Marketing Archives - SkyWater Search

VP of Marketing

Location: Chicago, Illinois
Remote: Remote
Type: Direct Hire
Job #51075

Vice President of Marketing

Overview
Our Client, a leading manufacturer in the high-performance materials industry, is seeking a Vice President of Marketing to join one of its fastest growing divisions. The business has recently doubled in size through acquisition—expanding from $100M to $200M in revenue—and has strong growth potential across multiple end markets, including wall décor, museum and conservation, architectural interiors, digital display, and industrial applications.

This position offers the opportunity to shape the strategic direction of a diverse and innovative brand portfolio that is recognized globally for its advanced coatings and superior product performance.

Position Summary
Reporting directly to the President, the Vice President of Marketing will develop and execute comprehensive marketing strategies that drive profitable growth, strengthen brand positioning, and expand market reach. This leader will oversee product management, marketing operations, CRM and opportunity pipeline advancement, insights and analytics, and strategic new product and packaging initiatives.

The ideal candidate will be experienced in integrating brands following acquisitions and comfortable leading a high-performing team in a fast-paced, evolving environment. The role also includes a key leadership position in an enterprise-wide rebranding initiative, requiring close collaboration with the CEO and executive leadership team.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

Define and execute the marketing and value proposition strategy to drive business growth and profitability.
Partner with executive leadership to align brand vision and marketing priorities with the overall business strategy.
Develop a deep understanding of target markets, customer needs, and competitive dynamics.

Marketing Department Leadership

Lead, mentor, and build a high-performing marketing organization capable of scaling with business growth.
Foster collaboration and excellence within the marketing team across digital, product, brand, and communications disciplines.

Brand Development

Drive the execution of a company-wide rebranding initiative to enhance brand equity and strengthen market positioning.
Establish best practices for brand management, ensuring consistency across all channels, products, and regions.
Develop a compelling and differentiated value proposition to elevate the company’s market presence.

Market Insights and Portfolio Management

Lead market research and insights to inform strategy and identify new growth opportunities.
Oversee pricing strategy, SKU optimization, and new product introduction (NPI) projects.
Implement and manage a CRM-based opportunity pipeline to drive demand generation and improve campaign effectiveness.

Budget and Agency Management

Optimize agency and vendor relationships to create efficiencies while maintaining high performance.
Manage marketing budgets and ensure strong ROI across all marketing initiatives.

Qualifications

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, or related field required; MBA preferred.

Experience & Skills

15+ years of progressive B2B marketing experience, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role.
Proven experience in post-acquisition integration and brand consolidation.
Track record of developing and executing successful marketing and growth strategies.
Expertise in CRM (preferably Salesforce) and data-driven marketing.
Strong leadership, communication, and analytical skills.
Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects in a dynamic environment.

Personal Attributes

Strategic and innovative thinker with a results-oriented mindset.
Collaborative and influential leader able to engage stakeholders across functions.
Strong business acumen with a deep understanding of how marketing impacts financial performance.

Role Details

Hybrid role: Minimum of 3 days per week in-office; additional on-site presence during onboarding.
Travel: Approximately 50%, primarily between Midwest U.S. locations.
Compensation: $225,000–$255,000 base salary, plus performance incentives and comprehensive benefits package.

Benefits Highlights

Competitive medical, dental, and vision coverage
401(k) with employer contribution and match
Employee stock purchase plan
Paid time off, holidays, and wellness programs
Tuition reimbursement and professional development support

Location:
We are currently prioritizing candidates located in or near Chicago, IL, followed by those in Cincinnati, OH and Minneapolis, MN. This position involves significant travel, which will vary based on the candidate’s home location. At this time, we are only considering applicants based in these regions.

Senior Marketing Manager

Location: St. Cloud, Minnesota
Type: Direct Hire
Job #51022

Our client is an employee-owned industrial equipment manufacturer on an ambitious growth trajectory, aiming to triple over the next decade. This is your opportunity to be the marketing leader who helps make that happen.

The Company

For over 35 years, this company has been delivering innovative equipment to its customer base. They operate factory-direct in an industry dominated by dealer networks, which means closer customer relationships and a unique go-to-market model. With a 90% employee retention rate, 70 NPS score, and 50% repeat customer business, they’ve built something incredibly special.

The Opportunity

This is a leadership role reporting directly to the CEO as part of the executive team. Your first major initiative is to partner with a global marketing agency to execute a complete brand refresh and website overhaul. From there, you’ll own the full marketing strategy – balancing brand building, demand generation, and customer experience to drive measurable growth.

You’ll lead a small team and work with top-tier agency partners while having access to a sales and marketing affinity group across the portfolio’s 10+ companies. Achieve startup-level impact with the resources of an established company.

What makes this role unique:

Join a company with aggressive growth plans and the backing to achieve them
Employee ownership (ESOP) means you’ll have real equity, not just salary
Direct access to the CEO and a seat at the strategic leadership table
Marketing solutions that create both economic opportunity and environmental sustainability

What You’ll Do

Build and execute a commercial-minded B2B marketing strategy that generates qualified leads for an independent sales force selling capital equipment with buying cycles of 3-9 months. You’ll own trade show strategy, digital marketing, content creation, CRM optimization, and the metrics that connect marketing to sales outcomes.

What You Need

7-10 years of progressive marketing experience with at least 3+ years in leadership roles
Strong B2B marketing background in industrial manufacturing, construction equipment, agricultural equipment, or similar capital-intensive markets
Proven success in developing marketing strategies that support complex, consultative sales processes
Hands-on experience across digital marketing, brand strategy, trade shows, CRM, and marketing automation
Strong analytical skills with the ability to connect marketing efforts to business growth
Ability to travel 15-25% for trade shows and customer visits
Must be willing to work on-site in the St. Cloud, MN area (relocation support available for the right candidate)

Why This Role

Beyond competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits, you’ll join an employee-owned company where your ownership stake grows with the business. You’ll have access to resources typically reserved for much larger companies while working in an organization where your individual impact is immediate and visible. If you’re looking for meaningful work, a real leadership opportunity, and the chance to help build something significant, this could be your next chapter.

VP, Social Experience

Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Remote: Remote
Type: Direct Hire
Job #50947

Position: VP, Social Experience
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Employment Type: Full-Time

Overview:
In partnership with our Client, a social-first agency, we’re looking for a highly engaged, creatively-driven leader to shape and scale the future of their social and content offering.

This leader is a progressive thinker, a storyteller, and a collaborative builder who thrives in fast-paced, high-energy environments. With a strong point of view and a vision for what’s next, they’ll set the standard for bold, impactful work that connects with audiences and drives results.

This role is ideal for someone who has led a discipline or function within an agency or creative organization and is ready to take the next step as a strategic and inspirational leader.

Key Responsibilities:

Lead and oversee the Social Strategy and Content team, setting a high bar for creative and strategic excellence
Partner closely with the leadership team to align on growth strategy and business goals
Build and evolve their studio offering, collaborating with cross-functional leaders to bring the vision to life
Strengthen senior-level client relationships, acting as executive sponsor and strategic lead on key accounts
Champion bold, social-first creative thinking and elevate the quality of work across teams
Collaborate across teams to build and optimize operational processes that support scalable, high-impact work
Represent the agency externally at new business pitches, industry events, and client meetings with a clear POV and confident leadership presence
Contribute to agency thought leadership and help raise our profile across the industry

What We’re Looking For:

A creative, optimistic leader with strong builder energy—resilient, solutions-focused, and excited by new challenges
A strategic storyteller with the ability to translate ideas into compelling narratives and executions
Deep experience in social media, content strategy, and integrated marketing
Agency background with experience leading a team or discipline
Confident and persuasive communicator who can own a room and inspire clients and teams alike
Visionary thinking paired with practical execution—able to connect big ideas to operational excellence
Passionate about shaping what’s next in social, digital, and content

This position is hybrid based in Minneapolis, MN. We are prioritizing local candidates, but open to remote candidates that are willing to travel to the agency’s office on a regular basis. The target base salary for this opportunity is $180,000-$200,000 DOE.

Account Supervisor

Location: Minneapolis
Type: Direct Hire
Job #50791

Job Title: Account Supervisor
Department: Client Services / Account Management
Location: Minneapolis, MN (hybrid)
Job Type: Full-Time

We have partnered with a leading independent Advertising Agency on their search for an Account Supervisor!

As the Account Supervisor, you will be a key leader on the client services team. You’ll help to ensure that clients receive outstanding creative work—strategically grounded, creatively excellent, and delivered flawlessly. You will act as a bridge between the clients and internal teams (creative, strategy, media, production), guiding campaign execution and fostering strong relationships.

Key responsibilities include:

Client Leadership & Strategy

Serve as a trusted advisor to clients, deeply understanding their businesses, brand goals, competitive landscape, and success metrics.
Translate insights into strategic campaign briefs, ensuring the work aligns with client objectives.
Help identify new growth opportunities within existing accounts.

Communication & Presentation

Prepare and deliver client presentations with clarity, confidence, and strategic thinking.
Handle feedback from clients: assess, translate into internal action, manage expectations.
Be a point of escalation for issues or scope changes; proactively mitigate risks to campaign success.

Team Collaboration & Mentorship

Work closely with creative leads, strategy, media planners, production, and other internal teams to ensure collaborative and aligned execution.
Mentor and support more junior account team members (Account Executives, Coordinators) in their growth.
Contribute to maintaining culture—inclusive, scrappy, nimble, collaborative, insight-driven.
Experience at a small to mid-sized agency is also a huge plus!

Experience: 5+ years in an agency environment (or equivalent), with at least 1-2 years leading or supervising client accounts at a strategic level.

Strategic & Creative Mindset: Ability to think beyond execution, to ask the right questions, push for distinction, and ensure work is rooted in insight.

Integrated Marketing Knowledge: Comfortable across channels—branding, digital/social, traditional media, content—knowing what works where and why.

Strong Communication Skills: Written, verbal, presentation?level; able to build trust with clients and internal teams alike.

Organizational Ability: Able to manage multiple accounts/projects simultaneously, with changing priorities and deadlines.

Leadership & Collaboration: Experience mentoring or managing junior staff, with a collaborative, supportive leadership style.

Social Media Associate Director, Influence

Location: Minneapolis
Remote: Remote
Type: Direct Hire
Job #50628

Social Media Associate Director, Influence
Location: Minneapolis, MN | Open to Remote (U.S.)

Our Client, an innovative and fast-growing agency in the digital marketing space, is looking to hire a Social Media Associate Director with a focus on Influencer Strategy and Management. This is a strategic and executional leadership role ideal for a candidate with 5–8 years of influencer marketing experience—specifically within an agency setting—who is ready to step into a key position overseeing high-profile campaigns.

This role involves managing full campaign lifecycles while also contributing to broader agency initiatives and client strategy. The Associate Director will partner closely with clients, internal cross-functional teams, and junior talent to drive performance and innovation in the influencer space.

Key Responsibilities

Campaign Strategy & Execution

Lead the day-to-day execution of influencer marketing campaigns across a variety of clients and verticals.
Develop creative, results-driven strategies for influencer partnerships and branded content.
Oversee the full campaign process—from strategy and influencer selection to contracting, activation, content review, and performance reporting.
Work collaboratively with content, social media, analytics, and strategy teams to align influencer efforts with larger marketing programs.

Client Partnership & Leadership

Serve as a primary point of contact for clients, providing strategic recommendations and insights with confidence.
Build and maintain strong client relationships while identifying opportunities to expand influencer initiatives.
Represent the influencer discipline in both internal and client-facing meetings, contributing to cross-functional leadership conversations.

Team Management & Process Development

Mentor and support junior team members involved in campaign support, research, and reporting.
Establish and continuously refine influencer marketing best practices, workflows, and operational processes.
Stay current on trends in the creator economy, platform changes, and influencer industry innovations to ensure strategies remain relevant and competitive.

Qualifications

5–8 years of hands-on influencer marketing experience in an agency or comparable setting.
Strong track record managing campaigns end-to-end, including with both macro-influencers and scaled micro-influencer activations.
Excellent client-facing and communication skills, with proven experience presenting strategy and managing client expectations.
In-depth knowledge of social platforms, creator trends, and influencer campaign formats across categories.
Ability to think creatively and translate strategic ideas into actionable plans.
Demonstrated experience in building or improving influencer marketing processes and playbooks.
Highly proactive and comfortable managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
Passionate about digital culture and the evolving creator landscape.

Marketing Manager

Location: Chaska, Minnesota
Type: Direct Hire
Job #50620

Marketing Manager
Location: Hybrid | Full-Time

Overview:
In partnership with our Client, an industrial sales and service leader, we’re seeking a strategic and hands-on Marketing Manager to lead integrated marketing efforts that drive brand growth, lead generation, and customer engagement. You’ll develop and execute campaigns across digital and traditional channels, manage marketing operations, and collaborate cross-functionally to support business goals.

Key Responsibilities:

Develop and execute the annual marketing plan
Lead multi-channel campaigns (SEO/SEM, email, social, content, events)
Create and manage content aligned with brand and customer needs
Monitor and report on marketing KPIs and ROI
Manage vendors, budget, and agency relationships
Supervise one marketing team member

Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, or related field
4–7 years of B2B marketing experience (industrial or technical a plus)
Proficient in digital tools (e.g., HubSpot, Google Analytics, SEO/SEM)
Strong project management and communication skills

Preferred Traits:

Data-driven, collaborative, and customer-focused
Comfortable in a hybrid work environment

Director of Business Development

Location: Minneapolis
Type: Direct Hire
Job #50323

New Business Director

We have partnered with a well-known advertising agency to identify their Director of Business Development. This individual will discover and connect the agency with exciting brands and opportunities across the country.

The ideal candidate will be a self-motivated individual who’s ready to lead new business efforts with creativity and passion. If you’re optimistic, charismatic, and have a knack for storytelling, we’d love to hear from you!

We’re hoping to find someone with 10+ years of business development experience within an advertising agency, brand side in a broader marketing role or digital media. You should have a successful track record in spotting opportunities, building meaningful connections, and turning those prospects into reality.

Key Responsibilities

Making New Connections: Your mission will be to generate top-notch new business leads, ideally targeting the SVP/Marketing or CMO level.
Crafting a Strategic Plan: Work alongside the Agency Partners to create a new business strategy, keeping everyone focused on short-term and long-term goals.
First Responder: You’ll be the go-to person for pitch consultants and new business leads, helping assess opportunities alongside the leadership team.
Winning Strategies: Help find clever ways to enhance the agency’s approach to new business, always searching for that edge that boosts the chances of success.

This role is onsite 3+ days a week in the agency’s Minneapolis, MN headquarters (open to relocation). The compensation structure for this role will be base salary (up to $100K DOE) + commission. Some travel required.

VP of Friends & Membership

Location: St. Paul, Minnesota
Type: Direct Hire
Job #49694

Overview

We are proud to partner with American Public Media & Minnesota Public Radio to identify their Vice President of Friends & Membership. MPR engages an audience of millions and is stewarded by hundreds of thousands of members and friends. This role offers the opportunity to build on a world-class foundation with a mandate to pioneer the next generation of loyalty revenue. Success has the potential to change an entire industry and help define the future of local media.

The Vice President of Friends & Membership will drive the development and implementation of the “Friends of MPR” initiative which seeks to build a movement around audience-supported, hyper-local media. The role requires a visionary, creative, and entrepreneurial leader who can engage internal resources, external partners, and the broader community to achieve scale.

The Role
Rooted in the organization’s mission and core values, the Vice President of Friends & Membership will be responsible for growing membership and loyalty revenue in collaboration with content leaders and operational teams. The successful candidate will be an agile leader with a deep understanding of engaging a diverse set of community stakeholders at scale. They will possess extensive experience in managing multi-channel marketing strategies and leveraging bold experimentation to scale quickly and widely. The VP Friends & Membership reports to our General Counsel, an entrepreneur, and this effort will be run like a startup.

In particular, this leader will:

Own MPR’s most meaningful revenue line, focusing on member acquisition, retention, and growth in financial support.
Define and pioneer an innovative “Friends” strategy to attract and engage new audiences across Minnesota and to build a movement around community supported local media.
Establish partnerships and digital campaigns to enhance visibility, nurture prospects, and funnel audience members into a membership pipeline.
Partner with content teams, philanthropic development, audience development & marketing, and digital product teams to create compelling member experiences.
Build multi-channel strategies that leverage the organization’s content, brand and multichannel audience development teams to attract new Friends. Tailor communications and engagement to foster long-term loyalty and delight.
Strengthen a culture of audience-centricity and philanthropy across the enterprise.
Lead a motivated, collaborative, and high-performing team committed to achieving ambitious shared goals. Cultivate future leaders through coaching, mentoring, and thoughtful professional development plans.
Define and monitor key performance indicators, including growth, retention, and satisfaction, and combine data-driven insights with deep community listening to refine strategies.

Success Characteristics

The successful candidate will be described as a:

Visionary Innovator: Entrepreneurial leader with a track record of driving bold, creative initiatives that align with and advance the organization’s mission and values.
Data-Driven Strategist: Skilled in leveraging analytics to inform strategy, optimize decision-making, and measure impact.
Collaborative Leader: Strong leadership experience fostering cross-functional teamwork; exceptional communicator and storyteller, capable of rallying internal teams and external supporters around the mission and the movement.

This role requires demonstrated success or high potential in the following areas:

Driving fundraising and/or consumer-based revenue growth.
Leveraging existing owned and third-party networks to scale user acquisition.
Converting new audience and consumer segments, with a focus on expanding reach beyond core customers to drive growth and diversification.
Deploying loyalty and lifecycle marketing strategies to enhance retention, engagement, and lifetime value.
Achieving measurable results in digital revenue growth through strategic planning and execution.
Guiding multi-channel marketing strategies, including digital, email, events, and direct mail.
Building and managing complex plans across stakeholder groups, creating and monitoring budgets, and overseeing data-driven reporting and metrics.
Leading teams through rapid cycle testing to take informed risks, refine strategies, and scale successful initiatives.
Overseeing audience-centric campaigns to drive acquisition, conversion and retention.
Galvanizing populations to identify with a sense of community and shared purpose.

For most candidates, this role is hybrid requiring 3-4 days/week onsite in St. Paul, MN with relatively frequent travel (several days a month) across Greater Minnesota. Creative movement-builders located in the Greater Minnesota region with the ability to travel around the state are encouraged to apply as well. The target annual base salary for this position is $210,000-$240,000, depending on experience and qualifications.

Job Category: Marketing