SR. DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC MKT & COMMUNICATIONS

JOB SUMMARY

The Senior Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications is responsibility for strategic communications, research-based messaging, marketing, and branding activity for Benedict College. This position represents and promotes the College, increasing its visibility and supporting the institution’s mission, vision, and goals. This position leads the development and implementation of the College’s strategic marketing plan and upholds the brand vision for the institution with an intentional focus on initiatives and campaigns designed to attract the best students, motivate alumni and donors, and recruit high quality faculty and staff. This position also works in collaboration with the Associate Vice President for Marketing and Communications, the graphic design team, and the Benedict College Print Shop; oversees strategic marketing content development, media buys, partnerships, and related initiatives; and provides strategic marketing direction and coordinates marketing and communications initiatives produced by other divisions, departments, academic and administrative units across the campus.  This class works within a general outline of work to be performed and develops work methods and sequences under general supervision and reports to the Vice President for Institutional Advancement.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

• Provides leadership for the College’s strategic and integrated marketing and communications functions.
• Develops and oversees the division’s communication strategic plan, aligning it with the College’s overall goals, plans, aspirations, and objectives.
• Formulates and implements communication policies, ensuring compliance with organizational guidelines and industry standards.
• Stays informed about emerging trends and best practices in communications and marketing to continuously improve policies and approaches.
• Manages project budgets, resources, and operations effectively, ensuring optimal utilization of funds and achieving cost-effectiveness.
• Fosters increased coordination between schools, divisions, and departments across the campus to ensure consistent messaging and branding across all communications and marketing efforts.
• Collaborates with all divisions and College stakeholders to align strategies and initiatives for a unified institutional image.
• In coordination with the Vice President for Institutional Advancement and the Associate Vice President for Communications and Marketing, oversees the development and maintenance of the College’s brand identity, ensuring a strong, cohesive brand presence that resonates with all target audiences.
• Manages crisis communication strategies to protect and enhance the College’s reputation during challenging times.
• Leads media relations efforts, building and maintaining positive relationships with relevant media outlets to amplify the College’s visibility and positive coverage.
• Serves as Benedict’s brand manager, with the responsibility of positioning Benedict College in the market, determining target audiences, and maintaining the desired reputation.
• Serves as the College’s spokesperson as needed and ensure a consistent and unified communication approach.
• Implements data-driven decision-making processes, leveraging analytics to measure the effectiveness of communication and marketing initiatives.
• Uses insights to make informed adjustments and improvements to strategies, maximizing impact and return on investment.
• Communicates Benedict’s position and policies on a variety of issues to specific media and to various College constituencies.
• Ensures continuity by writing stories and scripts, initiating special publications, writing articles for publications, and performing other related hands-on functions.
• Remains competent and current through self-directed professional reading, developing professional contacts with colleagues, attending professional development courses, and attending training and/or courses as required.
• Contributes to the overall success of the College by performing other related duties as assigned.

 MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS TO PERFORM WORK:  

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, public relations, journalism, business administration or closely related field; Master’s degree and/or a professional certification in marketing or public relations is preferred.  
• Minimum of five (5) years of experience in marketing and/or communications in one or more of the following settings: education, not-for-profit, government, business and/or industry; a record of success in a progressively responsible position.  
• Minimum of three (3) years of management experience with one or more of these areas: strategic marketing and communications, public relations, media relations, news and information, video production, photography, publications, or athletics communications.
• Must be proficient in Microsoft Office Suite, utilizing Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Microsoft Teams.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• Demonstrated leadership skills.
• Exceptional skills in communications, marketing, and interpersonal relations. 
• Ability to develop and implement strategic communications and research-based marketing plans. 
• Expertise in making presentations and negotiating with the media.
• Job Dimensions – Knowledge of work, planning and organizing, self-reliance, sensitivity, attention to detail, work standards, initiative, stress tolerance, technical/professional self-development, analysis/judgment, commitment to the college, teamwork, dependability, communications.
• Attendance – Individuals in this position are expected to be available during the peak business hours of the college, and may occasionally be asked to vary their schedule to meet department requirements.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

Requires sedentary work that involves walking, standing, lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling some of the time.  Requires the ability to lift up to 50 pounds and the ability to exert up to 10 pounds of force on a recurring basis or routine keyboard operations.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

Work environment risks exposure to no known environmental hazards.

 APPLICATION PROCESS: 

• Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.   
• Interested candidates should complete an online application using this link: https://www.benedict.edu/careers and upload a cover letter, resume, and names and email addresses of three references.  If you have additional questions regarding the position, send an email to: human.resources@benedict.edu.

EOE M/F/D/V