Director of Marketing and Communications

Role Summary

Under the general supervision of the Vice President of Experiences, the Director of Marketing and Communications leads ATSSA and the ATSS Foundation’s brand strategy, enterprise-wide marketing and communications plan, and social media presence. This role is responsible for advancing ATSSA’s story, image, and position in the marketplace through consistent, impactful messaging and integrated campaigns. The position oversees ATSSA’s website, publications, and external communications to ensure brand cohesion and strategic alignment.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Develops and executes ATSSA’s integrated marketing and communications strategies aligned with organizational goals and revenue streams (events, membership, training, advocacy, Foundation).
• Leads the overall growth of the ATSSA brand, story, and value proposition.
• Serves as spokesperson and leads crisis communications, media relations, and narrative development.
• Drives innovation through emerging technologies, data-driven insights, and creative storytelling.
• Oversees brand governance and messaging architecture across all channels; develops and maintains member and customer personas and journeys to ensure effective marketing and communication.
• Translates organizational priorities (e.g., NWZAW, government relations, chapters) into actionable campaigns.
• Serves as a strategic partner to ATSSA leadership; fosters cross-departmental collaboration; idea generation; and knowledge sharing; serves on internal teams as requested.
• In collaboration with ATSSA leadership develops a cohesive internal communications strategy to ensure staff are informed of organizational goals, brand positioning, and key organizational announcements.

Marketing & Brand Management

• Leads creative marketing and communications team to deliver measurable, high-impact campaigns aligned with strategic goals.
• Manages ATSSA’s brand strategy and ensures consistent representation across digital and print platforms and at events.
• Oversees ATSSA’s website, social media, and digital ecosystem, leveraging SEO/SEM and UX best practices.
• Develops and reports on general marketing and campaign specific KPIs; provides recommendations to improve ROI.

Public Awareness & Partnerships

• Develop and execute media outreach plans to enhance visibility and engagement in line with ATSSA’s strategic goals.
• Actively develops and maintains relationships with relevant outside media and industry partners to ensure proper placement of ATSSA public relations.
• Ensures relevant and timely coverage of industry events, emerging issues, and emergency news.
• Develops relevant plan for ATSSA representation at events and trade shows; uses cross-departmental collaboration to staff plan; provides insights on outcomes from plan.
• Serves as liaison for the Safety and Public Awareness Committee.
• Leads NWZAW campaign strategy and coordination with partner organizations.

Content & Publication Oversight

• Directs end-to-end production of RS Magazine, newsletters, blogs, annual reports, and other publications ensuring relevance, timely delivery, and adherence to quality standards.
• Develops and executes the unified content marketing strategy and management of a comprehensive content calendar across all owned channels (website, blog, social media, publications, case studies, video).
• Works with Editorial Advisory Group to identify relevant trends and tailor content that resonates with the ATSSA audience.
• Ensures all content aligns with ATSSA’s brand standards, customer/member journey, supports SEO and organizational goals.

Digital Platforms and Website

• Serve as internal expert on digital ecosystem, leverages deep understanding of UX/UI principles, SEO/SEM/GEO strategies and content architecture to maximize measurable organic and paid performance.
• Establishes and executes a continuous digital platform roadmap for the website, email, and social media ensuring MarCom ownership and driving major feature enhancements, content updates and governance.

Oversight of Legal/Regulatory Compliance for Marketing

• Establishes and enforces MarCom governance policies to ensure all digital marketing activities strictly comply with relevant data privacy laws (e.g. CCPA, GDPR) and digital accessibility standards (e.g. WCAG).
• Manages necessary legal review and approval for all major marketing campaigns and external contracts.
• Manages intellectual property review and renewals.

NWZAW

• Serves as ATSSA’s representative as the founding and leading organization behind NWZAW.
• Develops and executes a robust NWZAW campaign that includes media outreach, press releases, talking points, media engagement, monitoring, and responses as appropriate.
• Coordinates efforts with partner organizations including:
  • Establish clear communication channels and regular meetings.
  • Align on campaign messaging, visuals, and activities.
  • Leverage each partner's strengths and resources for maximum impact.
  • Explore opportunities for co-branded events, content, and media outreach.

Team Leadership & Operational Management

• Supervises and mentors MarCom staff; fosters collaboration and continuous improvement.
• Creates and manages performance goals to provide clear actionable feedback ensuring positive workplace culture, high performance, and professional development.
• Develops and manages department budget, presents on budget as requested; ensures revenue goals for MarCom-related products and services are met.
• Contributes to strategic and operational tactic planning process.
• Manages vendor relationships; executes relevant vendor contracts up to approved amounts;
• Ensure compliance with data privacy laws and accessibility standards.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing or Communications; advanced degree preferred.
• 10+ years of proven experience in marketing and communications leadership; association experience preferred.
• Expertise in brand strategy, integrated marketing, digital platforms, and public relations.
• Collaborative work style; effective communication skills; proven leadership and people management skills.
• Effective project management and analytical skills ensuring relevant accurate and timely work product.
• Experience in and knowledge of relevant technologies and platforms, including WordPress (or similar CMS), Altai (or similar Association Management Software / CRM system), all major social media platforms, Real Magnet (or similar Email Marketing Platform), Hootsuite, Adobe Creative Suite, and robust proficiency in digital analytics (e.g., Google Analytics 4)

The American Traffic Safety Services Association is an Equal Opportunity Employer that does not discriminate on the basis of actual or perceived race, creed, color, religion, alienage or national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, disability or handicap, sex, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, genetic information, arrest record, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.