Executive Director of Salesforce Marketing Cloud-Marketing Strategy and Enablement

Job Summary

The Executive Director of Marketing Cloud-Marketing Strategy and Enablement will lead the marketing planning, execution and optimization of marketing automation initiatives for the West Virginia University Foundation. This role will serve as the primary marketing lead for Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC), partnering across Annual Giving, Donor Engagement, Strategic Communications, Advancement Services clients in the university, athletics, WVU Medicine, Data Strategy and IT to build donor-centric journeys that deepen engagement, increase philanthropy and strengthen lifelong relationships with alumni and donors.

The ideal candidate has a deep understanding of Salesforce Marketing Cloud and is equal parts strategist, collaborator and hands-on marketing leader — someone who understands donor behavior, lifecycle marketing, audience segmentation, storytelling and data-informed decision making.

This position reports to the Senior Associate Vice President for Strategic Marketing and Communications.

Duties and Responsibilities

Essential Functions and Responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

Salesforce Marketing Cloud Leadership

• Lead the enablement of the Foundation’s marketing automation strategy and roadmap for Salesforce Marketing Cloud
• Partner and enable marketing digital components of the donor lifecycle marketing journeys, including acquisition, retention, stewardship, annual giving, grateful patient, event and campaign communications
• Partner with development, annual giving, marketing and technical teams to align marketing automation capabilities with fundraising priorities
• Translate fundraising and engagement goals into scalable multi-channel marketing strategies
• Serve as a marketing subject matter expert on personalization, segmentation, automation and journey orchestration

Campaign Strategy & Execution

• Build integrated email and digital engagement campaigns that support fundraising priorities, donor stewardship and institutional storytelling
• Works closely with Annual Giving leadership to support acquisition, retention, reactivation and upgrade strategies. Provides marketing automation strategy, audience insights, and communication planning support for Annual Giving campaigns
• Develop audience segmentation strategies using donor behavior, affinity, engagement and giving data
• Ensure campaigns align with the Foundation brand, voice and strategic priorities
• Collaborate with annual giving, donor relations and development teams to create personalized donor experiences
• Guide A/B testing, optimization and continuous improvement efforts across campaigns.

Analytics & Performance

• Analyze campaign data and donor engagement trends to improve performance and inform strategy
• Use insights to recommend enhancements to donor journeys and communication strategies
• Monitor email deliverability, engagement metrics and marketing automation health

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Serve as a bridge between marketing, fundraising, data and technology teams
• Help establish governance, workflow standards and best practices for Salesforce Marketing Cloud usage across the Foundation
• Train and support internal stakeholders on lifecycle marketing strategies and platform capabilities
• Participate in campaign planning and enterprise fundraising initiatives

Innovation & Strategic Growth

• Identify opportunities to leverage AI, personalization and emerging digital marketing trends to improve donor engagement
• Recommend new approaches for alumni and donor communications based on industry best practices
• Stay current on higher education and healthcare advancement marketing trends and Salesforce ecosystem innovations

Qualifications

Education, Experience and Competencies:

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, business or related field
• 5+ years of progressive experience in digital marketing, marketing automation, CRM marketing or lifecycle marketing
• Experience leading or managing Salesforce Marketing Cloud strategy and execution, CRM and Data Cloud
• Strong understanding of audience segmentation, donor/customer journeys and marketing analytics
• Experience managing integrated email marketing campaigns and automated workflows
• Excellent project management and cross-functional collaboration skills
• Strong written and verbal communication skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in higher education, healthcare, nonprofit or advancement marketing
• Salesforce Marketing Cloud certifications
• Experience working with fundraising or donor databases
• Knowledge of annual giving and donor engagement strategies
• Experience with personalization, AI-enabled marketing and data-driven communications

Core Competencies

• Strategic Thinking
• Donor-Centered Marketing
• Marketing Automation
• Data-Informed Decision Making
• Collaboration & Relationship Building
• Innovation & Continuous Improvement
• Project Management
• Communication & Storytelling

Success Measures for the Role

• Increased donor engagement and email performance metrics
• Successful implementation and adoption of Salesforce Marketing Cloud strategies
• Improved donor journey personalization and segmentation
• Increased annual giving participation and campaign conversion rates
• Strong collaboration across Foundation and University partners
• Scalable and sustainable marketing automation processes

Why This Role Matters

This role will help transform how the West Virginia University Foundation engages alumni, donors and friends by creating more personalized, data-informed and meaningful experiences at scale. The Director will play a central role in building the Foundation’s next generation of donor engagement and fundraising communications.

Physical requirements

While performing the responsibilities of the job, the employee is required to talk and hear. The employee is often required to sit and use his/her hands and fingers, to handle or feel. The employee is required to stand, walk, reach with arms and hands, and possibly at times, climb or balance, stoop or kneel. Vision abilities required to perform this job include close vision. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.

Supervisory Responsibilities

This position has supervisory responsibility for one direct report.

Other Duties

Work Environment: The position is expected to be hybrid in alignment with the WVUF work/telecommuting policy.

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job.  Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time, with or without notice.