• Hospital care
• Specialty care
• Primary care
• Urgent care
• Emergency care
• Mental and behavioral healthcare
• Child and family counselling
• Dental care
• Community health services
• Foster care and adoption
• Child advocacy services
• School partnerships
• Family Resource Centers
• Child abuse prevention and evaluation
• Safety and injury prevention

• 706,618 Specialty care visits, including virtual visits
• 4,844 Visits to Child Advocacy Centers throughout the state
• 72,545 Visits to our Emergency Room/Level 1 Trauma Center
• 20,342 Surgeries
• 450,022 Primary and urgent care visits
• 26,144 Hospital visits
• 149,951 Visits to mental and behavioral health providers
• 413 Families supported by the Healthy Start program
• 167,928 Kids and adults enrolled in health plans
• 6.5 million connections with kids and families in Wisconsin and beyond
• 3,534,600 Community health and safety program touchpoints

The Position

The Chief Marketing & Communications Officer (CMCO) is responsible for leading marketing, public relations, and internal communications to advance the mission and vision of Children’s Wisconsin. Reporting to the Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), the CMCO will elevate brand value, drive consumer engagement, and support strategic growth through a modern, data-informed, and digitally enabled marketing function.

This leader will shape and execute a comprehensive marketing and communications strategy aligned with enterprise priorities and grounded in a deep understanding of consumer preferences. These insights will inform system-level decisions around market opportunities, service design, and messaging. The CMCO will also ensure that internal communications and organizational culture reflect and reinforce the brand promise.

Working closely with key stakeholders, the CMCO will develop and activate strategic marketing plans that support growth and business objectives. Strong, positive leadership is essential, as the CMCO will mentor and develop a high-performing team, fostering a collaborative culture where individuals are empowered to contribute meaningfully to the organization’s mission.

By modeling Children’s values and guiding behaviors, the CMCO will ensure that all marketing efforts align with the organization’s purpose of serving children and families. This is a rare opportunity to lead transformative change, drive innovation, and make a lasting impact on the health and well-being of children in Wisconsin and beyond.

Key Responsibilities

Specific responsibilities for the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer include:

Performance Metrics and Strategic Planning

• Translate enterprise strategy into a dynamic, consumer-focused, comprehensive marketing and communication roadmap that supports enterprise growth.
• Align marketing initiatives with business objectives, using data and analytics to demonstrate impact and guide investment decisions.
• Define and refine an effective marketing plan to support Children’s entry into new markets that includes building awareness and engagement.
• Demonstrate measurable ROI across earned, owned, purchased or shared media using analytics and growth metrics.
• Manage all marketing and PR agencies for maximum performance and results.

Brand Strategy and Management

• Establish brand strategy to include brand architecture for co- and sub-brands, as well as enterprise brand standards, brand communication and brand experience.
• Align organizational communication, culture and training opportunities with the brand promise.
• Engage in storytelling campaigns that enhance regional and national reputation.
• Ensure consistent application of brand guidelines across all internal and external touchpoints.
• Unify messaging across service lines and partnerships to reflect a cohesive brand identity and shared commitment to the community.

Digital and Technology Innovation

• Evaluate and optimize marketing technology tools and methods to maximize marketing efforts and ROI.
• Explore and operationalize trending healthcare innovations, including telehealth, patient portals, mobile apps, direct-to-consumer communication, digital therapeutics and digital content.
• Leverage consumer technology, including websites, customer databases, marketing automation, marketing personalization and social media, to augment brand and growth goals.
• Lead a modern, multi-platform digital strategy that leverages social media to engage families, elevate brand visibility, and communicate Children’s Wisconsin’s unique value.

Customer and Market Engagement

• Understand customer preferences, across all major stakeholder groups and target audiences. Translate customer feedback and data into actionable plans for service improvement. Includes both long-term system-wide strategic initiatives, as well as annual and short-term improvement plans at the entity level.
• Drive system growth through referral development, physician relations, and multimedia marketing.

Leadership and Collaboration

• Continually strengthen internal communications to foster alignment across departments, reinforce organizational values, and support employee engagement, especially in times of change.
• Exhibits guiding behaviors that reflect Children’s values and support our mission and vision.
• Mentor teams to foster a high-performance, collaborative culture aligned with the organization’s values.

Goals and Objectives

The successful Chief Marketing & Communications Officer (CMCO) will make meaningful progress in accomplishing the following goals and objectives in the first 12-18 months:

• Build trust and credibility both internally and externally. The new Chief Marketing & Communications Officer should integrate smoothly into the organization by being visible and approachable, developing strong relationships vertically and horizontally, and learning the One Team culture and embodying the organizational values (Purpose, Collaboration, Integrity, Health, and Innovation).
• Assess the current state of Marketing and Communications. The Chief Marketing & Communications Officer will assess the current team, processes, and infrastructure of the Marketing and Communications departments to identify strengths and improvement opportunities. Additionally, the CMCO will develop a deep understanding of four major stakeholder groups: team members, patients, referring physicians, and the community. 
• Develop a vision and a strategy for Marketing and Communications. The Chief Marketing & Communications Officer will develop and implement a robust and forward-thinking Marketing and Communication roadmap that will position the organization for future success in a dynamic healthcare environment. The strategy will challenge the organization to think beyond doing the basics and will leverage brand and partnerships to achieve exponential growth. The Marketing and Communication campaigns will be designed to support the key initiatives outlined and prioritized in the enterprise strategic plan. Additionally, the marketing efforts will be crafted to attract new patients and families, to promote customer loyalty, and to enhance the brand of Children’s Wisconsin. The strategic marketing plan will be based on sound market research, will include defined goals and objectives, and will provide value for the target audience. 
• Lead and develop a high-performing team. The Chief Marketing & Communications Officer will assemble a high-performing team consisting of the right structure, skill sets, and leadership characteristics to deliver results and to fulfill the mission and vision of Children’s Wisconsin. The CMCO will align the team around a common purpose, will clearly communicate specific and attainable goals, and will utilize performance metrics to measure progress and ensure accountability. Also, the Chief Marketing & Communications Officer will create developmental opportunities for team members to build new skills and to position them for growth. 
• Create a culture of continuous improvement. The Chief Marketing & Communications Officer will create a sense of alignment and purpose across the organization for strategic storytelling and brand development. The CMCO will create a safe space for open dialogue about opportunities and challenges to ensure the organization is delivering value to key stakeholder groups and is positioning Children’s Wisconsin for success in a transformative healthcare environment. 

The Candidate

Experience and Professional Qualifications

The Chief Marketing and Communications Officer (CMCO) must possess a combination of education, experience and leadership qualifications to successfully manage the responsibilities required for this position. The ideal candidate will have the following professional qualifications required for the role:

Marketing and Communications Experience

• Minimum of 10 years progressive responsibility for marketing, customer experience, strategy development and consumer technology.
• Knowledge of sophisticated brand management and customer experience practices, including a track record of demonstrated return on investment.
• Proven ability to lead both internal and external communications with strategic clarity and operational excellence.

Technical and Analytical Skills

• Ability to use data and analytics to guide technology, marketing and communication investments.
• Ability to formulate and manage program budgets.

Strategic Vision

• Vision to create new growth opportunities and build market share.
• Skilled in the following competencies: innovation management, creativity, managing through change, driving results, and aligning vision and purpose.

Leadership and Team Management

• Ability to attract, select, retain and direct a staff of specialists and manage multiple projects simultaneously across a broad array of functions.
• Exceptional communication skills both written and verbal, with the ability to influence both internal and external audiences.
• Ability to work effectively with physicians, trustees, executives, management and payors of healthcare institutions and enterprises.

Education

• A master’s degree in marketing, healthcare administration, business administration or related field is required.

Personal Characteristics and Leadership Skills

• Innovative – A creative leader who thinks outside the box and can tell compelling stories that advance Children’s Wisconsin’s strategic vision and direction.
• Inspiring – A collaborative leader who teaches the “why” behind decisions and inspires teams to think boldly and act strategically.
• Courageous – A confident leader who proactively confronts difficult issues; making valiant choices and taking bold action in the face of opposition or fear.
• Agile – A leader who adapts and pivots in response to changing market conditions and organizational needs.
• Compassionate – A relatable leader who shows genuine concern and understanding for the needs of team members, patients, referring physicians, and the community.
• Ethical – A principled leader who is guided by strong values (Purpose, Collaboration, Integrity, Health, and Innovation) and possesses an unwavering commitment to Children’s Wisconsin’s mission and culture

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Korn Ferry shall provide equal employment opportunity to all qualified candidates, and will refer candidates without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, veteran status or any other legally protected basis.