Brand Marketing and Integration Manager (Vernon Hills, IL)

The Mom Project is excited to partner with Rust-Oleum in their search for a Brand Marketing and Integration Manager. This role is hybrid in Vernon Hills, IL (Hybrid M, T, W in office, Th/Fri Remote)

Rust-Oleum Corporation is a worldwide leader in protective paints and coatings for both home and industry. We offer a wide range of products, including decorative fashion paints, durable industrial roof repair coatings, and, of course, our famous rust-fighting formula that started it all.

The Brand Marketing and Integration Manager manages the development and execution of Rust‑Oleum’s pro‑focused and industrial brand and marketing strategies across assigned product platforms, supporting growth within professional, trade, and channel‑driven environments. Translates pro customer, competitive, and category insights into compelling brand narratives, messaging frameworks, and campaign strategies that connect product strategy to marketing activation. Develops creative briefs and partners with internal teams and external agencies to bring big ideas to market, ensuring integration across pro and multi‑channel touchpoints and alignment with brand positioning. Owns the end‑to‑end campaign workflow, driving cross‑functional collaboration with Product, Sales, and Marketing to deliver on‑time, on‑budget, and on‑brand execution in support of commercial and category objectives.

Responsibilities:

• Partner with Pro‑focused Product Development, Sales, and Business Unit leaders to develop go‑to‑market (GTM) marketing strategies and plans that align product launches, extensions, refreshes, and growth initiatives with professional customer needs and marketing activation.
• Translate business, market, and pro customer insights into clear brand positioning, value propositions, and integrated marketing plans that support brand, category, and commercial growth within professional channels.
• Lead the development of campaign strategies and creative briefs tailored to professional audiences, clearly defining objectives, target segments (e.g., contractors, installers, dealers), key insights, and success metrics.
• Partner with creative agencies and internal teams to develop breakthrough, pro‑relevant ideas and campaigns that bring brand strategy to market and drive measurable impact across pro touchpoints.
• Manage the end‑to‑end campaign process, from concept and creative development through asset delivery, ensuring alignment with business strategy, timelines, budgets, and professional channel execution.
• Collaborate across marketing teams to ensure cohesive messaging and activation across pro and multi‑channel environments, including sales, digital, trade, retail, and partner‑led touchpoints.
• Serve as the primary brand marketing liaison to Product for assigned categories, ensuring marketing initiatives support pro‑centric commercial objectives, growth logic, and in‑market execution.
• Coordinate cross‑functional input from Product, Sales, and Marketing to deliver cohesive pro‑focused GTM plans.
• Monitor brand health, campaign performance, KPIs, and pro category trends; partner with analytics and insights teams to optimize messaging, media, and activation across professional channels.
• Contribute to the development of frameworks, tools, and processes that improve pro‑focused campaign planning, creative alignment, speed to market, and marketing efficiency.
• Support brand architecture, identity, and positioning initiatives led by the Director, ensuring consistency and relevance across assigned product platforms and audiences.

Skills and Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Business, or a related field.
• 7-10 years of progressive marketing experience, with a strong background in industrial, B2B, or trade‑driven environments and audiences, including expertise in brand strategy, go‑to‑market planning, and integrated campaign development.
• Demonstrated understanding of product commercialization and launch planning for professional audiences, including contractors, installers, dealers, distributors, or other skilled trade or enterprise customers.
• Experience partnering cross‑functionally with Product, Sales, Trade, and Marketing teams to align commercial objectives with marketing strategies across direct, distributor, and trade channels.
• Strong background developing brand narratives, positioning frameworks, creative briefs, and campaign plans that connect customer insights, category needs, and real‑world jobsite or professional use cases.
• Excellent project management and prioritization skills, with the ability to lead multiple campaigns, launches, and workstreams simultaneously in a fast‑paced, matrixed environment.
• Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills, with experience leveraging performance data, customer feedback, and market insights to optimize campaign effectiveness and support business growth.
• Effective communicator and influencer, capable of aligning diverse stakeholders, building credibility with marketing, product, and sales; fostering trust across functional and regional partners.
• Experience managing creative partners to deliver integrated, results‑driven marketing programs that support professional channel needs.
• Ability to advise team members on meeting timelines, resolving executional or technical challenges, and adapting plans to evolving business needs.
• Skilled at collaborating with customers, channel partners, and internal peers on initiatives that impact multiple departments and drive shared business outcomes.
• Experience supporting or executing business planning, budget management, forecasting, and organizational priorities aligned to commercial and growth objectives.

Salary Target Range: $105,000 - $130,000, bonus eligible

From big benefits to small, we take care of our associates! After 30 days of employment, you will be eligible for a benefits package that includes medical, dental, life, disability, and business travel insurance, flexible spending accounts, EAP, stock purchases, and generous PTO (vacation/sick days/parental leave). Rust-Oleum offers 10.5 paid holidays and 1 floating holiday per year.

We also offer a 401(k) plan after three months of employment. Associates are vested in the RPM Pension plan after completing five years of service.

Rust-Oleum is an equal opportunity employer. Employment selection and related decisions are made without regard to sex, race, age, disability, religion, national origin, color, or any other protected class.