Manager, Brand Strategy

Position Summary:

Penn Foster Group is seeking a strategic, story-teller-at-heart Brand Manager to steward and strengthen our brand identity, voice, and market presence. This role ensures everything we say and do is cohesive, distinctive, and trusted — translating insights and business objectives into clear positioning, consistent messaging, and high-impact campaigns that build awareness, consideration, and long-term equity. As a creative strategist, this leader will turn audience and business needs into compelling creative direction that reflects our brand while adapting thoughtfully to channel nuances. Reporting to the Sr. Director of Consumer Marketing, the Brand Manager will define and govern brand voice and tone, lead integrated campaigns, manage partnerships and ambassador programs, and oversee brand health tracking. Partnering closely with Content, Market Strategy & Positioning, Growth/Paid Media, Product, and CX, this role ensures brand guardrails are applied consistently across the funnel while driving measurable impact across channels. Success is measured by gains in awareness and consideration, campaign performance, and positive perception and share-of-voice trends.

Essential Job Functions: 

• Elevate and champion the Penn Foster brand story in the market, shaping our external presence to build trust, relevance, and differentiation in online learning.
• Define, uphold, and evolve Penn Foster’s brand voice and tone, ensuring every touchpoint reflects clarity, cohesion, and trust.
• Lead the development and governance of brand messaging and positioning frameworks, translating market, audience, and competitive insights into compelling narratives supported by scalable playbooks and tools which should be optimized over time.
• Own brand health measurement, tracking awareness, consideration, sentiment, and share of voice, and converting insights into clear testing and optimization plans.
• Plan, launch, and manage brand campaigns, setting strategy and creative direction in partnership with internal teams and agencies.
• Establish and manage brand learning agendas for campaigns, using results to refine storytelling, creative strategy, and investment priorities.
• Review and approve creative assets, ensuring alignment to brand identity, voice, and messaging standards.
• Develop and manage brand partnerships and influencer relationships, including strategy, vetting, activation plans, and performance evaluation.
• Lead the Brand Ambassador Program, overseeing learner and partner story sourcing processes, storytelling guardrails, content standards, and ongoing engagement.
• Serve as the central brand steward across Marketing and CX, providing guardrails, education, and feedback to keep experiences cohesive from awareness through learner success.
• Embed brand standards into cross-functional planning, influencing GTM narratives, content priorities, growth messaging, consumer and employer communications.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities: 

• 5–7+ years of brand, marketing, communications, or creative strategy experience, ideally within education, mission-driven organizations, or consumer services.
• Bachelor's degree in marketing, Communications, Branding, Business, or related field preferred.
• Proven experience defining or managing brand voice, messaging frameworks, and positioning
• Demonstrated success leading or supporting brand campaigns, including working with creative agencies or production partners.
• Strong understanding of brand health measurement, SOV analysis, perception tracking, and insight-to-action loops.
• Exceptional communication and writing skills; able to translate abstract concepts into clear narratives and actionable guidelines.
• Experience reviewing and evaluating creative assets (video, design, copy, web) for clarity, cohesion, and brand alignment.
• Strong collaboration skills and the ability to guide cross-functional teams toward cohesive brand expression.
• High attention to detail, with an instinct for quality, consistency, and nuance in voice and messaging.
• Ability to navigate fast-paced environments with multiple competing priorities.
• A strategic thinker with creative sensibility and a passion for building meaningful, trusted brands.

About Us:  At Penn Foster Group, we are transforming online learning to help learners by bringing together Penn Foster, CareerStep, Ashworth College, James Madison High School, the New York Institute of Photography, the New York Institute of Art and Design, and other education platforms. Together, we create an accelerated path to greater economic mobility through real-world skills and knowledge that enable learners to achieve long-term success in the workplaces of the future.  Our history dates back to 1890 when our founder, Thomas Foster, pioneered distance education by offering training by mail for coal miners to get the necessary skills for safer jobs. Today, with the partners who use our education and training programs, we continue that mission of providing accessible training and education for in-demand skills and are building a workforce that’s prepared for the future job market.

Equal Employment Opportunity: We strive toward Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Penn Foster Group by intentionally building diverse teams – in identities, lived experiences, and ideas to create a culture where people feel connected to each other and have a sense of belonging. We value diversity, equity, and inclusion because it is the foundation that enables us to achieve what we set out to do as an organization – from maximizing the number of learners who can reach their goals while giving them the kinds of experiences we want them to have, to becoming the type of company we want to work in. 

What We Offer: We offer a robust benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, flexible spending, generous paid time off, sponsored volunteer opportunities, a 401K with a company match, and free access to our online programs.