Brand Associate

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Job Title:Brand Associate
Department:External Affairs | Marketing | Brand Experience
Position Overview
The Office of Marketing (OM) builds, protects, and advances the Ohio State brand, strengthening the university’s reputation and ensuring a consistent, compelling brand presence across audiences and experiences. Within OM, the Brand Strategy & Stewardship function provides the enterprise capability that defines how the brand is understood, applied, and experienced across the institution.
The Brand Associate is a brand steward and trusted partner who supports the (interim) Senior Director, Brand Strategy & Stewardship in bringing Ohio State’s brand to life across the university. This role focuses on brand strategy application, governance support, guided consultation, and enablement—not marketing strategy or campaign execution. The Brand Associate helps ensure the brand is consistently and thoughtfully expressed across colleges, units, and initiatives, reinforcing Ohio State as a cohesive branded house. The Brand Associate provides brand consultation to assigned university partners, assisting and guiding them in applying the enterprise brand platform to their initiatives, environments, and experiences. This role supports brand architecture, naming, and co-branding efforts; contributes to brand governance processes; and helps implement brand tools, standards, and frameworks that enable others to deliver on brand intent.
Reporting to the Senior Director, Brand Strategy & Stewardship, the Brand Associate serves as a connector between brand strategy and institutional practice—helping teams interpret brand guidance, navigate brand decisions, and support the quality and consistency of brand expression across the enterprise. Working collaboratively across OM and the broader university, the Brand Associate brings together people, insights, and best practices to support brand-aligned outcomes. This role requires strong relationship-building skills, developing professional judgment, and the ability to work effectively in evolving situations while managing multiple priorities with guidance and support.Top of Form
All members of Advancement are part of creating an inclusive culture that inspires an exceptionally multifaceted and talented team and are expected to exhibit The Ohio State University’s Shared Values. The Office of Advancement is committed to acting with kindness, respect, and integrity at all times and welcoming our colleagues’ ideas, voices, and perspectives, acknowledging that we are better together.
About the Office of Marketing
The Office of Marketing (OM) advances The Ohio State University’s enterprise priorities by translating the university’s strategic plan into clear marketing imperatives, initiatives, and narratives that guide engagement with key audiences. OM leads enterprise marketing strategy and coordination to strengthen Ohio State’s reputation, visibility, and distinctiveness—enabling colleges, administrative units, Wexner Medical Center (WMC), and Athletics to align their priorities with institutional goals while addressing their unique audiences and needs. Through integrated marketing and brand stewardship, OM ensures the university presents a cohesive, compelling presence that drives impact at scale.
Duties and Responsibilities
60% Brand Stewardship & Consultation
Serve as a brand steward and advisor to guide campus-wide colleges, units and collaborators in applying Ohio State’s brand platform, experience principles and narrative
Serve as point of contact for Brand Center inquiries and requests, ensuring timely follow-up and resolution
Conduct reviews of brand applications and materials to ensure alignment with brand standards and guidelines; and provide recommendations for improvement
Route and evaluate brand-related inquiries to ensure alignment with policies and processes
Elevate complex or precedent-setting brand decisions to leadership for guidance and resolution as appropriate
Collaborate with OMC peers to ensure brand intent is understood and applied correctly across channels and disciplines
Assist leaders and teams in making informed brand decisions that protect and strengthen brand equity
25% Brand Governance & Enablement
Maintain and organize brand resources, templates, toolkits and reference materials to ensure access and usability for stakeholders
Contribute to the creation and refinement of brand guidelines, templates, and resources
Assist in developing brand education, onboarding materials, workshops and presentations to increase brand literacy and understanding across the institution
Support cultivating brand champions through organizational adoption of brand standards, tools and practices through communications, stakeholder engagement and change management
Support the development, maintenance and adoption of brand governance framework, standards and tools
Support brand architecture, naming and co-branding initiatives in alignment with enterprise strategy
10% Brand Insights & Continuous Improvement
Contribute to brand health reporting and insights in partnership with analytics teams
Collect and organize data related to brand adoption, compliance and stakeholder engagement, prepare summaries and reports to support brand usage and continuous improvement discussions
Identify and share trends, risk and opportunities related to brand consistency, perception and on-going brand evolution
5%
Performs other duties as assigned
Required Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, psychology, or related field, or equivalent experience
Minimum two (2) years of professional experience in brand management, brand strategy, marketing or related roles
Experience applying an enterprise or master brand across multiple units or lines of business
Demonstrated ability to apply brand platforms to real-world scenarios with appropriate guidance
Effective consultative, relationship-building, and communication skills
Ability to manage multiple priorities in a complex, matrixed environment while receiving coaching and direction on higher impact decisions
Desired Qualifications (We’re committed to building a team that reflects a variety of skills and experiences and encourage you to apply even if your experience does not align perfectly)
Four (4) years of relevant brand strategy or brand stewardship experience
Experience in client, account, or relationship management roles
Experience working within large, decentralized organizations
Familiarity with brand governance, naming, or brand architecture processes
The Office of Advancement is committed to providing tools and resources for you to learn our business, proprietary databases, University-specific processes, and advancement practices.
You Need to Know
Aside from the unparalleled benefits of working for The Ohio State University and working in the vibrant, smart, enjoyable, and growing city of Columbus, Ohio, this opportunity will provide exceptional rewards that arise from working for an institution doing worldwide life-changing teaching and research. Learn more here: https://hr.osu.edu/careers/.
In accordance with the Disaster Preparedness and University State of Emergency Policy 6.17 this position has been designated as a standby position.
Additional Information:
To learn more about the Office of Extern

Skills
Brand Management, Onboarding