Director of Direct Marketing

Location: Portland, Oregon; Washington, D.C.; or Remote U.S.

Valid unrestricted work authorization in the country in which you will be based (United States) is required at the time of application for this position.

Position Status: Full-time, Exempt, Regular
Salary Level: The salary range for this role is $99,000 – $115,000 USD commensurate on experience

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have long term impact.

Department Summary

The Marketing & Communications department’s purpose is to amplify and support Mercy Corps’ mission by raising flexible funds, strengthening supporter partnerships and raising our global profile and influence, and fostering team collaboration and connectivity.
We boldly share Mercy Corps’ global impact with our audiences, with a focus on building trust, engagement, and long-term relationships among our global team members and with our supporters. We inspire and motivate financial support and partnership through transparency, inclusivity, creativity, and best-in-class storytelling. We engage prospects and supporters through a multi-channel, user-driven approach, communicating information that represents Mercy Corps’ best work and global culture, on key issues that donors care about. We work across teams to protect Mercy Corps’ reputation and safeguard our ability to operate.

The role of the Marketing team is to guide the direction of Mercy Corps global brand and develop and implement strategies to promote brand awareness and drive a sustainable base of unrestricted financial support, particularly among mass-market supporter audiences.

Position Summary

The Director of Direct Marketing will manage Mercy Corps’ mass market direct and brand marketing channels/programs, and fundraising optimization strategies to achieve the organization’s annual unrestricted revenue, maximize performance, and reach supporter engagement goals. Heading up a team of experienced online and offline channel managers and supporting vendors, the Director of Marketing will oversee the supporter life cycle including donors giving up to $10,000 annually.

The Director of Direct Marketing will combine cutting-edge marketing and fundraising techniques with audience insights and Mercy Corps’ mission to deliver powerful campaigns that reflect our belief in possibility, equity, and personal dignity. With the primary goal of building a sustainable base of unrestricted financial support for Mercy Corps, the marketing group engages prospects and supporters through a multi-channel, audience-focused approach, communicating Mercy Corps’ strategic ambitions to not only meet the basic needs of communities affected by conflict and climate change, but to achieve lasting, transformational change at scale.

They will partner with the Managing Director of Marketing and Director of Strategy to lead the Marketing team to develop innovative, ethical, and creative ways of engaging with targeted prospective and donor audiences based on their interests and giving trends, allowing Mercy Corps to stand apart from its peers. They will sharpen and strengthen brand messaging, lead initiatives that grow awareness among new audiences and increase engagement among current audiences, and partner to measure the effectiveness of Mercy Corps’ efforts.

Essential Responsibilities

STRATEGY & VISION

• Manage Mercy Corps’ integrated mass market direct marketing (MMDM) strategy, which includes direct mail acquisition and renewal, digital fundraising and marketing, monthly giving, telemarketing, and texting toward a current gross annual goal of more than $21 million, in the process enhancing the mass market donor file through donor diversity, channel growth, and improved net revenue.
• Lead the MMDM team to develop new, creative ways and approaches that motivate donors to engage with Mercy Corps, with strategies that deliver creative excellence, messaging consistency, and brand coherence across offline and online channels and platforms.
• Work with Managing Director of Marketing, Director of Strategy, and Creative Team to support the agency’s goals for strategy and brand within the MMDM efforts, and ensure consistency of branding and messaging in line with the vision, voice, visual style, tools, and templates of the global agency.
• With channel managers, oversee partnerships with Policy and Advocacy, field and programmatic teams to ensure marketing advances Mercy Corps’ global advocacy agenda.
• Contribute to the development of the content strategy and editorial calendars, representing the direct marketing and brand strategy and goals
• Lead development of comprehensive paid and organic social strategy in partnership with Digital Marketing Team
• In collaboration with cross-team leadership, manage the MMDM response during global emergencies, coordinating channels and tactics with urgency and clarity, and communicating results to the Managing Director of Marketing and other internal stakeholders.
• Remain up to date with industry and marketplace trends, and communicate inflection points to internal stakeholders, foster internal conversation around changing costs, platforms, and landscapes.
• Other responsibilities as assigned.

OPERATIONS

• In partnership with the Managing Director of Marketing, create and manage the Direct Marketing team’s annual offline and online fundraising budgets across multiple revenue lines including overseeing work on ROI targets, forecasting, and tracking projections against actuals; seek opportunities to improve department efficiency and reduce expenses by streamlining operations.
• Manage monitoring and reporting on MMDM key performance metrics. Lead management of measurement programs that integrate multiple sources of market data and customer behavior data, custom dashboards and analysis tools, and interpreting market data to inform short-term and long-term forecasts and business decisions. Present timely analysis and reports to senior leadership and other stakeholders.
• With supporting internal resources and vendor partners, coordinate channel testing opportunities and analysis of results; maintain testing reporting for long-term resource.
• Senior reviews and signoffs on MMDM content production processes, maintaining fundraising compliance, cross-channel consistency, and marketing excellence standards.
• Coordinate monthly review of budget vs. actual results for all MMDM channels, manage timely invoice approvals.
• With Managing Director of Marketing and internal procurement, partner on RFP creation and selection processes for vendor management and new initiatives.

LEADERSHIP AND TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Set priorities for the team’s daily workflow, supervise team productivity and day-to-day operations.
• Facilitate the development and growth of a team of four experienced channel and program managers by providing opportunities and support; evaluate and recognize staff performance and accomplishments.
• Provide team members with information, tools, and other resources to improve performance, expand capacities, and reach objectives; provide timely feedback on work product.
• Create a trusting, collegial, and collaborative team in a high-performing, rapidly moving environment: Share information proactively and appropriately, clearly state expectations, hold self and others accountable to high standards, and work to maintain a shared vision of creative excellence and successful outcomes.
• Build trust and partnership with other Marketing & Communications and Development team leaders and key stakeholders across Mercy Corps.
• Support hiring, onboarding, professional development, and team cohesion.
• Help build stronger bridges between MC Global, MC Europe, and the countries where we work, to build relationships that result in a cohesive brand and marketing experience globally, grounded in the stories of our teams and participants.

Supervisory Responsibility

Digital Marketing Manager, Email Marketing Manager, Direct Mail Manager, Sustainer Manager

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Managing Director of Marketing
Works Directly With: Other teams within Marketing & Communications including Creative, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Operations / project management, Media & Communications, Internal Communications; Development and Development Operations teams; various program leaders and staff.

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Minimum Qualifications & Transferable Skills

• 6+ years progressive relevant professional experience within development, marketing, and/or fundraising roles.
• 6+ years relevant professional experience in brand marketing, demonstrating strong leadership skills, and a genuine interest in industry trends driving impact across the funnel.
• 4+ years supervisory experience, with proven ability to communicate, delegate, build a team and develop direct reports.
• 4+ years managing direct mail fundraising programs including acquisition, renewal, and sustainer giving, additional channels of telemarketing and canvassing desired.
• 4+ years managing digital fundraising programs including segmented email and paid & organic social media, additional channels of texting, direct or connected TV desired.
• Excellent communication skills, verbal and written
• Exceptional attention to detail and ensures accuracy in all communications deliverables.
• Ability to lead and communicate high-level strategies as well as dig into the tactics to test and validate assumptions, measure impact and success.
• Strong background in data analysis and reporting with an ability to distill complex information into cohesive, shareable reports.
• Experience with full P&L reporting and analytics, and development of budgets.
• Ability to lead and communicate high-level strategies as well as dig into the tactics to test and validate assumptions.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, sometimes ambiguous environment.
• Experience working in the international relief and development sector preferred
• Experience with MS Office, Google Suite, Excel, marketing automation tools, and other relevant software.

Success Factors

The successful Director of Direct Marketing will be a collaborative leader with an ability to think and act on many different levels. With a strong background across both offline and online channels, they will be able to take the long view strategically while overseeing extensive work output and performance analysis. They will bring a strong aptitude and enthusiasm for the data that underlie fundraising programs, and the ability to evaluate complex data and information and translate these findings to teammates and leadership. Leading a team of experienced channel managers, they will cultivate an environment of purpose and stability, of hard work that demonstrates a clear record of achievement and community. A solutions-oriented team player who inspires excellence in their teams, they will be ready to innovate even while maintaining and growing existing products and processes. They will have a strong commitment to Mercy Corps’ mission, vision, and strategic goals, and excitement for bringing these to life in fundraising contexts. Moving quickly in times of global emergency, they will be able to intuitively judge moments of opportunity and activate into them.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

This position requires very limited travel. Some evenings/weekends required during emergency responses.

Ongoing Learning

In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development