Director, North America Institutional Marketing

Russell Investments is a leading global investment solutions partner providing a wide range of investment capabilities and implementation services to institutional investors, financial intermediaries, and individual investors worldwide. We help clients achieve better investment outcomes through deep expertise in asset management, consulting, and portfolio implementation. 

Position Overview 

Russell Investments is seeking a highly strategic, commercially minded Director, North America Institutional Marketing to lead marketing efforts supporting our Institutional business across the United States and Canada. This leadership role is responsible for developing and executing integrated marketing strategies that strengthen Russell Investments' brand, deepen engagement with institutional investors, generate business opportunities, and support long-term growth objectives. 

Reporting to the Senior Director, North America Marketing, this role will serve as a key partner to Institutional Sales, Consultant Relations, Investment Division leadership, and senior executives across the firm. The successful candidate will combine strategic marketing expertise with strong execution capabilities, bringing a proven track record of driving results in the asset management industry. 

This individual will play a critical role in shaping how Russell Investments engages with some of the industry's most sophisticated audiences, including Chief Investment Officers, pension plan executives, healthcare and endowment investment committees, consultants, OCIO prospects, and institutional decision-makers. 

Key Responsibilities 

Institutional Marketing Strategy & Leadership 

• Develop and execute the North America Institutional marketing strategy in alignment with firmwide growth priorities and business objectives. 

• Partner closely with Institutional Sales, Consultant Relations, OCIO, and Investment Division leaders to identify market opportunities and create targeted marketing initiatives. 

• Lead integrated campaigns across thought leadership, content, digital, events, client engagement, and demand generation channels. 

• Translate complex investment and market insights into compelling, client-centric marketing programs and messaging. 

• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior business leaders on marketing strategy, market positioning, and audience engagement. 

Executive Events & Client Engagement 

• Lead the strategy, planning, and execution of high-impact live, virtual, and hybrid events targeting institutional investors and consultants. 

• Design and deliver executive-level experiences that engage Chief Investment Officers, investment committees, senior consultants, and other institutional decision-makers. 

• Partner with senior executives, investment leaders, and subject matter experts to develop event content, agendas, and thought leadership programs. 

• Establish event measurement frameworks to evaluate business impact, attendee engagement, and pipeline contribution. 

• Continuously elevate the quality, innovation, and effectiveness of Russell Investments' institutional event portfolio. 

Content, Product Marketing & Thought Leadership 

• Partner closely with the Integrated Marketing team to develop and execute product marketing and thought leadership strategies that support Institutional business priorities.  

• Collaborate with Product Marketing, Investment Division leaders, and subject matter experts to bring investment capabilities, market insights, and client solutions to market in compelling and differentiated ways.  

• Help shape institutional audience needs, content priorities, and messaging frameworks to ensure relevance and impact across key investor segments.  

• Lead the distribution of institutional-focused thought leadership, market commentary, investment insights, and strategic content across multiple channels.  

• Ensure consistent brand positioning and messaging across campaigns, events, client communications, and sales enablement materials.  

• Identify emerging industry trends, competitive dynamics, and investor priorities to inform marketing strategy and content planning. 

Cross-Functional Collaboration 

• Partner with global marketing teams to leverage best practices, content, and campaign assets. 

• Work closely with digital marketing, communications, creative services, analytics, and product marketing teams to deliver integrated programs. 

• Build strong relationships across business units to ensure alignment and effective execution of marketing initiatives. 

Measurement & Optimization 

• Partner with the Digital Marketing and Analytics teams within Integrated Marketing to establish KPIs, measurement frameworks, and reporting that evaluate marketing effectiveness and business impact.  

• Leverage audience, engagement, and campaign performance data to optimize marketing programs, event strategies, and client engagement initiatives.  

• Collaborate with digital marketing partners to improve audience targeting, campaign performance, lead generation, and conversion outcomes.  

• Use data-driven insights to inform strategic decision-making, resource allocation, and future marketing investments.  

• Monitor market trends, client behavior, and competitive activity to identify opportunities for continuous improvement and growth. 

Qualifications 

Required Experience 

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, Finance, Communications, or a related field. 

• 10–12 years of progressive marketing experience within asset management, institutional investment management, wealth management, or related financial services organizations. 

• Demonstrated record of strong performance, increasing responsibility, and career progression through multiple promotions. 

• Deep understanding of institutional investing, capital markets, investment products, and institutional client decision-making processes. 

• Significant experience developing and executing integrated marketing strategies that support business growth objectives. 

• Proven success leading large-scale live, virtual, and hybrid events for senior executive audiences. 

• Experience engaging highly sophisticated institutional audiences, including Chief Investment Officers, investment staff, consultants, and fiduciary decision-makers. 

• Strong project management and stakeholder management capabilities, with the ability to influence across functions and levels of seniority. 

Preferred Experience 

• Experience with outsourced CIO (OCIO), institutional consulting, pension, healthcare, endowment, foundation, or insurance investor segments. 

• Prior experience in a top-tier management consulting firm (e.g., McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Oliver Wyman, Strategy&, etc.). 

• MBA or other advanced degree. 

• Familiarity with both U.S. and Canadian institutional investment markets. 

Leadership Competencies 

The successful candidate will demonstrate: 

• Strategic thinking and commercial acumen 

• Executive presence and strong communication skills 

• Intellectual curiosity and analytical rigor 

• Strong collaboration and influence across senior stakeholders 

• Exceptional organizational and execution capabilities 

• Client-centric mindset 

• Ability to operate effectively in a dynamic, matrixed environment 

• Commitment to excellence and continuous improvement