Director, Marketing & Communications

ABOUT IBAO:

The Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO) is the largest provincial broker association in Canada, representing members across all regions of the province. Its membership includes large international brokerages, mid-sized firms, and small local operations. IBAO supports brokers who serve diverse communities, from major urban centers to small towns. The association provides advocacy, education, and resources to strengthen the broker channel and promote consumer-focused insurance solutions.

GENERAL SUMMARY:

The Director, Marketing & Communications leads the Marketing & Communications

Function within the Member Experience & Engagement Department. The Director will support the Senior Director and the IBAO Senior Management Team in developing and implementing a segmented membership strategy informed by IBAO’s Strategic Plan. The Director owns brand governance and creative direction, ensuring IBAO’s visual identity is applied consistently across the organization. They

are responsible for managing the IBAO’s messaging, PR, digital strategy, segmented communications and initiatives and Education/Exams communications with clarity, consistency, and impact. This role ensures all communications are accurate, credible, and aligned with member segments, consumer audiences and industry standards. The Director develops subject-matter understanding of the insurance ecosystem to translate technical information into accessible communications. Working across internal and external audiences, the Director strengthens the IBAO’s voice, elevates industry leadership, and ensures communications reflect IBAO’s culture, experience principles, value proposition and Strategic Plan priorities.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

COMMUNICATIONS, PR & CONSUMER INITIATIVES – 30%

• Own messaging architecture and communications standards across all channels.

• Lead PR, media relations, and industry visibility efforts.

• Develop consumer-facing communications and campaigns aligned with Strategic Plan priorities.

• Partner with the Member Engagement Function to align communications with segmentation insights and member lifecycle needs.

• Partner with the Education Department with ensuring clear, accessible, segmented communications and digital presence and promotions for courses, CE, accreditation, and exams.

• Ensure Exam-related communications (eligibility, deadlines, requirements, updates, etc.) are member focused, accurate, timely.

• Partner with the Events & Experience Function to ensure event promotion, speaker visibility, and consumer-facing messaging are integrated.

• Support the Senior Director in shaping IBAO’s external narrative and industry reputation strategies.

DIGITAL, SEGMENTED MARKETING & CONTENT EXECUTION – 30%

• Manage website, email, social media, CRM automation and digital analytics.

• Build segmented communications aligned with the IBAO Segmentation Strategy, the Member Engagement Function’s insights and lifecycle mapping.

• Lead digital initiatives (including but not limited to awareness campaigns, public education content) ensuring they are designed to meet the needs of the target audience (member, sponsor, industry, consumer, etc.).

• Oversee content strategy, editorial calendars, and integrated marketing workflows.

• Partner with the Education Department by ensuring digital channels support course promotion, CE updates, Exam information, and accreditation pathways.

• Ensure Exam information is easy to find, easy to understand, and easy to act on.

• Partner with the Events & Experience Function to deliver promotional timelines, digital assets, and event-specific campaigns.

• Ensure digital channels support all audiences (member, sponsor, industry, consumer, etc.).

BRAND GOVERNANCE & CREATIVE DIRECTION – 20%

• Own, develop and maintain IBAO’s visual identity, ensuring consistency across all departments, channels, and audiences.

• Provide creative direction and leadership for organizational assets, campaigns, digital content, and consumerfacing initiatives.

• Develop and maintain brand standards, templates, toolkits, and visual guidelines.

• Review and approve creative assets produced across the organization for clarity, accuracy, accessibility, and alignment with brand governance.

• Collaborate with Events & Experiences to ensure event creative direction aligns with brand identity and experience principles.

• Collaborate with Member Engagement to ensure program visuals follow brand standards.

• Ensure brand expression supports segmentation, lifecycle communications, Education, Exams, and Events.

• Partner with Senior Director to interpret IBAO strategic direction into visual identity and creative execution.

SUBJECT-MATTER EXPERTISE & INDUSTRY COMPREHENSION – 10%

• The Director must develop and maintain a general working knowledge of the insurance ecosystem to ensure communications are accurate, credible, and aligned with member needs. This includes understanding:

o Broker workflows, insurer relations

o Familiarity with common insurance terminology

o Awareness of regulatory requirements, CE, licensing and exam processes

o How industry trends affect member and consumer communications

PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT, INSIGHTS & RISK MANAGEMENT – 10%

• Track communications KPIs including engagement, reach, sentiment, conversion, and consumer impact.

• Track segmentation performance to ensure communications align with lifecycle needs and member segments.

• Produce communications insights dashboards to inform programming, member engagement, Education strategy, consumer strategy and event promotion.

• Monitor PR and media relations for accuracy, risk and reputational impact.

• Identify communication risks (regulatory, technical, reputational) and implement risk management/mitigation strategies.

• Support the Senior Director with communications performance reporting for the CEO and Board.