The finalists for WashingtonExec’s Pinnacle Awards were announced Oct. 11, and we’ll be highlighting some of them until the event takes place live, in-person Nov. 30.
Next is Marketing Executive of the Year (Public Company) finalist Shab Nassirpour, vice president of marketing and communications at ECS. Here, she talks key achievements, success in her current role, career advice and more.
What key achievements did you have in 2021/2022?
The marketing team has had a tremendous year of experimenting, learning and growing. We significantly increased our brand awareness across channels and sharpened our advertising tactics.
- With the talent wars on, we prioritized integrated marketing campaigns focused on attracting recruits. Using LinkedIn and search ads, we drove traffic to newly developed capability-specific career centers, veteran’s career page and blog series (Mission Continued), and our training and education page. We also launched a new recruiting video campaign, ECS Pro. Year to date, we’ve seen a 26% traffic increase to the website’s career section.
- We branded three ECS solutions: ECS ARC Intelligence, ECS Pathfinder and ECS Argos PAI, all of which have won awards for branding, with ARC Intelligence winning the Platinum MarCom Awards.
- We launched a new employee portal, ECS Connect, and made significant updates to the ECS website. Both projects have won top recognition from Hermes Creative Awards and MarCom Awards. Our website traffic is up over 30% year to date, and the employee portal is heavily used as a tool for connecting our hybrid workforce spread across the country.
- We upped our video content strategy and launched several series highlighting our capabilities and our employees. For example, our Wine About Cybercrime series ⏤ where we pair wine with the latest cybercrime ⏤ has generated great engagement across clients and recruiting targets by presenting technical content in a fun and unexpected format.
What has made you successful in your current role?
I started my career as an entrepreneur, and I’ve carried that mentality and determination with me throughout the years. I have a sense of ownership and responsibility ⏤ for the product, the results, my team and the business.
Most importantly, I’ve maintained a growth mindset. I am able to stay curious and open to trying new approaches, testing ideas, and learning from my team and colleagues. This has helped me keep things interesting and never shy from a challenge.
What are you most proud of having been a part of in your current organization?
It has been an incredible five years watching ECS grow, and I am proud to tell the stories of my colleagues and the missions we support. I am especially proud of my team. I couldn’t ask for a more creative and dedicated group. They keep it fun and BRING IT every day! We’ve shown how marketing can impact the business, which has fueled our team’s growth. I am grateful for the leadership’s recognition and the investment they’ve made in marketing.
Beyond leading the marketing efforts, I’ve had the privilege of working on formalizing and launching ECS’ Diversity, Equity and Inclusion program this year. It is a near and dear subject for me as a minority woman working in the technology sector for nearly 20 years.
It has been a fantastic learning experience and helped me make meaningful connections across the company. I am excited to see it grow and truly enrich ECS’ culture.
What’s your best career advice for those who want to follow in your footsteps?
You can’t quiet quit and expect to become a leader. When you quiet quit, you are quitting on yourself. You spend at least eight hours a day at your job. Find work that you want to go above and beyond for so you can grow and evolve.
Look for opportunities in your career to thrive ⏤ maybe it is the people, the outcome or the learning opportunity. If you need limits, then express them, don’t suffer quietly. Let your boss know. If your boss isn’t willing to make accommodations, it may be time to look for a new opportunity. But don’t languish and put out your fire.