Sr Manager, Marketing - Brand

We believe in the power and joy of learning

At Cengage Group, our employees have a direct impact in helping students around the world discover the power and joy of learning. We are bonded by our shared purpose – driving innovation that helps millions of learners improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.  

Our culture values inclusion, engagement, and discovery

Our business is driven by our strong culture, and we know that creating an inclusive workplace is absolutely essential to the success of our company and our learners, as well as our individual well-being. We recognize the value of diverse perspectives in everything we do, and strive to ensure employees of all levels and backgrounds feel empowered to voice their ideas and bring their authentic selves to work. We achieve these priorities through programs, benefits, and initiatives that are integrated into the fabric of how we work every day. To learn more, please see https://www.cengagegroup.com/about/inclusion-and-belonging/.   

What you'll do here:

The Senior Manager, Marketing – Brand is a strategic, collaborative, and results-driven leader and supports the development and execution of our brand strategy within the newly coordinated North America Higher Education Product and Brand Marketing team. This role stewards the Cengage Higher Education brand to ensure it resonates with our key audiences, differentiates us in the market, and aligns with our overall go-to-market strategy.   

In addition to driving our brand narrative and owning the positioning across channels and touchpoints, this role directly manages the Advocacy Marketing team. This leadership role plays a critical role in bringing our brand to life through community engagement, customer storytelling, influencer programs, and shared brand experiences.   

• Brand Strategy Development

• Leads the evolution of a unified brand strategy that supports business growth, strengthens market differentiation, and reflects our positioning in human-centered education.

• Collaborates closely with Product Marketing, Growth Marketing, Institutional Marketing, and Gale Marketing to align brand messaging with customer-facing strategies across the funnel.

• Ensures brand consistency across channels, creative assets, and marketing initiatives, including website, content, events, and campaigns.

• Partners with Research, Corporate Communications, and Customer Experience teams as well as agencies, internal creative teams, and market research partners to translate insights into brand strategy and drive execution across touchpoints    

• Cross-Functional Partnership

• Ensure brand is embedded throughout the go-to-market planning process.

• Serve as a brand steward for integrated marketing campaigns, maintaining brand integrity across assets and messaging.   

• Advocacy Marketing Leadership

• Leads and mentors the Advocacy Marketing team, which is responsible for developing and executing programs that activate loyal customers as advocates.

• Oversee initiatives such as faculty testimonials, ambassador programs, community engagement, and peer-to-peer recommendation programs to ensure alignment with go-to-market strategies.

• Collaborates with Sales Enablement and Customer Success to scale customer storytelling and success proof points across channels.  

• Measurement and Optimization

• Defines KPIs to assess brand awareness, perception, and advocacy program effectiveness.

• Apply data to refine brand strategy and find opportunities for greater brand and customer impact.

• Contributes to executive-level reporting on brand and advocacy performance.  

• Leadership & Accountability: Provides leadership with a focus on go-to-market priorities and execution and achieving goals.  

• Coaching & Development: Provides relevant and effective coaching through ongoing performance feedback while supporting continuous employee discovery, growth, and development.      

Skills you will need here:

• Minimum of 7 years of experience in brand strategy, brand marketing, or related roles

• Experience building and leading teams, setting expectations, mentor and developing performance

• Experience developing and evolving brand strategy within a B2B or B2B2C organization

• Exceptional communication, presentation, listening, storytelling, and cross-functional collaboration skills

• Proven ability to work with creative agencies and leverage market research to inform strategy

• A self-starter with a can-do attitude and very strong attention to detail

• Ability to work with ambiguity, alongside multiple priorities and specific deadlines

• Experience with customer advocacy or influencer programs a plus

• Passion for education, innovation, and creating substantial customer experiences  

Cengage Group is committed to working with broad talent pools to attract and hire strong and most qualified individuals. Our job applicants are considered regardless of race, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, genetic information, disability, age, veteran status, and any other classification protected by applicable federal, state, provincial or local laws.   

Cengage is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities including during our job application process. If you are an applicant with a disability and require reasonable accommodation in our job application process, please contact us at [email protected] or at +1 (617) 289-7917.   

About Cengage Group

Cengage Group, a global education technology company serving millions of learners, provides affordable, quality digital products and services that equip students with the skills and competencies needed to be job ready. For more than 100 years, we have enabled the power and joy of learning with trusted, engaging content, and now, integrated digital platforms. We serve the higher education, workforce skills, secondary education, English language teaching and research markets worldwide. Through our scalable technology, including MindTap and Cengage Unlimited, we support all learners who seek to improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.  

Compensation

At Cengage Group, we take great pride in our commitment to providing a comprehensive and rewarding Total Rewards package designed to support and empower our employees. Click here to learn more about our Total Rewards Philosophy.

The full base pay range has been provided for this position. Individual base pay will vary based on work schedule, qualifications, experience, internal equity, and geographic location.  Sales roles often incorporate a significant incentive compensation program beyond this base pay range.