Senior Director, Digital Acceleration & Brand Growth Marketing (Washington DC-Baltimore Area)

Hebard Search Partners has been retained by our valued client, Goodwill Industries International (GII), to help them identify and recruit a seasoned marketing leader for this critical new role for the organization. A more complete overview of this role will be provided to qualified candidates after our initial screening process.

ROLE SUMMARY:

Reporting directly to the Chief Marketing Officer, the Senior Director of Digital Acceleration & Brand Growth Marketing leads the evolution of the Goodwill® brand for a digital-first, AI-influenced world. This role is responsible for advancing how the Goodwill brand is experienced, discovered, trusted, and recommended across the digital ecosystem, with the goal of driving brand relevance, measurable growth, and local impact at scale.

This leader combines brand strategy, digital innovation, performance marketing, emerging

platforms, AI enablement, and network mobilization to move Goodwill beyond campaign centric marketing toward a connected, data-informed marketing system where every

channel, from AI search to social to CRM, reinforces the others and compounds trust over

time. The role shapes end-to-end marketing journeys, translates innovation into practical

playbooks for the network, and ensures the Goodwill brand continues to earn relevance,

credibility, and recommendation with its audiences while supporting the mission delivery

of local member organizations.

BASIC FUNCTION:

The Senior Director of Digital Acceleration & Brand Growth Marketing is responsible for

setting and executing a multi-year, digital-first brand growth strategy for Goodwill Industries

International (GII) and the Goodwill member network. This role designs and advances an

integrated digital marketing system, spanning brand, SEO and AI search, content, social,

paid, CRM, and analytics, that strengthens brand equity, builds trust as a durable

competitive advantage, drives performance outcomes, and enables consistent and locally

adaptable execution across markets. Rather than managing channels in isolation, this

leader treats marketing as a connected system in which every signal strengthens the next.

A core function of the role is identifying emerging platforms, technologies, and marketing

models, that help speed the delivery of actionable strategies, guidance, playbooks, and

best practices for adoption across the member network. The role works closely with

internal teams, executive leadership, member organizations, and external partners to

ensure Goodwill brand and marketing capabilities continue to evolve in step with changing

consumer behavior and category dynamics.

SPECIFIC DUTIES:

A. Digital-First Brand Strategy Develop and lead enterprise-level, digital-first brand

growth strategies aligned to GII’s business and mission objectives. Shape how the

Goodwill brand is experienced across owned, paid, earned, and emerging digital

platforms, building the authority and consistency that earns brand trust and

recommendation. Use a modern, digitally native lens to advance brand positioning,

messaging, storytelling and creative assets.

B. Brand Trust & AI Search Visibility Build the Goodwill brand into one that AI tools

(ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity) are confident recommending. Prioritize original

research and proprietary insight and turn customer and community outcomes into

measurable proof points that strengthen credibility across every channel. Align SEO, AI

Search/Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), content, PR, and social under one

connected strategy so that consistency across every touchpoint compounds trust

rather than fragmenting it.

C. Digital Innovation Develop and optimize end-to-end digital marketing journeys that

drive awareness, engagement, loyalty, and action.

D. Performance & Consumer Journey Delivery Lead performance marketing strategies in

partnership with the analytics team, ensuring insights inform optimization and

investment decisions. Prioritize pipeline, retention, and donor/customer growth as the

measures of success. Champion experimentation, test-and-learn approaches, and

scalable innovation across platforms and channels.

E. Emerging Platforms & AI Enablement Identify emerging platforms, technologies, and

marketing capabilities relevant to brand growth and local impact. Translate innovation

into practical, actionable guidance (playbooks, pilots, toolkits, etc.) for the member

network. Partner cross-functionally to advance responsible, effective AI adoption

across marketing workflows, including AI-assisted content systems.

F. Network Enablement & Mobilization Serve as a strategic partner to Goodwill member

organizations, providing leadership, guidance, and best practices to advance digital

marketing maturity. Ensure brand systems, tools, and frameworks enable both

consistency and local flexibility. Drive and support member adoption of marketing

strategies that drive retail performance, donor engagement, and mission outcomes.

G. Leadership, Collaboration & Measurement Lead and develop high-performing teams

across digital, brand, and creative, aligning them around one connected growth system

rather than siloed channel goals. Collaborate with GII’s P, Communications, Analytics, Government Relations, Mission, and Development teams, and measure and

communicate performance through clear KPIs, insights, and executive-level reporting.

H. Brand Stewardship and Protection Work in close partnership with Legal to steward

Goodwill’s intellectual property, guide responsible digital acceleration and manage

compliance implications of digital and AI-enabled marketing, and proactively address

evolving risk landscapes tied to innovation, nonprofit regulation, and brand trust.

SKILLS NEEDED:

A. Advanced digital marketing fluency across brand, performance marketing, marketing

platforms, and customer journey design.

B. Strong understanding of consumer behavior, digital ecosystems, and emerging

marketing models.

C. Working knowledge of AI/answer-engine search behavior (AEO) and how to build brand

authority and credibility that AI tools will surface and recommend.

D. Demonstrated ability to translate innovation into scalable best practices and systems.

E. Strong experience driving data-informed decision-making and performance

measurement.

F. Proven leadership skills with the ability to inspire, align, and mobilize teams and

stakeholders.

G. Strong strategic, analytical, and problem-solving capabilities.

H. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including exec-level storytelling.

I. Highly collaborative, adaptable, and comfortable operating in complexity and change.

BACKGROUND REQUIRED: Minimum of 10 years of progressive experience in digital marketing, brand strategy, or growth marketing roles, with at least 5 years in senior leadership positions. Demonstrated success leading digital transformation, brand growth initiatives, and

enterprise-level marketing strategies.