Executive Director, Marketing and Strategic Partnerships

Our client, ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation creates knowledge, mobilizes people, and takes action to improve education. Nationally recognized as a leader in teacher preparation, leadership development and scholarly research, Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation prepares over 8,000 educators annually. MLFC faculty create knowledge by drawing from a wide range of academic disciplines to gain insight into important questions about the process of learning, the practice of teaching and the effects of education policy. MLFC mobilizes people through bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs, through non-degree professional development programs and through socially embedded, multilateral community engagement. MLFC takes action by bringing people and ideas together to increase the capabilities of individual educators and the performance of education systems. Aligned with ASU’s charter, MLFC is committed to advancing inclusive excellence in our curricula, programming and institutional relationships.

About the Role

The nation’s most innovative university seeks an experienced and visionary marketing and communications leader to serve as the Executive Director, Marketing and Strategic Partnerships at the Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation. This position will oversee integrated planning and strategy to support the college during a pivotal moment in its evolution. The Executive Director functions as a "growth officer" for the college, bringing degree and non-degree concepts to market to drive both impact and growth of enrollment and revenue. The Executive Director serves as the chief strategist for marketing, communications, and partnership solutions, and is responsible for leading the development and execution of short- and long-term strategic marketing and communications plans that advance the college's goals.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for crafting a comprehensive growth plan across degree and non-degree offerings and securing necessary approvals. Provides comprehensive strategic leadership for the development and execution of short- and long-term marketing, communications, partnerships and products that advance the Teacher's College.
• Directs and guides subject matter expert teams in directing and executing integrated multi-channel marketing, communications and recruitment plans, ensuring work is strategically aligned and delivers measurable outcomes related to all advertising, recruiting, outreach, earned media, alumni engagement, and industry relations to reach enrollment and revenue goals.
• Leads team to develop and execute multi-channel campaigns across digital and traditional platforms, including social media, paid media, publications, video, collateral, events and presentations, ensuring content is compelling, brand-aligned and audience-focused.
• Elevates the college’s profile by coordinating thought leadership initiatives, securing high-visibility opportunities for faculty, and managing rankings strategies to advance the College’s standing as a hub for teaching and learning innovation.
• Advances the college's brand, shaping and articulating its transformational vision of education, ensuring consistency of message, clarity of purpose and effective execution.
• Establishes and maintains strong, collaborative relationships with the Dean and college leadership to ensure strategies reflect college priorities. As part of the college's executive team, serve as a thought partner to the Dean, translating leadership vision into inspired action.
• Guides the use of formal and informal market research, data analysis and performance metrics to inform planning, strengthen strategies and optimize outcomes.
• Produces and presents a variety of reports to senior leadership, including creative plans, progress reports and concept proposals. Routinely tracks progress of implementation and progress towards goals.
• Ensures adherence to ASU’s brand standards and maintain high levels of quality, accuracy and consistency across all communications.
• Oversees vendor and partner relationships, ensuring optimal use of resources and alignment with project needs.
• Designs organizational structures, systems, workflows and shared service models that support integrated marketing, communications and partnerships across college units. Oversees project prioritization, resource allocation and budget management to ensure goals are met and projects are delivered on time and on budget.
• Fosters a team culture of high performance and continuous improvement, collaboration and innovation. Provide mentoring to a diverse team of creatives, strategists, and partnership managers.
• Leads with transparency, ensuring clear bi-directional communication with unit leadership and subject matter experts to foster alignment and trust across the college.
• Acts as the primary liaison to the University’s central teams including Enterprise Brand Strategy and Management, Enterprise Partners Outreach Hub, Media Relations and Strategic Communications, Learning Enterprise and EdPlus, leveraging central resources to amplify the College’s reach while maintaining unit-level autonomy and agility.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and nine (9) years of experience appropriate to the area of assignment/field including five (5) years managerial experience; OR, Any equivalent combination of experience and/or training from which comparable knowledge, skills and abilities have been achieved.

Required Skills

• Previous director-level experience working as a marketing director and strategist for large, complex organizations, preferably in higher education.
• Demonstrated knowledge of strategic communication and marketing principles, with the ability to translate strategy into actionable plans.
• Demonstrated ability to provide inspirational leadership and facilitate teams to create a shared vision to deliver long-term goals and immediate business objectives.
• Strong service orientation, a disciplined work ethic and the ability to instill a high standard of excellence in the overall team. Ability to effectively work with and service requests of people holding positions of Dean and above.
• Proven strategic planning, creative direction, critical thinking and decision-making skills and a track record of innovation.
• Experience overseeing performance reporting and optimizing campaigns for measurable outcomes.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to convey complex ideas clearly and persuasively to diverse audiences.
• Experience with student recruitment, particularly within higher education contexts.
• Experience with product or partnership marketing, particularly within higher education contexts.
• Highly organized and detail-oriented, with the ability to set priorities, manage multiple high-priority projects simultaneously and drive efficiency in a fast-paced environment.
• Familiarity with project management tools, defined processes and workflow optimization.
• Ability to remain flexible and responsive to new ideas, projects and directions while ensuring alignment with strategic goals.
• Strong client relationship skills and the ability to self-direct while also fostering collaboration within and across teams.
• Hands-on familiarity with core marketing tools and channels, including content management systems (such as Drupal), social media, print and digital mediums, advertising and email communications.
• Evidence of a “hands-on”, “roll-up-the-sleeves” mentality and “does what it takes” attitude to drive success.
• Previous experience supervising full-time employees and contracted agency resources.
• Previous experience working with established brands and effectively working within established brand