Fast Facts

Join hand2mind as an Associate Marketing Manager I to lead marketing strategies for the East/Southeast region, collaborating with sales and product teams to enhance regional growth and customer engagement.

Responsibilities: Develop and execute regional marketing plans, conduct grant campaigns, analyze marketing performance metrics, and collaborate with sales teams to identify opportunities.

Skills: Strong analytical skills, experience in regional marketing, proficiency in Microsoft Office and Canva, excellent communication and project management skills.

Qualifications: Bachelor's degree in marketing or related field, 3+ years of experience in regional marketing, and a successful track record in strategic planning.

Location: This position is based in Vernon Hills, IL, with up to 20% travel required for field events.

Compensation: $65000 - $75000 / Annually

About hand2mind:

We bring learning to life! Trusted by teachers for more than 55+ years, hand2mind creates engaging, classroom-tested materials that empower children to learn by doing. We are a 150-person strong, family-owned company that's been voted one of the Chicago Tribune's Top Workplaces for the last four consecutive years. In addition to building high-quality, hands-on learning materials for the classroom like VersaTiles® and Cuisenaire® Rods, we also develop educational toys for the home that make learning math, reading, social-emotional learning, and STEM fun and interactive. As a company, we are committed to our employee’s personal and professional development. That’s why we offer a competitive benefits package, a supportive culture, and a variety of training and development opportunities. We are looking for professionals who are truly just kids at heart! We hope you’ll come join our award-winning team today!

Team & Position Description:

We are currently seeking an Associate Marketing Manager I, East/Southeast Region, to join our Field Marketing Team. Our dynamic team collaborates cross-functionally to support the Marketing and Sales teams through strategic regional marketing plans, campaigns, and field events.

The Associate Marketing Manager I, East/Southeast Region, will lead the planning and execution of marketing strategies tailored to the unique needs of their assigned region. As part of our Field Marketing Team, you will drive regional growth strategies that align with our national Go-to-Market goals, working cross-functionally with sales and product teams to ensure our solutions reach and support educators effectively, maximizing both client impact and business growth. Acting as a local market expert, this role involves staying informed about relevant trends, legislation, grant and funding opportunities to align campaigns with regional priorities. Collaborating closely with sales teams, the manager will identify key opportunities and risks, develop impactful marketing campaigns targeting diverse customer groups, discover and execute on grant funding opportunities, and support sales consultants through tailored training and resources. The role also includes tracking campaign performance, evaluating results, and making data-driven improvements to maximize impact.

 What You’ll Do Day to Day:

• Lead Grant and Funding Campaigns: Research, design, and execute strategic grant campaigns, leveraging funding and legislative research to drive regional opportunities.
• Contribute to a Unified GTM System: Collaborate with product and sales leadership to align regional marketing initiatives with the broader Go-to-Market strategy, ensuring cohesive messaging and consistent support across the customer lifecycle.
• Research, Track and Analyze Territory Trends: Collect and organize grant and other funding data, legislative research, and trend analysis using GovSpend and MDR Marketview. In partnership with sales teams, use this information to identify priority accounts and opportunities for growth, supporting sales objectives and addressing territory-specific challenges.
• Develop and Execute Annual Regional Marketing Plans: In partnership with sales team, use research findings to create a data-informed marketing plan that outlines key objectives, target audience segments, campaign strategies, and execution timelines. Develop multi-channel campaigns that may include email marketing, digital ads, print collateral and mailers, webinars, local events, and partnerships with authors and industry organizations.
• Customize Regional Marketing Assets: Create and adapt state or region-specific product and solution campaign assets using Canva, including collateral and content tailored to local needs. Provide sales teams with completed marketing materials, as well as training and talking points.
• Marketing-Related Sales Enablement: Leveraging deep territorial, industry, grants/funding, and product knowledge, create and deliver ongoing trainings on field marketing collateral and relevant topics, with corresponding support resources aligning to regional campaigns.
• Analysis and Reporting: Regularly review and adjust the marketing plan based on performance metrics, sales feedback, and market shifts, ensuring continuous alignment with evolving business priorities and delivering measurable impact on revenue and customer engagement, reporting out to key stakeholders on a monthly and quarterly basis.

What We’re Looking For (Key Performance Objectives):

• Successful Grant Campaigns: Launch three grant campaigns per sales region within the first six months, generating a $1.5M in funding opportunities per territory ($6M nationally) by EOY.
• Regional Campaign Impact: Develop and execute localized campaigns that achieve a 15% increase in qualified leads, increase the number of district customers and market penetration for your assigned territory by 10% YOY by end of year.
• Streamline Marketing Process: Fully implement project management software (Monday.com) within the first 30 days, ensuring 100% of campaigns are tracked using Gantt charts and workflows.
• Marketing-Related Sales Enablement: Onboarding sales rep kits provided and continuous training for Educational Sales Consultants on territorial, industry, grants/funding, and product- specific topics, relevant to campaigns, achieving a 90% satisfaction rate in feedback surveys.
• Performance Metrics and Reporting: Collect and analyze regional data on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis. Deliver monthly and quarterly reports on regional territory performance in the areas of opportunities, sales metrics, and penetration, demonstrating actionable insights.

 Requirements/Ideal Attributes:

• Education: Bachelor's degree in marketing, or relevant area
• Experience: 3+ years in regional or territory-based marketing with proven success in developing and implementing strategic plans and leveraging grants to drive marketing initiatives and program adoption.
• Analytical Mindset: Strong ability to analyze data, identify trends, and translate insights into actionable strategies.
• Collaborative Leader: Demonstrated success working cross-functionally with sales teams and other stakeholders to achieve shared goals.
• Strategic Thinker: Expertise in developing targeted campaigns and solutions tailored to specific markets or regions.
• Technologically Proficient: Skilled in Microsoft Office Suite, Canva, SharePoint, MDR/GovSpend, and CRM platforms (e.g., Microsoft D365).
• Results-Oriented: Focused on delivering measurable outcomes, with excellent organizational and project management skills to handle multiple priorities.
• Travel: Some travel (up to 20%) will be required to attend and manage field events on national level.

We are a drug-free workplace and an EEO employer.

Please note: This role will be filled by our internal recruitment team, so no assistance is needed from any outside staffing agency at this time.

Compensation Range: $65,000 – $75,000 annual salary – Actual compensation may vary due to other factors such as: years of experience, skill set or location. Total compensation includes profit sharing bonus potential, 401k matching, and a variety of other benefits (details can be found here). 

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