Job Details

The brand engagement manager is responsible for managing specialized student and alumni brand engagement programs, in addition to systems that support growth strategies and effective brand positioning for American Public Education, Inc. (APEI) universities. They will also lead referral, ambassador, and other advocate programs to drive engagement and curation of marketing assets, testimonials and referrals.
Essential Functions:

• Ambassador and brand advocate program marketing management:
  • Develops advocacy program recruitment and retention strategies and plans.
  • Manages campaigns and relationships for various brand ambassador audiences including students, alumni, faculty and staff.
  • Identifies categories of brand champions and develops targeted communications to increase touch-points and promotional involvement such as referrals, testimonials, online or in-person event attendance, or social media engagement.
  • Generates and maintains student and alumni testimonials to showcase outcomes for incorporation into marketing campaigns other communications.
  • Evaluates program ROI and feedback for future improvements.
  • Monitors external trends and conducts best practice bench marking.
  • Leads communications for the program - e.g., quarterly newsletter, biannual survey, holiday gift mailing and regional event alerts.
• Referral marketing program management:
  • Manages referral marketing campaigns, monitors engagement levels and develops success metrics and reports.
  • Manages lead referral/brand engagement platform, serving as lead point of contact and working cross-functionally for user onboarding, communications and collaboration.
  • Manages vendor relationship, contract and billing.
  • Directs creative teams in the development of assets to support the platform experience.

• Plans, manages, and attends ambassador events and provides supplementary support for annual commencement.
• Serves on strategic committees and cross-functional teams as warranted.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

• Referral marketing program and platform experience.
• Superior planning and project management skills.
• Strong written and oral communications skills.
• Relationship management and customer service skills.
• Presentation and public speaking skills.
• Analytical and problem solving skills.
• Ability to lead and facilitate meetings and conference calls.
• Cross-functional team leadership and team-building skills.
• Self-directed; able to formulate strategies and execute projects with minimal supervision.
• Comfort with learning and applying new technologies and platforms.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects and stakeholders under tight deadlines.
• Demonstrated initiative to develop projects and implement process improvements.
• Professional presence in dealing with executives and external audiences.
• Proven ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Strong microsoft office skills - specifically, experience developing presentations in power point, writing executive summaries in word and creating spreadsheets with formulas and manipulating data in excel.