Job Description
Vice President, Marketing & Communications Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle TN, Inc - 4.0 Nashville, TN Job Details Full-time 11 hours ago Benefits 403(b) matching Disability insurance Dental insurance Vision insurance 403(b) Qualifications Vendor relationship building Driver's License Bachelor's degree Community relationship building Full Job Description We are hiring for a full-time Vice President, Marketing & Communications to join the External Affairs Department at Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. Who we are : For nearly 50 years, Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee has dedicated itself to nourishing and empowering their neighbors so they can thrive. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Second Harvest implements sustainable solutions to food insecurity through a strategically selected network of more than 600partners across 46 counties in Middle and West Tennessee. Our partners include food pantries, congregate meal sites, shelters, childcare facilities, senior centers, group homes, and youth enrichment programs. For more information about Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, its mission, and programs, please visit secondharvestmidtn.org. What you'll do:
Summary:
The Vice President, Marketing & Communications is a senior leader responsible for stewarding the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee brand, shaping organizational narrative and reputation, and advancing integrated fundraising, awareness, and engagement strategies across the organization. As a member of the Leadership Team, the Vice President serves as a strategic partner to the President & CEO, extending and amplifying the CEO's leadership presence across the community, peer networks, media, and the hunger‑relief sector. This role provides enterprise‑wide leadership across external communications, internal communications, brand strategy, campaign integration, and social‑enterprise marketing, ensuring alignment with organizational mission, values, and long‑term strategic priorities. The Vice President leads brand and marketing strategy for both the core nonprofit organization and its social enterprise portfolio, partnering closely with the Vice President, Social Enterprise to position mission‑driven products for competitive markets while reinforcing public trust and impact. This role directly leads a team of marketing and communications professionals and serves as the organization's senior strategic lead for agency partnerships spanning paid media, public relations, direct response, digital platforms, and creative services. Consistent with Second Harvest's mission, the Vice President actively advances the organization's commitment to equity, inclusion, and belonging, ensuring that communication reflects dignity, authenticity, and the lived experiences of the neighbors served. Key Responsibilities:
Enterprise Brand, Narrative & Reputation Leadership Own and steward enterprise‑wide brand strategy, narrative framing, and reputation management for Second Harvest. Ensure consistent, mission‑aligned messaging across fundraising, programs, advocacy, partnerships, and earned‑revenue efforts. Maintain and evolve the Brand and Language Guide; ensure strong brand governance and quality control across all internal and external channels. Lead long‑range brand positioning to support organizational growth, resilience, and public trust. CEO & Executive Engagement Serve as the President & CEO's primary thought partner for external positioning, messaging, and leadership presence. Support CEO engagement across community events, peer convenings, sector leadership forums, media opportunities, and key stakeholder moments. Develop strategic messaging frameworks, briefing materials, and narratives that align CEO engagement with organizational priorities, campaigns, and long‑term strategy. Provide counsel and leadership on issues management, crisis communications, and sensitive external matters. Integrated Fundraising & Campaign Strategy Set strategic direction for integrated fundraising, awareness, and engagement campaigns in partnership with Development and Programs leadership. Hold enterprise accountability for campaign effectiveness, learning, and long‑term growth rather than day‑to‑day execution. Ensure fundraising communications are compelling, data‑informed, and aligned to donor trust, retention, and revenue goals. Oversee strategic alignment of signature campaigns and events within the broader organizational narrative. Signature Campaigns & Events Provide leadership and strategic oversight for the organization's signature campaigns, and the design, messaging and media support for high‑visibility fundraising events. Ensure consistent brand experience, donor value, sponsor fulfillment opportunities, and year‑over‑year performance improvement in partnership with philanthropy partner. Partner cross‑functionally to balance mission storytelling, revenue goals, and community engagement. Social Enterprise Brand & Market Leadership Provide executive leadership for brand strategy and market positioning of Second Harvest's social‑enterprise portfolio. Partner with the Vice President, Social Enterprise to ensure clear brand architecture, go‑to‑market messaging, and mission alignment. Oversee consumer‑facing branding, packaging, and product storytelling to support earned‑revenue growth while reinforcing nonprofit credibility. Ensure social‑enterprise brands reflect quality, dignity, and the organization's impact‑driven mission. Internal Communications & Organizational Alignment Own organization‑wide internal communications strategy, ensuring clarity, transparency, and alignment during growth, change, and strategic initiatives. Partner with Leadership and People & Culture to support culture‑building, engagement, and change management through effective communication. Ensure internal communications elevate staff understanding of priorities, progress, impact, and organizational performance. Media, Public Relations & Thought Leadership Lead earned media and public‑relations strategy to position Second Harvest leadership and subject‑matter experts as trusted voices on hunger, food insecurity, and systems‑level solutions. Strengthen regional and national visibility while safeguarding credibility and trust across the 46‑county service area. Ensure media efforts support long‑term reputation rather than short‑term exposure. Board & Governance Support Support Board engagement through strategic communications, presentations, and narrative framing. Partner with the CEO on Board‑level messaging and committee work related to External Affairs, brand, and public trust. Team, Budget & Partner Leadership Lead, mentor, and develop the Marketing & Communications team, fostering strategic thinking, collaboration, and leadership growth. Oversee agency partnerships and vendor relationships with enterprise‑level accountability for performance, budget stewardship, and results. Partner with Finance and the CEO on budget planning, investment decisions, and contract approvals where required. Other duties as assigned by President & CEO. When & Where:
Schedule:
Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM. Occasional duties may be necessary, as well as responding to issues, outside of normal working hours (e.g., disaster response, community events, etc.). Travel:
Occasional daytime travel required, up to 5% of work week. Flexibility:
Our flexible work program is a strategic tool to achieve organizational goals, empower employees to do their best work and foster engagement by supporting high performance, business continuity as well as wellbeing and work-life-balance. WorkFlex arrangements are complex and specific to individuals and roles. Essential business/ first responder:
In instances of a federal, state or locally declared emergency, Second Harvest is typically considered an essential business service and emergency responder. All employees may be required to perform regular or emergent duties on-site. Employee safety is balanced with business and community necessity. Some positions are more likely to be required on-site than others. Is this you? Education:
Bachelor's Degree in Marketing, Communications, or related areas required. Experience:
10+ years proven experience in developing and implementing innovative marketing and communications strategies in complex organizations. Experience in fundraising is preferred. Skills & Capabilities:
Enterprise ‑ level strategic leader with the ability to translate organizational mission, business strategy, and programmatic priorities into integrated marketing, communications, and storytelling strategies that advance fundraising, advocacy, stakeholder engagement, and long‑term brand equity across diverse audiences. Deep knowledge of nonprofit marketing and philanthropy with demonstrated success supporting large‑scale.fundraising initiatives (including capital campaigns), donor stewardship, corporate and foundation partnerships, and public‑facing campaigns that build legitimacy, momentum, and trust—without reliance on mass solicitation. Proven architect of integrated communications ecosystems, aligning brand, content, digital platforms, media relations, executive communications, internal communications, and community engagement to ensure consistency, clarity, and measurable impact across channels and constituencies. Advanced capability in AI ‑ enabled marketing and communications, including: Leveraging AI tools to enhance content creation, message testing, audience segmentation, and donor lifecycle engagement. Using AI‑assisted analytics to identify trends, optimize campaign performance, and inform data‑driven decision‑making. Establishing ethical guardrails for AI use that protect brand voice, donor trust, data privacy, and mission integrity. Integrating AI thoughtfully alongside human creativity to increase efficiency without sacrificing authenticity or equity. Data ‑ literate and results ‑ oriented, with the ability to define meaningful KPIs, interpret performance data, and connect insights to strategy—particularly in support of fundraising, engagement, and reputation management efforts. Highly collaborative executive partner, skilled at working cross‑functionally with Leadership Team, and the CEO to align messaging with organizational priorities, rapidly respond to emerging issues, and steward resources responsibly in dynamic environments. Inspirational people leader and culture ‑ builder who recruits, develops, and empowers high‑performing marketing and communications teams; fosters accountability and continuous improvement; and effectively manages internal staff, consultants, agencies, and vendors. Exceptional storyteller and communicator, with superior written and verbal communication skills and the ability to distill complexity into clear, compelling narratives tailored to donors, board leaders, partners, staff, media, and the broader community. Technologically fluent , with hands‑on familiarity across CRM platforms, digital fundraising tools, marketing automation systems, social and paid media platforms, design and production workflows, and emerging AI technologies that support modern nonprofit engagement. Knowledge of Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop, and standard office programs including Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint. Strategic steward of brand and reputation, ensuring consistency across all touchpoints while evolving the brand to reflect organizational growth, large‑scale initiatives (such as campus development or system transformation), and long‑term vision. Competencies:
Coaching and developing others, Leadership strategic thinking, Conflict management, Decision making, Change management. Other requirements:
Our pre-hire process requires acceptable results from the following: professional reference feedback, criminal background, and Motor Vehicle Record. Current Driver's License and automobile insurance are also required. Criminal backgrounds are evaluated on a case-by-case basis considering several factors (timing, frequency, severity and job relation). What Second Harvest has to offer: Work with a purpose: As one of middle Tennessee's largest nonprofits, our local hunger relief work is uniquely rewarding, hands on and solutions oriented. We are innovative, mission-focused, diverse, collaborative, values-driven and focused on results. A career with Second Harvest ensures that you not only earn a paycheck, but also help your local community through meaningful work. If you are passionate about serving your neighbors in need and are committed to our mission of ending hunger, we invite you to join our 120+ person team in the fight against hunger, as we work to achieve our vision of a hunger free community. Award winning workplace : we are a best-in-class workplace because we are passionate and people focused - we listen, respect, care and challenge each other, so that our neighbors can count on us. Our employees have identified us among The Tennessean's Top Workplaces based solely on employee surveys and feedback. There is ample opportunity to be engaged, have work-life-balance and grow with Second Harvest. Compensation & Benefits :
Second Harvest is proud to offer rich and affordable total compensation packages. Full-time employment includes 34+ days off, medical (employee-only is 100% employer paid), dental, vision, 403b retirement (up to 3% match, 5% base, length of service vesting), disability insurance (short and long term) and long-term care insurance. DEIB & Equal Employment Opportunity:
Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee provides equal employment to all applicants and employees based on merit, qualifications, and abilities. We do not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status. We believe that inclusion and belonging strengthen our team, drive innovation, and enhance our ability to serve our community.
