Director of Marketing

About us
Klett World Languages is a growing educational publisher based in Chicago, with an expanding presence across North America. We publish high-quality Spanish, French, German, and Italian materials for K–12 and Higher Education. Klett World Languages is part of the European Klett Group, founded in 1897 and comprising more than 80 educational companies worldwide.
We create content that helps students develop authentic communication skills, make meaningful connections, and become global citizens. We also believe educators play an essential role in language learning, which is why supporting teachers and providing professional development opportunities are central to our mission. At Klett World Languages, we are committed to improving world language education across North America.
Why join Klett World Languages
● Be part of a mission-driven organization shaping the future of world language education.
● Lead the U.S. marketing strategy and directly influence how educators discover, evaluate, and adopt our programs.
● Join a collaborative, international team with the agility of a growing company and the reach of an established global organization.
● Receive a competitive compensation package, including benefits and professional development opportunities.
Job Summary:
The Director of Marketing leads Klett World Languages’ U.S. marketing strategy and ensures that marketing activities are aligned with commercial priorities, customer needs, and company growth goals.
This role is responsible for commercial marketing, Sales Enablement, pricing coordination, competitive intelligence, events, partnerships and sponsorships, Ecommerce, and the KWL website. Initially, this will be a hands-on role with direct oversight of the Ecommerce function. As the U.S. Marketing team grows, the Director will help define its structure and develop additional capabilities based on company priorities.
Key Responsibilities:
Marketing Strategy and Execution
● Define and execute the overall U.S. marketing strategy in alignment with company objectives, commercial priorities, and customer needs.
● Develop annual marketing plans, budgets, calendars, and measurable objectives.
● Develop marketing strategies that reflect the needs of state adoption markets, open territories, and Higher Education.
● Prioritize initiatives based on revenue goals, market opportunities, product priorities, and available resources.
● Take a hands-on role in the development and execution of key marketing initiatives.
● Monitor marketing performance and use the results to improve priorities, campaigns, and resource allocation.
● Recommend future team structure and resource needs as the U.S. Marketing function grows.
● Manage agencies, vendors, and other external partners as needed.
Commercial Marketing and Sales Enablement
● Develop and execute integrated campaigns across email, webinars, conferences, social media, customer communications, and digital channels.
● Develop product positioning, messaging, and value propositions for the U.S. market.
● Coordinate product launches with Sales, Product, Editorial, Implementation, and other relevant teams.
● Lead demand-generation and lead-nurturing activities and establish clear processes for lead capture, qualification, and follow-up.
● Develop customer stories, testimonials, educator interviews, and district success stories that support purchasing decisions.
● Ensure Sales Consultants and sales leaders have current, consistent, and ready-to-use resources.
● Develop or coordinate sales presentations, proposal templates, product comparisons, demo materials, playbooks, portfolio guides, and competitive resources.
● Partner with Sales and Strategic Opportunities to identify gaps in sales materials and prioritize the resources with the greatest commercial impact.
● Develop materials and internal communications that prepare Sales to present new products, digital platforms, and updates.
● Measure the use and effectiveness of marketing and Sales Enablement resources and improve them based on field feedback and commercial results.
● Plan and oversee the development and maintenance of U.S. marketing collateral, including catalogs, program brochures, samplers, one-pagers, standards correlations, event materials, and product- and adoption-specific landing pages.
Pricing and Market Intelligence
● Lead the annual pricing process for the U.S. portfolio in coordination with Sales, Finance, Operations, Product, Editorial, Ecommerce, and Grupo Difusión leadership.
● Develop and present pricing recommendations based on market conditions, customer feedback, competitive pricing, costs, margins, and commercial priorities.
● Coordinate pricing decisions for current products, new products, digital offerings, bundles, and other commercial initiatives.
● Ensure approved pricing is implemented consistently across internal systems, the website, sales materials, price lists, and customer communications.
● Partner with the Strategic Research Data Associate to monitor competitor products, positioning, pricing, features, adoption activity, and other relevant market developments.
● Establish a consistent process for collecting, organizing, updating, and sharing competitive intelligence.
● Translate competitive and market findings into recommendations for leadership, product positioning, sales resources, and commercial planning.
Ecommerce, Events, Website and Partnerships
● Manage the Ecommerce function and provide strategic direction for promotional priorities, product visibility, customer experience, and commercial performance.
● Ensure the Ecommerce function maintains accurate and current website content, product information, pricing, merchandising, and customer communications.
● Coordinate Ecommerce priorities with Marketing, Sales, Orders, Operations, Finance, and other relevant teams.
● Monitor website and Ecommerce performance and identify opportunities to improve customer experience, conversion, and revenue.
● Ensure Ecommerce and website activities are integrated with broader marketing campaigns and product launches.
● Lead event strategy and coordinate the planning and execution of conferences, webinars, and company events with internal teams and external partners.
● Establish participation goals, planning standards, lead-capture processes, follow-up expectations, and performance measures for events.
● Develop and maintain strategic relationships with professional associations, educational organizations, industry partners, and other key stakeholders.
● Identify and coordinate partnership and sponsorship opportunities that support brand visibility, educator engagement, lead generation, and commercial goals.
● Represent Klett World Languages at conferences, association meetings, and other industry events, building relationships that strengthen the company’s presence in the U.S. market.
● Evaluate the results of events, partnerships, and sponsorships to guide future participation and investment decisions.
What are we looking for:
Required Qualifications
● Proven marketing leadership experience, preferably in education, publishing, educational technology, or B2B markets.
● Experience developing marketing strategies, annual plans, budgets, campaigns, and performance reporting.
● Strong understanding of product marketing, demand generation, customer communications, and Sales Enablement.
● Strong commercial mindset and ability to connect customer and market insights and marketing act

Work arrangement
Hybrid