Job Description
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Business Unit: Rush Medical Center
Hospital: Rush University Medical Center
Department: Road Home Research Admin
Work Type: Full Time (Total FTE between 0.9 and 1.0)
Shift: Shift 1
Work Schedule: 8 Hr (7:00:00 AM - 3:00:00 PM)
Rush offers exceptional rewards and benefits learn more at our Rush benefits page (https://www.rush.edu/rush-careers/employee-benefits).
Pay Range: $52.15 - $77.70 per hour
Rush salaries are determined by many factors including, but not limited to, education, job-related experience and skills, as well as internal equity and industry specific market data. The pay range for each role reflects Rush's anticipated wage or salary reasonably expected to be offered for the position. Offers may vary depending on the circumstances of each case.
Job Summary:
The Director of Marketing and Outreach serves as a senior program leader for the Road Home Program (RHP), a nationally recognized center of excellence providing mental health services to veterans, service members, and their families. This role is accountable for building and executing the program's national outreach and access strategy, with a primary focus on increasing access to RHP services through measurable referral development, stakeholder partnerships, and end-to-end ownership of communications, marketing, and the digital intake pathway.
This position provides executive-level leadership over the program's marketing and outreach platforms, including governance of brand-aligned messaging, campaign strategy, web and intake conversion performance (including Get Care pathway optimization), social media and content standards, and analytics discipline. The Director leads and develops a high-performing Outreach Team and the program's Digital Strategy Team, ensuring consistent execution across national outreach, events, alumni engagement, non-clinical volunteer efforts, and military cultural competency education initiatives.
In close collaboration with program leadership and institutional partners, this role serves as a primary external-facing leader for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), veteran service organizations (VSOs), and public-sector stakeholders, and as a key partner in donor and philanthropic engagement experiences. Exemplifies the Rush mission, vision, and values and acts in accordance with Rush policies and procedures.
Required Job Qualifications:
Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Education, Marketing, Health Administration, or a related field.
Minimum of 7 years of combined relevant experience, including leadership in outreach or community engagement, strategic planning, and communications or marketing strategy, preferably with a veteran-serving organization.
Proven success in access growth, partnership development, donor engagement support, and cross-functional collaboration, preferably in a healthcare, academic medicine, or nonprofit environment.
Minimum of 5 years of people management experience, including coaching, performance management, and team development.
Demonstrated ability to design, govern, and execute marketing and digital engagement channels, including web, email, and social media, with familiarity using analytics to guide decisions.
Strong project management, analytical, and communication skills, including executive-level stakeholder communication and public speaking.
Ability to travel nationally up to 30% and maintain schedule flexibility to support non-traditional hours for events and stakeholder engagements.
Preferred Job Qualifications:
Master's degree in Business Administration, Health Administration, Marketing, or related field.
Prior experience working with military or veteran-serving programs and familiarity with VA and DoD stakeholder environments.
Familiarity with institutional systems at Rush or similar academic medical centers.
Physical Demands:
Physical demands typical of a hybrid office and field environment. Includes travel, attendance at community and donor events, and occasional lifting or transporting materials (up to 50 pounds) as needed for event execution. Mental demands include concentration, problem-solving, and deadline-driven work.
Competencies:
Organizational Leadership
Strategic Thinking
Communications and Marketing Governance
Outreach and Stakeholder Management
Digital Strategy and Analytics
Project Management
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Data-Driven Decision Making
Team Development and Talent Management
Job Responsibilities:
Strategic Outreach and Access Growth
Develop and lead RHP's national outreach strategy to increase access to care through referrals, partnerships, and stakeholder relationships.
Direct the execution of annual outreach, communications, and marketing priorities in alignment with program strategy and growth needs.
Ensure consistent planning, field execution, and follow-through across outreach regions, events, and engagement channels, supported by measurable outcomes and performance reporting.
Stakeholder Leadership
Serve as a primary leadership-level point of contact for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), veteran service organizations (VSOs), and other government and community stakeholders, including high-level relationship development, briefings, and partnership cultivation.
Develop and maintain collaborative relationships with peer and partner organizations, including Wounded Warrior Project and Warrior Care Network, to expand the program's national network and referral pathways.
Represent RHP in executive-level meetings, conferences, and external engagements to advance access goals and strengthen institutional credibility.
Marketing, Communications, and Brand Governance
Own RHP's communications and marketing function, serving as the accountable leader and creative director for messaging standards, content direction, brand expression, and channel governance.
Serve as the final reviewer and approver for all program marketing and public-facing communications, coordinating with clinical leadership for clinical accuracy when applicable.
Partner with Rush Marketing, Communications, Media, and Brand teams to ensure compliance, consistency, and high-quality execution across all public-facing communications.
Establish and maintain a communications operating cadence, including standards for accuracy, brand alignment, and audience-appropriate messaging across web, email, and social media channels.
Establish and maintain scalable internal production workflows for high-volume marketing and communications deliverables (campaigns, social content, website updates, and collateral), ensuring quality control, compliance-sensitive review, and timely turnaround.
Digital Intake Pathway Ownership and Performance
Serve as business owner for the RHP digital front door, including the website intake pathway and Get Care conversion strategy, with accountability for continuous improvement and measurable performance lift.
Partner with intake and clinical operations stakeholders to improve access communications and workflow handoffs that reduce friction and delays in the patient pathway.
Oversee analytics and performance measurements across website and campaign activity, translating insights into practical changes that reduce friction and improve access.
Govern content calendar strategy and campaign execution across digital channels, ensuring priorities are aligned to access goals, stakeholder needs, and institutional standards.
Donor and Philanthropic Engagement Experiences
Partner closely with the Director of Strategic Partnerships and the Office of Philanthropy to support donor engagement strategy, including high-impact site visits, events, briefings, and storytelling assets that reflect program outcomes and strategic priorities.
Use consistent external positioning, impact storytelling, and performance signals (reach, engagement, referral growth, and access indicators) to strengthen funder confidence and support renewal risk mitigation, in partnership with Strategic Partnerships.
Lead the planning and execution of major donor engagement experiences and community-facing events that support the program's mission and strengthen long-term partner confidence.
Develop and maintain leadership-ready impact marketing and donor-facing collateral that is accurate, mission-aligned, and consistent with Rush standards, including engagement with Warrior Care Network and Wounded Warrior Project stakeholders as applicable.
Veteran Community Programs
Provide executive oversight of veteran-facing community programs that expand access, strengthen engagement, and reinforce trust in the Road Home Program.
Lead program governance, strategy, and execution for the ALUM program, including recruitment, onboarding, training, activation, and tracking of engagement and referral influence.
Oversee the development, deployment, and continuous improvement of the volunteer network, including role design, onboarding pathways, training, guardrails (non-clinical, no PHI), and coordination with internal stakeholders.
Lead the strategy, development oversight, and deployment of MIL 101 and related military cultural competency education initiatives for internal and external audiences, ensuring standardization of messaging and materials.
Establish and monitor key performance indicators for ALUM, volunteer engagement, and MIL 101 programming; ensure efforts align with access and awareness goals and are coordinated with outreach, marketing, and donor engagement priorities.
People Leadership, Workforce Planning, and Team Development
Provide direct leadership over the outreach and marketing enterprise, including hiring, onboarding, coaching, performance management, and professional development.
Supervise the outreach and marketing structure, including the Manager of Veteran Outreach and Networking, Senior Veteran Outreach Coordinators, Veteran Outreach Coordinators, and the Digital Strategy Team.
Establish clear priorities, workflows, and quality standards to ensure consistent execution across outreach, marketing, digital strategy, and stakeholder engagement.
Financial, Operational, and Vendor Oversight
Develop and oversee budgets for outreach operations, travel, events, and marketing or digital execution, ensuring appropriate planning, expense control, and transparent reporting.
Manage vendor relationships and contract-supported work related to outreach operations, events, marketing, creative services, and digital performance support, as applicable.
Identify operational risks and gaps, implement process improvements, and ensure consistent execution across projects and initiatives.
Compliance and Institutional Alignment
Ensure adherence to HIPAA, Rush policies, social media governance standards, and brand approval requirements.
Coordinate with Legal, Compliance, Government Affairs, and other institutional stakeholders to ensure external partnerships and communications meet applicable requirements, including federal and state expectations when relevant.
Maintain clear guardrails so outreach, alumni, and volunteer engagement efforts remain non-clinical and aligned with program policy.
Rush is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics.
Position Dir Marketing and Outreach
Location US:IL:Chicago
Req ID 27187
