Vice President, Marketing & Communications

Position Overview

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) seeks a Vice President, Marketing & Communications to lead the Commonwealth’s efforts to promote Virginia as a Top State for Business. This position oversees integrated marketing strategies that showcase Virginia’s competitive advantages, including digital branding, trade show engagement, and site consultant outreach. This role will interact professionally, collaboratively, and strategically with all divisions of VEDP as well as local, regional, and state partners, and site selection consultants, often engaging and leveraging resources where viable to accomplish the division’s objectives and providing relevant support to achieve VEDP’s goals and mission.

Critical to the outreach component of this role is the ongoing cultivation of VEDP’s relationships with site selection consultants, who represent companies in their search for best business destination to relocate or expand their business operations across the United States. The Vice President, Marketing & Communications is a member of VEDP’s Business Development Core Group, ultimately reporting to the Sr.

Vice President, Marketing, Communications & Research and Chief of Staff.

Leadership

• Develop Marketing & Communication’s strategy and plans and provide clear direction and clearly communicate goals of the agency to staff and inform external stakeholders and clients.
• Provide appropriate staff oversight and performance management. Foster independence and appropriate risk taking as well as team interdependence and support.
• Provide ongoing performance feedback that is both positive and constructive. Address performance deficiencies specifically, constructively, and timely, i.e., evaluate performance accurately and continually.
• Execute effective budgets and assignments of tasks to maximize resource allocation.
• Create employee engagement by communicating as a leader and a team player.
• Engender trust and confidence with employees, encouraging two-way feedback, and a willingness to know them.
• Ensure adequate professional development opportunities are provided for team members.
• Promote and encourage teamwork and collaboration across units at VEDP.
• Continually identify potential growth opportunities within the division and/or VEDP for staff in order to cultivate long‑term success and support employee retention.

Branding & Advertising

• Collaborate with colleagues across VEDP, other state agencies, and local/regional partners to position the Commonwealth as the best place to live, invest, and grow.
• Partner with internal and external colleagues to assess changes in competitive landscape, economic climate, technology developments, and customer attitudes and adjust positioning and messaging to account for changes.
• Lead and collaborate on Virginia’s value proposition, developing primary messaging focused on the Commonwealth’s differentiated value.
• Oversee integration of the messaging into (1) marketing materials, such as brochures, campaigns, print publications, and websites, and (2) enhancements to the Commonwealth’s brand as a premier location for business.
• Direct successful web and mobile marketing strategies that promote Virginia’s business location advantages and increase top of mind awareness that Virginia is the premier business location.
• Oversee a marketing collateral program to support and enhance VEDP's brand position and outreach marketing programs.
• Direct an effective social media marketing strategy to establish VEDP as a leader and trusted knowledge base for economic development content and services, targeting individuals seeking information regarding Virginia’s economic development programs, target industries, assets, and/or VEDP.
• Oversee the content development, publication, positioning, and distribution of VEDP’s Virginia Economic Review quarterly magazine.
• Oversee the content development and distribution of large, annual projects, such as VEDP’s Annual Report.
• Oversee the third‑party agency relationship and budget management.
• In collaboration with VEDP’s Sr. Vice President for Talent and Workforce Strategy, support development and execution of a talent attraction…