strategic Marketing Communications Senior Manager to serve as a trusted marketing advisor and thought partner in close collaboration with the broader relationship management team. This is a solutions-oriented role responsible for developing content and consulting with business partners to implement effective communication strategies for our largest and most strategic corporate clients. This individual will collaborate closely with colleagues, client-facing teams, and occasionally external clients to deliver communications that engage participants in their workplace retirement plans and support their broader financial needs. Focus areas will include working with partners to understand communication goals; evaluating available solutions; leveraging and maximizing existing content where possible; and managing the content development process, from writing, curating, and editing, to execution and multi-channel fulfillment.

A typical day in this role would require expertise in creative communications, strategy and execution, project management, cross-functional collaboration, and knowledge of marketing best practices to ensure strategies and experiences are aligned to participants' financial needs, goals, and expectations.

The ideal candidate is a marketing communications pro, skilled at working collaboratively to drive multiple projects to smooth completion, navigating a variety of issues, and adeptly negotiating and influencing stakeholders along the way. This savvy communicator, curator and creator will demonstrate wisdom in how and when they flex each of these strengths. Inherently curious, they are constantly seeking the most efficient, effective way to cut through the clutter and inspire action. Finally, this individual will be comfortable working independently and with others, depending on the need.

Key responsibilities include:

• Developing clear, effective messaging: Whether writing, curating, or editing content, strive to convey complex and technical topics in conversational, relatable language that encourages participants to take action.
• Collaborating with client-facing teams: Develop and evaluate solutions and alternatives with Communication Consultants, Relationship Managers, and occasionally external clients in support of a plan sponsor's communication strategy and the participant experience.
• Driving efficiency and impact: Advise business partners on how to most efficiently use resources to achieve goals, leveraging and maximizing existing content where possible.
• Project management: Lead the content development process for complex communication and education materials, from creative execution with agency partners and compliance approval to fulfillment via web, direct mail, email, presentations, print/merchandising and digital signage within given timelines.
• Creating and executing well-documented plans: Communicate clearly with partners and use established workflow processes to set and manage expectations throughout each project.
• Identifying trends to support new participant experiences: Discover and share new content, template, and campaign needs and ideas to improve efficiency and scale while maintaining a best-in-class participant experience.
• Mentoring and networking: Training, guiding and mentoring peers within the latitude of established company policies. Networking with key contacts outside own area of expertise.
• Contributing to a culture of innovation and engagement: Actively support change management, ongoing team evolution, and personal growth.

What You Have

To ensure that we fulfill our promise of "challenging the status quo," this role has specific qualifications that successful candidates should have:

• Bachelor's degree in marketing or a related field, or equivalent work experience
• 7+ years of marketing, marketing agency, consulting, or program management experience
• A proven track record of writing and developing effective B:B and B:C marketing communications, preferably 5+ years
• High comfort level with Microsoft Office suite (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint) and enterprise-level project management tools, specifically Workfront and Jira
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including proven writing and editing skills, fanatical attention to detail, and a demonstrated understanding of marketing and technical communications
• Strong PowerPoint and Excel skills
• Experience with and understanding of marketing technology (e.g., Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Marketo)
• Strategic thinker with strong communication and collaboration skills
• Highly organized and can structure complex, multi-stakeholder projects
• Strong PowerPoint and Excel skills
• Exceptional relationship-building skills and ability to influence and motivate people without formal authority
• Excellent professional judgement and inherent ability to understand when and how to "pick your battles"—when to stand firm or compromise, when to seek counsel, and when to escalate
• Active listener and problem solver
• Adaptable and proactive in a changing environment

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in financial services or other highly regulated industry ideally coupled with a background in financial services or other highly regulated industries
• Ability to work effectively in a matrixed organization
• End-to-end marketing campaign planning and delivery
• Demonstrated experience creating communications in a qualified retirement plan, equity plan, financial services, or employee benefits environment, preferably 5+ years
• Understanding of retirement and/or equity plan compliance guidelines
• Ability to synthesize data, identify opportunities, make compelling recommendations, and create a plan to deliver experiences that meet client needs
• A bias for action to quickly and creatively solve problems with others to overcome challenges and move projects forward
• Strategic thinker who balances data to inform decisions with creativity
• Proactive, effective change agent who can thoughtfully champion new ideas, and coach partners to recognize the benefits and adopt change for themselves
• Relentlessly curious, never satisfied with the status quo, seeks and implements recommendations for continuous improvement.
• Comfortable in fast-paced environments, with a bias towards action and continuous improvement.
• A positive demeanor and the flexibility to operate in an environment with multiple deadlines and changing demands