Executive Director, Marketing and Communications

The College of St. Scholastica (CSS), a vibrant, multi-campus institution in the Catholic Benedictine tradition, is seeking a strategic leader as Executive Director, Marketing & Communications. The Executive Director is responsible for leading, developing and directing strategies for marketing programs and initiatives to align with college priorities. This includes providing strategic vision to ensure the College’s brand identity is maintained and communicated to stake-holders and constituents.

Responsibilities:

• Oversees and directs strategies and priorities for marketing programs and initiatives; creates and implements annual marketing strategic plans and KPIs that align with institutional priorities, Benedictine Values and enrollment objectives; establishes inquiry and application generation goals for Graduate, Extended and Online (GEO) and Traditional (TRAD) programs and optimizes vendor and channel marketing solution towards goal attainment; oversees marketing automation systems and strategies with the goal of increasing inquiry to applicant conversion.
• Establishes strategic vendor and contractor relationships; researches potential vendor resources and negotiates contracts; manages and evaluates vendor and contractor performance.
• Assesses effectiveness of marketing strategies and utilizes data to form decision making; provides updates and presentations to Enrollment Management and Market Development committees of the Board of Trustees; assesses effectiveness of marketing initiatives and revises/modifies marketing strategies as required. Ensures that marketing materials and messages reflect the College’s commitment to inclusive excellence.
• Ensures College’s brand identity is maintained and communicated to stakeholders and constituents; monitors brand strength and creates initiatives to increase awareness of College’s brand identity and reputation; coordinates efforts with internal staff and external resources to establish brand platform, positioning and creative campaigns; establishes and enforces brand guidelines and communicates them to internal and external stakeholders.
• Proposes new products/programs or positioning proposals; establishes priorities and directs market research to inform and influence program/product development in partnership with College administration and academic functions; directs market research to determine market demand and potential market share for proposed programs; proposes new revenue-generating initiatives for the College; utilizes market research to determine pricing, discounts, scholarships, and other incentive/referral offerings.

Required Qualifications:

Master’s Degree in communications, marketing, or related field; AND five (5) years of professional experience in communications, marketing and public relations operations, two (2) years of which were in a supervisory/managerial role; OR an equivalent combination of education, training and experience is required.

Knowledge of:

• Administrative principles and practices, including goal setting, program development, implementation and evaluation, and the supervision of employees. 
• Principles and practices of developing teams, motivating employees and managing in a team environment. 
• Principles and practices of budget development and administration. 
• Principles and practices of program development and implementation. 
• Principles, practices and methods of need assessments and program evaluation. 
• Principles and practices of public information, media relations and effective community outreach. 
• Principles and methods of developing effective informational and educational materials. 
• Computer applications related to the work. 

Skill in:

• Commitment to inclusive excellence as an expression of the Benedictine values of the College of St. Scholastica.
• Planning, organizing, supervising, reviewing and evaluating the work of others.
• Training others in policies and procedures related to the work.
• Developing and maintaining effective community, government and media relations.
• Preparing and editing effective written informational and marketing materials.
• Creating, planning, implementing and managing a wide-range of programs.
• Exercising sound independent judgment within general procedural guidelines.
• Assessing and prioritizing multiple tasks, projects and demands.
• Developing and implementing program and project goals, objectives, procedures and work standards.
• Developing effective work teams and motivating individuals to meet goals and objectives and provide customer services in the most cost effective and efficient manner.
• Preparing clear, concise and complete reports, correspondence and other written materials.
• Contributing effectively to the accomplishment of team or work unit goals, objectives and activities.
• Establishing and maintaining effective work relationships with coworkers and students.