About the Foundation & the Role
The Isaacson Foundation (Empower Ministry) is a faith-based, non-profit organization on a mission to develop quality people to equip Christian leaders to live out their God-given potential to advance the Kingdom.
As the CMPO's primary hands-on marketing leader, this role will help build Empower Ministry's brand, marketing, and communications function from the ground up — shaping campaigns and creative direction, executing digital marketing across channels, owning the editorial calendar, and keeping the operational backbone (budget, vendors, Marketing technology stack) running. This is a role with real ownership: representing the CMPO's voice, making sound calls independently, and growing into direct reports and expanded scope as the function scales.
It's an ideal fit for a seasoned marketing and communications leader who wants to build a national ministry brand from scratch — equally comfortable setting strategy, managing creative workstreams, agile project management, driving Marketing Operations, and rolling up their sleeves to execute.
Primary Responsibilities
Project Management
- Serve as the marketing function's project management backbone — building the systems and workflows that keep campaigns and initiatives moving from concept to launch.
- Own end-to-end project planning for major marketing initiatives — including the Church Brand Development initiative and the national Benefits of Faith campaign — defining scope, milestones, dependencies, and owners, and driving execution against agreed timelines.
- Track the status of all active marketing, brand, and communications projects, proactively surfacing risks and bottlenecks and bringing well-formed options to the CMPO for decisions that need executive judgment.
- Establish and maintain the marketing function's project management infrastructure — trackers, shared calendars, creative briefs, intakes, and reporting cadences — bringing structure and repeatability to how work gets done.
- Coordinate cross-functional and vendor dependencies to keep multi-workstream initiatives aligned and on schedule, applying sound risk-management practices and leading post-project retrospectives to continuously improve delivery.
Marketing Strategy & Creative Direction
- Partner with the CMPO to shape brand and marketing strategy, campaign concepts, and creative direction across channels — bringing independent point of view, not just execution.
- Lead the development of visual concepts, messaging, and campaign materials, directing designers, vendors, and freelance contributors on the CMPO's behalf.
- Translate the CMPO's strategic vision into clear, execution-ready briefs and creative direction for internal and external contributors.
- Drive creative, product and marketing deliverables for the development of flagship initiatives — including the Church Brand Development and Benefits of Faith campaigns — and prepare strategy materials and recaps for leadership, the board, and partner audiences.
Digital Marketing, Advertising, and Multimedia Execution
- Execute digital marketing across all channels — website, email/newsletter, digital advertising, SEO, and SEM — carrying out the digital strategy the CMPO owns.
- Manage multimedia production, such as video and podcasts, with internal contributors and outside vendors, keeping output on schedule and aligned with the CMPO's editorial direction.
- Coordinate and execute advertising campaigns, including the planned national Benefits of Faith campaign, and track advertising spend and campaign performance. The CMPO retains ownership of the advertising fund and ROI accountability.
- Compile and analyze marketing performance data across all channels and prepare clear performance reporting for the CMPO to share with leadership and the board.
Marketing Operations, Budget, and Systems
- Track and reconcile the marketing budget against plan — monitoring spend across campaigns, channels, and vendors, coordinating invoices and purchase orders, and flagging variances to the CMPO, who retains budget authority and ROI accountability.
- Administer marketing vendor and subscription relationships — maintaining the roster of tools and services, tracking renewal dates and contract terms, and coordinating renewals and cancellations with the CMPO and COO, without creating or negotiating contracts.
- Administer the marketing technology stack — including the email and newsletter platform, social scheduler, analytics and tag configuration, UTM governance, and lead-capture forms — coordinating integrations and data flows with the CTO’s team, which owns the underlying platform and infrastructure.
Communications Management
- Own and manage internal communications — including recurring updates and reporting to staff, the board, and the EML Network — ensuring every piece is clear, consistent, and aligned with the Empower Ministry voice and brand in alignment with the CMPO's direction.
- Own and manage external communications — the organization's public voice across its channels, including the Resource Center — drafting and refining messaging on the CMPO's behalf and ensuring it is clear, on-brand, and consistent.
- Execute press, public relations, and media relations on behalf of Empower Ministry — drafting press releases and media materials and managing media inquiries in alignment with the CMPO's direction.
- Serve as the hands-on editorial reviewer and copy chief for external-facing, brand-bearing materials, ensuring all communications and published content are reviewed for grammar, clarity, tone, and accuracy before going live.
- Manage content rights, permissions, and licensing — including photo, video, and testimonial releases and consent (with particular care for materials featuring congregants, ministry leaders, minors at events), third-party content licensing, and copyright and attribution — and ensure marketing communications meet applicable consent and opt-out requirements.
- Draft and coordinate donor, Priority Impact Partner, and other communications on the CMPO’s behalf, ensuring they are clear, on-brand, and consistent.
- Support crisis and rapid-response communications — preparing holding statements and coordinating timely responses to sensitive or reputational matters — with press contact and public statements routed to and authorized by the CEO, consistent with the Media and Public Statements policy in alignment with the CMPO's direction.
- Ensure marketing and communications content meets recognized accessibility standards — including readable structure, alt text for images, sufficient color contrast within the brand palette, and accessible email formatting — so materials reach the full audience. Design- and product-level accessibility is owned by the Product and Brand Experience Designer.
Social Media & Editorial Content Calendar
- Set the content cadence and priorities in alignment with key initiatives, the annual calendar of events, and campaign priorities, in partnership with the CMPO.
- Own the social media and editorial calendar end to end — planning, cadence, and scheduling across all Empower Ministry channels — in partnership with the CMPO.
- Write, edit, and direct social media and digital content, coordinating with stakeholders and contributors to source assets and secure approvals ahead of publishing.
- Monitor content performance and engagement and use those insights to continuously refine the content strategy in partnership with the CMPO.
- Manage community engagement across Empower Ministry’s social channels — responding to comments and messages, moderating discussion, and escalating sensitive or time-critical matters to the CMPO — consistent with the Empower Ministry voice and brand.
Resource Center Content Ownership (Marketing, Brand, Communications, and Digital)
- Own and curate all marketing-, brand-, communications-, and digital-related content on the Resource Center — selecting and organizing the strongest resources and creating new ones where gaps exist — keeping it current and on-brand.
- Lead development of marketing-related toolkits for local churches, such as the Church Brand Development toolkit, in collaboration with the Ministry Resources team.
- Maintain a curated list of marketing-related vendors on the Resource Center, and partner with the CMPO — who owns the overall Resource Center vision — to keep the content surface aligned and refreshed. This role does not create or negotiate vendor contracts.
- Partner with the CMPO — who owns the overall Resource Center product vision and user experience — to keep the marketing-related content surface aligned with that direction and continually refreshed.
CMPO Partnership & Cross-Functional Leadership
- Serve as the CMPO's primary operator across marketing, brand, and communications workstreams, exercising sound independent judgment within that mandate - owning the tracking of deliverables, deadlines, and follow-ups to keep the CMPO focused on the highest-leverage decisions.
- Lead logistics, messaging, and the participant experience for major meetings, retreats, and EML Network events — shaping the attendee journey, not just the run-of-show.
- Represent the CMPO in select meetings and cross-functional conversations, and take on additional scope and direct reports as the marketing function grows.
- Stay current with marketing, digital, and AI trends, and serve as the internal point person for brand and template enablement — training staff and answer brand questions to help teams get materials right the first time.
Qualifications
Education
- Bachelor's degree in marketing, communications, digital marketing, or a related field; a master's degree is a plus.
Certifications (Preferred)
- PMI credentials (PMP or CAPM) or an Agile certification (CSM, PMI-ACP, or SAFe Agilist) are strongly preferred, reflecting the project-management rigor this role requires.
- Additional marketing or platform certifications (e.g., HubSpot, Google Ads/Analytics) are a plus.
Experience & Skills
- 10+ years of progressive marketing, brand, or communications experience, including operating with significant autonomy or in a senior individual-contributor capacity.
- Strong digital marketing background, including hands-on experience with CMS/website and intranet or resource-library platforms, plus a proven track record owning a social media and editorial calendar at an organizational level. Working familiarity with AI tools for content and workflow support is a plus.
- Demonstrated project management expertise, with a track record of delivering multiple concurrent marketing initiatives on time, on budget, and across cross-functional teams and vendors.
- Experience managing marketing budgets, vendor relationships, and a marketing technology stack.
- Working familiarity with AI tools for content creation, research, or workflow support is important to this role and expected of a strong candidate.
- Experience working for or with nonprofit, faith-based, or mission-driven organizations is a plus.
- Prior experience supporting or partnering closely with an executive (e.g., CMO, VP of Marketing, agency principal, or founder) is strongly preferred, with demonstrated ability to translate executive vision into strategy and execution with minimal oversight.
- Proven track record owning a social media and content editorial calendar at an organizational level, including planning, coordination, scheduling, and performance analysis.
- Strong research and analytical skills, with the ability to independently evaluate vendors, tools, and resources and bring well-formed recommendations to leadership.
- Fluency with brand guidelines and visual identity systems, and the judgment to make sound creative calls within established brand standards; hands-on graphic design skills are a major plus.
- Experience with people management and team building, including directing designers, freelancers, or agency partners.
- Sound judgment and discretion, with the ability to represent the CMPO's voice and standards independently.
Faith Alignment
- Agreement with the foundation's Christian mission, vision, purpose, core values, and beliefs.
- Demonstrated personal walk with Christ, and active local church involvement.
- Passion for advancing the Kingdom of God and supporting ministry leaders.
Reporting & Collaboration Structure
This role reports to the CMPO and is a core member of the Marketing & AI Product team. Day-to-day, expect close, frequent collaboration with:
- The CMPO: Strategy, direction, prioritization
- Product & Brand Experience Designer: Peer on campaigns, brand assets, and templates
- The AI Specialist: Peer on Resource Center content and church-facing AI resources
- The CTO's team: Martech, website, and publishing support for the Resource Center and other platforms
Note on Scope: Empower Ministry is in an early, formative season, and this role sits within a function that is still being built. This description reflects the role as understood today; it is not exhaustive, and responsibilities, priorities, reporting relationships, and scope are expected to evolve as the Foundation grows. The team member may be asked to take on additional or adjusted duties consistent with the role and the mission.
Pay: $80,000.00 - $130,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
Application Question(s):
- How do the mission, vision, purpose, and/or initiatives of Empower Ministry resonate with you?
Education:
Experience:
- Marketing: 8 years (Required)
Ability to Commute:
- Gallatin, TN 37066 (Required)
Work Location: In person
