Content & Communications Marketing Manager

Ascend Learning is a national leader in data driven, online educational solutions for learners, educators and employers in high-growth, licensure-driven professions spanning healthcare, fitness and wellness, skilled trades, insurance and financial services. We are passionate about accelerating learning while impacting job readiness, employment success and employee retention with the belief that our work changes lives.

Our culture is intentionally results-driven and selfless, with a relentless focus on our customers. We believe in trust, transparency, freedom, and responsibility with a commitment to meritocracy, inclusion, and diversity of thought. Continual investment in our over 1400 employees is also a core principle realized through ongoing professional development and providing opportunities to grow, develop and lead. Ascend Learning is headquartered in Burlington, MA, with additional office locations and remote workers in cities across the U.S. and in the U.K

Since 1989, National Healthcareer Association (NHA) has been partnering with education programs, organizations and employers across the nation to award more than one million allied health certifications to empower people to access a better future. We offer eight nationally accredited exams, certification preparation and study materials; industry-leading outcomes-based analytics, as well as learning resources, ongoing professional development and continuing education for our certification holders.The Marketing Content & Communications Manager will be a relentless communicator who understands how to build on an idea, lead and execute on a strategy and is passionate about understanding the people and the business.

This person is responsible for developing and proposing plans to leverage meaningful content to help drive NHA's demand generation efforts that are critical to growing our brand and business. The Content and Communications Marketing Manager will also develop and execute targeted internal and external communications across channels and audiences, keeping our clients and employees informed. This role will help plan and execute our regular business unit calls and manage our internal communications from Marketing out to the business unit, as well as informational external communications and the client communications calendar. This role will be responsible for our public relations strategy and efforts for NHA while coordinating with outside vendors. The Content & Communications Manager will identify and manage resource needs and allocation in coordination with our marketing team and stakeholders. The Content and Communications Manager will also be responsible for working with our Designer and vendors to create and leverage NHA's annual access™ publication - a thought leadership publication including industry research and trends that are helpful and applicable to the healthcare professions we serve.

This position includes strategic thinking for how to best utilize and develop content and communications to meet business needs, tactical execution, copywriting, and oversight of communications plans/calendar. This role reports to the Senior Marketing Manager, Demand Gen & Ops.

Skills Required:

• 3-5 years of experience in a content and/or communications marketing role. B2B and healthcare and/or education industry experience a plus.
• Bachelor's degree in marketing, communications, journalism, advertising or related field preferred
• Ability to create and write concise and compelling content following AP style- writing samples will be requested
• Experience using content to assist in increasing brand awareness and driving demand gen efforts
• Excellent presentation skills; a passionate communicator and advocate for the brand and mission
• Copy editing skills and attention to detail are imperative
• Excellent project management skills and ability to manage the communications calendar and juggle multiple deadlines
• Can work in a highly collaborative environment
• Understanding of search engine insights that can drive content visibility and improvement (SEO)
• Must be digitally minded and tech savvy with an understanding of how marketing content crosses a variety of mediums
• A strategic thinker and problem solver who is also strong in execution
• HubSpot and/or marketing automation software experience preferre

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Responsible for promoting the brand mission and effectively using brand voice/tone in all content - publications, marketing materials, blogs, social media and campaigns.
• Proposes & helps implement ways to use content to drive and support brand awareness, lead gen/conversion (gated content, etc.)
• Takes inventory of and manages the content library; identifies gaps and opportunities to develop new content that will reflect key messages and assist in meeting objectives.
• Contributes updates as needed to brand guidelines relative to communication style, voice
• Manages editorial calendar and related deadlines for monthly webinar series
• Plans and executes annual thought-leadership publication, access™ - an allied health industry journal; Leads content strategy and secures contributing writers; edits and works with designer to execute. Proposes plan to leverage content digitally throughout the year.
• Proposes and manages internal communication strategy and tactics to keep employees informed; co-hosts bi-weekly company-wide calls to provide updates; regularly posts updates in Microsoft Teams as needed. Helps with internal celebrations upon hitting key business milestones.
• Builds relationships with outside PR consultant/agency/freelancers as needed to help identify opportunities for news, story pitches and placement as well as announcements to external audiences.
• Oversees PR plan and use of PR monitoring tool. Writes press releases as needed.
• Writes and edits copy as needed and identifies other content writing resources (freelancers, internal/external SMEs, etc.) to support execution.
• Conducts market research as needed for campaign content and builds plans for execution.
• Ensures all marketing communications and projects meet or exceed executional objectives.
• Responsible for acquisition and retention of content strategies-creation, market analysis, planning, timelines and ROI management.
• Prepares and tracks project budgets, monthly and annual projections and any other necessary reporting in partnership with others on the team.
• Works in partnership with peers on the marketing team to deliver on clear communication/content strategies for campaign rollout and channel specific B2B and B2C campaigns to grow the business.
• Responsible for managing content production from start to finish (from planning to tracking ROI), providing direction to graphic designer and contracted resources where projects cross over.
• Develops and maintains a thorough understanding of NHA's customer base and how to market our brand, telling the story of the value of our products, new and traditional offerings to customers and understanding the lifecycle and needs of the customer.
• Prepares status reports as needed and manages project specific timelines and resources.
• Prepares for, attends meetings with and is comfortable presenting to all levels and roles within the company, including to the leadership team.
• Identifies opportunities to partner with sales teams and leaders to build strong cross-functional content and communications. Regularly meets with sales and client service team to keep a pulse on external communication needs. Executes critical client communications in a timely and effective manner.
• Collaborates with others to brainstorm and finalize communications strategies and plans.
• Owns and manages marketing content and communications calendar to include blogs, podcasts, campaign assets, and website content updates.
• Helps implement SEO best practices and keywords in website content
• Maintains blog and regularly evaluates performance metrics and subscribers, working with digital marketing manager

Candidates should be aware that Ascend Learning currently maintains a policy requiring all employees to be fully vaccinated. Newly hired employees must be fully vaccinated by their start date. Ascend Learning is an equal opportunity employer and will provide a reasonable accommodation to those unable to be vaccinated where it is not an undue hardship to the Company to do so as provided under federal, state, and local law.Exceptions to the vaccine requirement may apply for employees living or working in Montana.

Ascend Learning, LLC is proud to be an equal opportunity employer (M/F/Vets/Disabled). No agency or search firm submissions will be accepted. Applications for U.S. based positions with Ascend Learning, LLC must be legally authorized to work in the United States and verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire.

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