Senior Manager, Brand & External Communication

Forward Financing is a financial technology company based in Boston, Massachusetts with team members throughout the United States, Dominican Republic, and Canada. The company is on a mission to unlock the capital that fuels small businesses across America. Recognized as a Best Place to Work by Built In Boston and certified as a Great Place To Work®, Forward is investing in its employees, technology, and customer experience – with long-term success in mind every step of the way.

We are seeking a brand marketing leader to manage the evolution and ongoing stewardship of the Forward Financing brand, positioning, and visual identity across all audiences. Reporting up through the VP of Marketing, key responsibilities include spearheading content marketing, social media, and corporate communications/PR to drive brand awareness/perception and support customer acquisition. This role will build a strong partnership with Sales to create compelling channel enablement materials and strategic partner programs. Forward Financing has an established brand, and this is an opportunity to take it to the next level!

What you’ll own:

Brand Strategy & Governance

• Lead the next phase of Forward’s brand strategy, positioning, tone, and visual identity for our customers, partners, and employees

• Support the evolution and ongoing and management of brand guidelines to ensure consistent brand execution across all touchpoints

• Drive cross-functional alignment on key brand proof points, messaging, and competitive points of differentiation

• Act as the brand steward to protect the Forward brand and ensure all creative output across functional groups is consistent, meets the needs outlined in the brief, and drives intended results

• Own creative agency relationships, onboarding of new agency partners as needed, and internal creative execution to ensure impactful results that drives brand awareness and new customer acquisition

• Identify and manage brand partnerships that help elevate Forward’s mission and positively impact our SMB customers

• Own brand health measurement and reporting

Content Marketing & Social Media Management

• Lead social media strategy across owned channels (existing & new) and shape monthly editorial calendar based on our key strategic pillars to drive engagement, thought leadership, and positive brand reputation

• Build Forward’s content marketing engine focused on SMB education, product value/benefits, and industry insights to support customer engagement and drive brand loyalty through added value content

• Identify innovative content formats that resonate with our customers and manage all end-to end production and execution including brief development and keyword optimization strategies

• Identify key social media KPIs and own measurement and reporting across all social media and content platforms

Corporate Communications & PR

• Manage corporate reputation and messaging by developing a PR strategy that supports brand reputation, government affairs, and builds industry credibility

• Support our government affairs team by partnering to develop customer advocate programs, paid and earned media opportunities in high-quality relevant platforms, and working with other industry advocacy groups to build positive category support

• Source and manage PR agency relationships, measurement, and ongoing program development

Channel Enablement Support

• Partner with sales teams to develop Forward’s narrative to support new partner/BD efforts including competitive points of differentiation, benefits to partnering with us, and strategic differentiation

• Elevate sales content with data support to create partner impact statements that highlight our unique benefits, enhance credibility, and build the Forward brand for our partners

• Develop self-serve tools for partners and identify the optimal delivery methods for maximum impact including digital portal, newsletters and other channels

• Create high-impact incentive and relationship-building programs in partnership with sales to help win the hearts and minds of our partners as we maximize value to our customers

• Support the sales team with all onboarding, training, and other sales materials that help drive Forward’s credibility and attracts new partners to help us grow and scale

• Assess partner event opportunities and develop plans to most effectively capitalize on these events to drive partner engagement and new partner partner activation

Why you should apply:

• Join a rapidly scaling, high performing, financially strong company with exceptional leadership and best-in-class culture

• Join a growing team of smart, passionate marketers, all working to turbocharge the impact marketing can have on the business

• Get our PR capability off the ground and prove the value to our brand

• Manage a small team of direct reports who will help to support brand- and channel partner-related efforts

Role Requirements:

• 8+ years of progressive experience in Brand Marketing, Marketing Communications, or a related field; B2B experience on a financial services/fintech brand preferred

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, Business, or a related discipline

• Experience overseeing marketing automation tool, media monitoring tool, and social media platforms

• Proven track record of successfully evolving and governing a comprehensive brand strategy and visual identity

• Experience managing and directing both internal creative functions and external PR/Creative agencies

• Deep expertise in Content Marketing strategy, execution, and optimization

• Demonstrated ability to develop and lead strategic Corporate Communications and PR programs

• Strong proficiency in leading social media strategy across various owned channels to drive engagement and thought leadership

• Ability and desire to establish and build strong, cross-functional relationships to collaborate on programs to drive value to the company

• Exceptional organizational and project management skills for leading end-to-end campaign and content production

Total Rewards:

Additionally, we offer a comprehensive total rewards package, including but not limited to: medical, dental, vision, commuter benefits, a flexible time-off policy, paid parental leave, 401k match for US employees, wellness reimbursement, volunteering days, annual professional development budget, and charitable donation match.

Forward is proud to be a remote-first company, keeping workplace flexibility a top priority for our employees. As a business, we are focused on impact; we are more concerned with your contributions to the success of the company than where you get your work done. To help facilitate in-person collaboration, employees are welcome to work from one of our premiere office locations.

When we aren’t collaborating to drive business and support our customers, we’re finding virtual and in-person ways to get to know our colleagues, celebrate team wins, and have fun together!

Forward Financing Core Values:

• Drive the Mission - We believe in financial opportunity for underserved small businesses. We say “yes” when others say “no.”

• Keep It Real - We value direct communication, candid feedback, and authenticity. We are an open book.

• Act with Kindness - We create an environment where caring is cool and helping is the norm. We do the right thing.

• Shoot for Extraordinary - We are inspired by innovative thinking and continuous improvement. We never settle for yesterday’s best.

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