Vice President, Marketing

ABOUT FIRST BOOK:

First Book is a leading nonprofit social enterprise dedicated to removing barriers to quality education for children in need. Through innovative publicprivate partnerships and a national network of more than 600000 educators program leaders and community organizations First Book has distributed over 250 million books and educational resources to under-resourced communities. Our work spans e-commerce (First Book Marketplace) research and insights (First Book R&I) and tailored program development (First Book Accelerator) all designed to elevate the voices and needs of educators serving children in low-income communities.

ABOUT THE ROLE:

First Book is advancing an ambitious organizational growth strategy and strengthening its integrated Go-To-Market (GTM) approach to support revenue partnership membership and Marketplace growth.

Reporting to the Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) the Vice President of Marketing is a senior leadership role responsible for leading First Books marketing function and advancing the strategy capabilities infrastructure and team required to strengthen the First Book brand and support sustainable organizational growth.

This role will lead enterprise marketing strategy; steward First Books brand and messaging architecture; develop differentiated value propositions across key audiences; strengthen revenue-enablement capabilities; and connect marketing strategy to measurable organizational outcomes.

The Vice President of Marketing will serve as the strategic marketing partner to First Books five primary revenue and member growth functions. This role will also lead First Books partnership to offer architecture and pricing strategy in collaboration with the CRO Finance Operations and revenue leaders to ensure offerings reflect market value partner needs organizational cost and long-term financial sustainability.

The ideal candidate is an experienced marketing executive who combines strategic brand leadership B2B and B2C marketing expertise commercial discipline cross-functional leadership and a strong commitment to measurable results.

WHAT YOULL OWN:

Marketing Strategy Brand & Market Presence

• Develop and lead an integrated marketing strategy aligned with First Books growth revenue membership Marketplace and impact priorities.
• Define and steward First Books brand standards including voice visual identity tone positioning and external representation.
• Own the overarching First Book narrative and ensure external communications consistently communicate First Books mission impact capabilities and market position.
• Ensure digital campaigns social media web content email pitches sell sheets events and other external-facing materials align with First Books brand and messaging standards.
• Use audience insights research market intelligence and partner feedback to continuously refine positioning.

Go-To-Market Strategy & Revenue Enablement

• Serve as the strategic marketing partner to the leaders of Strategic Alliances Nonprofit Partnerships Development Community/Member Engagement and Marketplace.
• Establish scalable GTM frameworks that guide audience outreach engagement conversion and retention.
• Equip revenue and member-growth teams with the messaging tools and training needed to effectively communicate First Books value.

Offer Architecture & Pricing Strategy

• Design and own First Books partnership offer architecture including defining tiers deliverables and positioning for corporate and nonprofit partners and anchoring pricing to the measurable value delivered: CSR impact educator reach market intelligence and brand alignment.
• Partner with Finance Operations and the CRO to develop and maintain full-cost recovery pricing models that account for direct costs overhead and a sustainable surplus margin ensuring every offering is financially sound market-competitive and built for organizational reinvestment.

Marketing Organization & Team Leadership

• Strengthen the marketing capabilities and organizational capacity required to execute First Books growth strategy.
• Lead the evolution of the current marketing team of approximately three employees toward a planned team of approximately six to seven supported by an appropriate mix of staff agencies contractors and specialized resources.
• Define team structure roles responsibilities operating processes and performance expectations.
• Recruit develop coach and retain high-performing marketing talent.
• Foster a culture of strategic thinking creative rigor collaboration execution excellence and accountability.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Build strong working relationships across Revenue Programs Operations Finance Research & Insights Community/Member Engagement Marketplace and other organizational functions.
• Position Marketing as a strategic business partner and organizational enabler.
• Bring audience and market perspective into organizational planning program development offer design campaign strategy and revenue discussions.
• Facilitate alignment around brand standards audience strategy value propositions pricing architecture and GTM priorities.
• Influence effectively across functions and leadership levels while maintaining shared accountability for organizational outcomes.

Measurement Analytics & Accountability

• Establish Marketing Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) in partnership with the CRO and align them with broader organizational and revenue objectives.
• Define how Marketings contribution to revenue partnership growth membership engagement brand strength and other organizational priorities will be measured.
• Build dashboards and reporting cadences that provide visibility into campaign performance brand metrics audience engagement pipeline contribution and marketing return on investment.
• Establish performance measures for marketing investments campaigns programs and channels.
• Use performance data and audience insights to test optimize scale successful approaches and discontinue activities that do not generate sufficient value.

EDUCATION:

• Bachelors degree in marketing communications business nonprofit management or a related field required.
• Equivalent combination of education and significant relevant professional experience considered.
• Advanced degree in marketing business administration communications or a related discipline preferred.

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE:

• 10 or more years of progressive marketing experience including at least 34 years in a senior leadership capacity with responsibility for leading teams and organizational marketing strategy.
• Demonstrated success building rebuilding or substantially evolving a marketing function.
• Experience establishing brand standards messaging architecture marketing infrastructure team structures processes and performance expectations.
• Deep expertise in B2B or hybrid B2B/B2C marketing including marketing to institutional partners corporations foundations nonprofit organizations funders or similarly complex audiences.
• Strong command of integrated marketing including brand strategy positioning content digital and web marketing campaign management audience engagement and sales or partnership enablement.
• Demonstrated experience developing value propositions messaging frameworks audience positioning and customer or partner journeys.
• Understanding and experience with full-cost recovery and value-based pricing principles.
• Experience translating mission impact programs services or complex capabilities into compelling commercial fundraising or partnership propositions.
• Knowledge of corporate partnership environments including corporate social responsibility (CSR) corporate giving sponsorship purpose-driven partnerships and related engagement models.
• Exceptional written verbal presentation and executive communication skills.
• Strong analytical orientation with demonstrated experience using performance metrics customer insights and market intelligence to inform strategic decisions.
• Experience setting and managing OKRs KPIs or comparable performance frameworks strongly preferred.
• Experience managing internal teams alongside agencies contractors consultants and external creative resources.
• Proven ability to operate effectively in a fast-moving environment and strengthen systems processes and infrastructure as organizational needs evolve.
• Strong cross-functional leadership skills with demonstrated ability to influence without direct authority.
• Experience in the nonprofit education social-impact or social-enterprise sectors strongly preferred; significant corporate or agency experience working with mission-driven organizations will also be considered.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS:

• Salary:The salary for this position is $150000 annually. This is a fixed non-negotiable salary.

All full-time employees are eligible for the following:

• Medical and dental insurance coverage
• Life insurance and Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) coverage
• Paid vacation and sick leave
• 12 paid holidays annually
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer matching contributions
• Employer-provided parking stipend (Washington DC)

TO APPLY:

• Submit a resume and a cover letter detailing your interest in this position.
• Only applications submitted through First Books approved platform will be considered.
• Applications submitted through external or unapproved sites will not be reviewed.
  • First Book does not accept unsolicited recruiter submissions and does not pay fees for resumes submitted outside of a formal written agreement.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY:

First Book is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race color religion creed sex gender identity or expression sexual orientation national origin age disability marital status personal appearance family responsibilities genetic information matriculation political affiliation veteran status or any other status protected by applicable federal District of Columbia or local law.

WORK PRESENCE & EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS:

• The role is structured as a hybrid position.
• This position is structured as a hybrid role and requires regular in-office presence at First Books Washington DC office on designated days to support collaboration and partnership activities.
• Reasonable accommodation will be considered in accordance with applicable federal state and local laws.
• Relocation assistance is not provided.

Required Experience:

Exec