The Pat Tillman Foundation (PTF) unites and empowers remarkable military veterans and spouses as the next generation of public and private sector leaders committed to service beyond self. Inspired by Pat Tillman, who proudly put his NFL career with the Arizona Cardinals on hold to serve his country, family and friends established the Pat Tillman Foundation following Pat’s death in April 2004 while serving with the 75th Ranger Regiment in Afghanistan. Over the last 19 years, the Pat Tillman Foundation has supported nearly 900 Tillman Scholars as they’ve furthered their education and increased their impact in the world.

PTF seeks a Director of Marketing to lead our national marketing and public relations efforts in support of our mission and our Tillman Scholar community. This person will serve on the 6-person Executive Team of PTF to create, manage, and deliver on a 5-year strategy with a focus on increasing awareness of and engagement with our brand, our scholars, and our approach to leadership development, as well as a portion of revenue responsibility. We understand that people gain skills through a variety of professional, personal, educational, and volunteer experiences. If you believe you have the skillset to succeed in this role, regardless of industry, we encourage you to apply.


Who You Are

  • Storyteller. You understand that people connect with stories differently based on who they are, where they are, and what they’re doing. You enjoy finding the right story to share with the right person in the right way that motivates connection and action.
  • Results- and data-driven. You are driven by results and informed by data. You use data to make decisions and translate strategy into action, and you want to apply your analytical skills to increase audience engagement and conversion.
  • Detail-oriented. You will grow a segmentation strategy using existing and to-be-built data tools to tailor messages to each audience in support of broad organizational themes.
  • Driven and adaptable. You want to leverage skills you’ve built over 10+ years of experience in marketing and/or communications that show exceptional leadership & effective management. You want to lead an integrated marketing effort that spans public relations and traditional marketing.
  • Motivated coach. You take pride in the success of your team and will dedicate yourself to developing them as individuals, professionals, & teammates in support of our mission. You want to train your eventual successor and have a history of successfully developing your teammates.
  • Humble (with a sense of humor). You love getting your hands dirty and know that a sense of humor, when everything is happening at once, will get the project done and contribute to a resilient team.
  • Passionate. You care about making a difference in the world, and want to support veterans and military spouses working at an impactful level across sectors including health, law, business, policy, academia, government, and defense. You want to come to work and feel inspired every day. You want to change the world.


What You’ll Do

Oversee a 3-person team responsible for creative design, content generation, and marketing activities. Serve as a member of PTF’s Executive Team, responsible for setting and executing the strategy of the organization in support of our mission. As a Director, you will serve as a cultural leader within the organization, responsible for both project management as well as cultural tone-setting. Outside of the strategic elements of this role, this role is predominantly focused on public relations & strategic communication, audience engagement, and revenue generation.

Public Relations & Strategic Communication (40%)

  • Build and maintain media relationships, driving outreach for campaigns that leverage the depth and breadth of Tillman Scholar stories and Tillman Leadership Institute (TLI) student & alumni network.
  • Serve as an internal expert on media relations for PTF staff and for Tillman Scholars, many of whom serve in senior roles in business, government, and elsewhere.
  • Build and execute a PR strategy with a focus on appropriately allocating effort to outcomes.
  • Partner with high level marketing and PR professionals in our corporate partner and university partner network, helping to identify and deliver on shared goals.
  • Ensure PTF’s public presence is laser-focused on our mission, and that it fully tells the story of the diverse community of veterans and military spouses we serve.
  • Partner with board of directors, advisory board members, and Tillman Scholar community.


Audience Engagement (40%)

  • Lead a team that drives meaningful audience engagement with our mission, our scholars, and our community. This effort spans driving registration for events from 30 to 30k participants as well as sharing carefully crafted video, text, and image-based stories of our scholars’ leadership.
  • Major efforts include: Pat’s Run, Pat’s Run Challenge Series, Tillman Scholar application campaign, Pat Tillman Leadership Summit, Tillman Honors, Annual campaign, and Tillman Leadership Institute lead generation, as well as deep storytelling efforts with corporate and university partners.
  • Develop a comprehensive strategy for content generation that elevates the work of Tillman Scholars and awareness of the Pat Tillman Foundation, within current industry best practices.
  • Steward the brand building efforts of the Pat Tillman Foundation, Tillman Scholars, and the Tillman Leadership Institute among various audiences, with clarity of brand voice and primary audience.
  • Apply best-in-class segmentation strategies using Salesforce as a backbone, related to both channel and content, for the diverse audience we communicate with and a wide variety of calls to action.
  • Leverage short-form video and <20 minute video to elevate the story of Tillman Scholars.
  • Team with development and programs teams to support their primary goals with content.
  • “Build a stage” for Tillman Scholar stories, digitally and in person, that increases public engagement.
  • Lead production of Tillman Honors, one of PTF’s major fundraising events that creates opportunities for our partner and donor communities to engage with scholars and their work.


Revenue Generation (20%)

  • In collaboration with the Development team, execute an annual Impact Campaign, a digital campaign that leverages assets and themes to drive donor engagement and financial support of PTF.
  • Leverage best practices to drive 30,000 registrants for Pat’s Run, one of the nation’s top 20 largest road races and a major fundraising and brand awareness effort for PTF. This includes driving registrations as well as brand presence through collateral, signage, merchandise, and media.
  • Partner with Development Director to provide digital outreach leading up to Tillman Honors and video, messaging, social, and print materials. Partner in support of Team 226 membership.
  • Partner with Head of Tillman Leadership Institute to generate client leads and tell the story of Tillman Scholars as facilitators and instructors of TLI leadership development courses.
  • Manage Marketing & Communications budget of ~$500k annually.


Based in Chicago, the Pat Tillman Foundation is one of the Top 50 Nonprofits to Work for in the United States, according to the Nonprofit Times. We offer competitive salaries, comprehensive benefits, and a collaborative and welcoming environment where passionate and curious thinkers will thrive.

This position is hybrid, and based in Chicago, Illinois and reports to the CEO. Some travel is required. The position is available immediately. The Pat Tillman Foundation is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages applications from people of color, persons with disabilities, women, LGBTQIA+, and other underrepresented applicants.

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