Senior Director, Presidential Communications

Pay Grade: 33E

Context Of The Job

The Senior Director for Presidential Communications serves as the university’s chief presidential writer. This role is responsible for shaping and articulating the voice of the President and the University across all channels, ensuring clarity, consistency, and impact for how the institution communicates with internal and external audiences. In addition to the Presidential portfolio, the individual works collaboratively with UD’s Office of Government Relations and the Office of the General Counsel on key administrative messages and external relations.

Reporting to the Associate Vice President for Strategic Communications and Marketing, this position aligns presidential voice, institutional storytelling and public positioning, translating institutional priorities into compelling narratives that advance reputation, strengthen stakeholder trust, and support the university’s mission.

This position is located at the University of Delaware’s main campus in Newark, Del., and is expected to be in the office 5 days per week and on site for issues, crises or special events as directed.

Major Responsibilities

• Serves as the primary writer for the President of the University, supporting writing and editing of speeches and other high-level messages for university events and various speaking engagements for high-impact internal and external audiences.
• Research trends in higher education to ensure that speeches and publications reflect current issues and information as well as UD's historical and forward-looking perspectives.
• Serve as a strategic team member on a wide variety of communications projects and serve as a writing and messaging expert on specific initiatives.
• Act as a strategic, trusted advisor on messaging strategy, narrative framing, and reputational impact.
• Translates complex academic, financial, and/or policy issues into accessible, compelling language.
• Works with other senior staff to infuse Presidential messaging into campus communications and marketing strategies, tactics and deliverables.
• Advises senior administration on internal communications strategies to ensure timely, coordinated delivery of significant campus messages.
• Collaborates with the Office of the General Counsel and the Office of Government Relations, serving as a communications liaison for key priorities.
• Handles sensitive and confidential information with discretion, managing rapid turnaround requests in an executive environment.
• Balances competing priorities while maintaining quality and accuracy.
  
  

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Journalism, Communication, English or other related field and ten years progressively responsible job-related experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Demonstrated experience writing and advising senior executives or public figures.
• Experience in higher education, corporate communications or similarly complex mission-driven organizations. Experience as a spokesperson is a plus.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, problem-solving skills, business acumen, sound judgement under pressure and ability to balance competing demands in a dynamic environment.
• High standards for quality, accuracy and voice consistency, with the ability to synthesize complex ideas into clear, compelling narratives and authentic tone.
• Must be a confident, strategic thinker with strong editorial instincts who can quickly grasp complex issues.
• Exceptional writing, editing and storytelling skills.
• Ability to evaluate and edit the content, structure and format of a range of written materials.
• Ability to work cooperatively with others, including senior administrators, faculty members and communicators across campus.
• Ability to research topics of interest while handling multiple projects simultaneously as well as stay within strict timelines.