VP, Head of Marketing

The American College of Financial Services is the nation’s leading accredited institution delivering applied financial knowledge and education. As the College approaches its 100th anniversary in 2027, this is a rare opportunity to shape the next chapter of one of the most trusted brands in financial services.

Under the leadership of President and CEO George Nichols III, the College has undergone a transformational evolution—culturally, strategically, and operationally. Since 2018, it has earned national recognition as a 2x Great Place to Work®, nearly doubled enrollment and revenue, and built a modern, lifelong learning platform focused on Specialization, Retirement, and Representation.

The institution sits at the center of the financial services ecosystem, partnering with top firms and thought leaders, including Michael Finke, Jeffrey Levine, Lindsey Lewis, Chet Bennetts, and others, to deliver education that drives real-world impact.

As The College ascends upon its centennial, it’s committed to accelerating growth and impact across financial services for the benefit of society. The Vice President, Head of Marketing is a strategic, innovative, and data‑driven leader responsible for shaping and executing the organization’s enterprise‑wide marketing strategy. This is a high-visibility, enterprise-wide leadership role responsible for shaping The College’s brand, accelerating demand generation, and driving measurable revenue impact across multiple audiences.

This leader will report to and partner with the Executive Vice President, Chief Growth Officer to drive scale and impact, with full ownership of marketing strategy, performance, and team execution spanning:

• Growth Marketing & Demand Generation
• Enterprise Marketing & Go-to-Market Strategy
• Brand Experience (Events, Creative, Video)
• Content & Digital Shared Service

This role offers the chance to architect a modern, data-informed marketing engine while partnering closely with executive leadership, Business Development, Academics, Advancement, and The College’s Centers of Excellence to define how The College shows up in the market for its second century.

Here’s why this role stands out:

• Enterprise Impact: Direct influence on institutional growth strategy and revenue outcomes
• Acceleration Stage: Build and optimize a next-generation marketing organization
• Brand with Purpose: Advance a mission-driven organization elevating financial services for societal good
• Executive Access: Partner closely with the C-suite and Academic leadership
• Market Leadership: Shape a “Market of One” platform positioning in a highly defensible industry niche
  

Expected Contributions

Key / Representative Activities:

• Marketing Strategy Development: Drive the long‑term vision and annual marketing plan, ensuring all initiatives support revenue, enrollment, brand, and partnership goals. Translate enterprise strategy into actionable marketing roadmaps that deliver measurable impact.
• Demand Generation Excellence: Optimize and scale a high-performing, full-funnel demand generation engine with accountability for marketing-sourced pipeline and continued growth in independent advisory and wealth channels.
• Brand and Positioning: Strengthen brand equity and market differentiation, ensuring consistent storytelling across all touchpoints.
• Go-to-Market Oversight: Oversee integrated go-to-market plans for new programs, partnerships, events, and growth initiatives. Co-lead pricing and packaging strategy and drive program-market fit feedback loop.
• Marketing Analytics and ROI: Establish best-in-class measurement frameworks, attribution models (where you can attribute!), and executive reporting dashboard that tie to pipeline metrics ownership.
• Lifecyle Marketing Optimization: Optimize acquisition, engagement, retention, and lifetime value across student and partner segments. Partner with Business Development to support pipeline velocity.
• Digital and Marketing Technology: Oversee the entire Marketing Technology Stack, including project management, marketing automation, paid media, and data infrastructure to enable scale and personalization. Leverage AI-enabled marketing tools and build a culture of experimentation.
• Team Leadership: Build, coach, and inspire a high-performing, collaborative marketing organization focused on working with trust, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Cross-Functional Alignment: Partner with Academics, Business Development, Advancement, the Centers of Excellence and other functional units to drive unified growth outcomes.
• Innovation and Growth: Identify new channels, audience segments, and revenue opportunities behind a robust foundation of market research.