Chief Communications and Marketing Officer

Chief Communications and Marketing Officer

Please see Special Instructions for more details.

Please attach a cover letter, resume, and references. For guaranteed consideration applications must be received by April 1, 2026. Please note, this position is designated as Management Confidential and is not eligible for permanent appointment nor represented by a collective bargaining unit.

Vacancy Announcement

Position Information

Campus Title

Campus Title Chief Communications and Marketing Officer

Department

Department Communications & Marketing

Position Summary

The Chief Communications and Marketing Officer is a senior leadership role reporting directly to the President with institution-wide authority for communications and marketing policy, standards, and strategy. The CCMO serves as the college’s chief communications architect and Public Information Officer (PIO). The CCMO will collaborate with cabinet colleagues and the President, strategically aligning resources and talents of the communications and marketing team to drive effective communications, media presence, enrollment marketing, brand expansion, and internal and external communications. The CCMO will create strategic alignment of institutional resources to elevate and amplify SUNY Geneseo’s brand and distinction as New York’s public honors college in a crowded higher education landscape. The CCMO will also cultivate a unified institution-wide synergy of marketing and communications efforts.

As a member of the President’s Cabinet, the CCMO establishes the overarching marketing and communications strategy that strengthens SUNY Geneseo’s visibility, reputation, and brand identity among internal and external audiences. This leader will guide a talented, highly collaborative communications and marketing team toward a shared strategic vision rooted in authenticity, creativity, institutional priorities, and measurable outcomes. The CCMO ensures continuity and alignment of marketing and communications efforts across all campus units by setting institutional standards, frameworks, and messaging priorities that support coordinated action. In doing so, the CCMO leverages the expertise within the central communications and marketing team while fostering productive partnerships across the institution, including enrollment management, athletics, advancement, and constituent relations, to support cohesive, integrated, and strategically aligned communications.

The CCMO oversees crisis communication planning and response, strengthens internal and external stakeholder relationships, and ensures cohesive, mission-aligned storytelling across units that advances enrollment, fundraising, and institutional reputation. The role requires a leader who embodies creativity, strategic thinking, superior written communication, trust, collaboration, advocacy, and a commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging; and who supports an empowered and highly effective hybrid work team.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, public relations, journalism, or related field.
• Accomplished professional with a record of successful and increasingly more responsible leadership experience in marketing, communications, or public relations for a complex organization.
• Superior writing, editing, and storytelling skills across media formats.
• Experience leading communications in crisis or high-pressure situations.
• Experience supervising professional staff and leading cross-functional teams.
• Commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in communications practices.
• Candidates for this position must be eligible to work in the United States. VISA sponsorship is not offered.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in marketing, communications, business, or higher education.
• Experience serving on a president’s cabinet or in an executive‑leadership role.
• Proven ability to navigate complex, matrixed organizational environments.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and support change‑management initiatives.
• High degree of political acumen and ability to navigate sensitive organizational dynamics.
• Strong judgment, discretion, and commitment to maintaining confidentiality.
• Ability to maintain composure, optimism, and clarity during crises or stress.
• Proven ability to lead and inspire creative teams with a collaborative, trust‑based leadership style.
• Demonstrated success in strategic planning, budget management, enrollment marketing, brand strategy, crisis communication, media relations, and social media.
• Experience serving as (or working closely with) a PIO.
• Experience in higher education or nonprofit communications and marketing.
• Demonstrated success in building content alignment strategies across multiple constituencies and leveraging data‑driven insights to influence key audience actions.
• Proficiency in digital marketing, including social media management, campaign development, and performance analytics.
• Experience guiding digital transformation, including CMS migration and digital redesign efforts.
• Experience using data, analytics, and research to inform strategy and measure outcomes.

License/Certification

Other Skills Required

Supervision Received

Reports to the college president.

Supervision Exercised

Oversees the staff of College Communications and Marketing.

Posting Number: S440

Number of Vacancies: 1

Line # to be filled: 0039

Full or Part-time: Full-Time

Appointment Type: Administrative

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: 07/01/2026

Job Posting Date: 03/06/2026

Apply By: 04/01/2026

Job Posting Closed Date: Open Until Filled Yes

Salary: $150,000 - $160,000

Special Instructions to Applicant

Please attach a cover letter, resume, and references. For guaranteed consideration applications must be received by April 1, 2026. Please note, this position is designated as Management Confidential and is not eligible for permanent appointment nor represented by a collective bargaining unit.

About SUNY Geneseo

Mission Statement We are a distinctive public liberal arts college that welcomes and inspires students to develop their knowledge and skills to build a better world. Our supportive, inclusive community is exceptional in cultivating creativity, engagement, and discovery. We find strength in diversity, joy in growth, and fulfillment in lifelong learning.

Vision We will cultivate a distinctive, equity-centered, public honors college experience that propels learners to positively impact society.

Values The Geneseo campus community is guided by our beliefs in and commitments to the following values:

• Learning : Embracing high expectations for intellectual inquiry, critical thinking, scholarly exploration, and personal growth.
• Creativity : Empowering a spirit of innovation that inspires intellectual curiosity, self-expression, and problem-solving.
• Belonging : Welcoming a diverse campus community that supports and celebrates different identities, promotes equity and inclusion, and respects the ideas and contributions of each individual.
• Civic Engagement : Encouraging active participation grounded in self-reflection, empathy, and an ethical commitment to the common good of our local and global communities.
• Sustainability : Building a culture of well-being that integrates and applies principles of environmental, social, and economic stewardship informed by an understanding of the past and our obligations to the future.

SUNY Geneseo is committed to fostering a diverse community of outstanding students, faculty, staff, and administration. We recruit, hire, train, and promote persons in all positions and ensure that all other personnel actions are conducted without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or any other protected characteristic.

Applicants, students, employees, and other members of the College community (including vendors, visitors, and guests) are protected from illegal forms of harassment or retaliation based upon a protected characteristic.

To request accommodation or assistance for job-related duties or the employment application process, please contact the Office of Diversity and Equity at or email . Find out more about our Community Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion!

Applicants interested in positions may access the Annual Security Report (ASR) for the College at . The ASR contains information on campus security policies and certain campus crime statistics. Crime statistics are reported in accordance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act. Applicants may request a hard copy of the ASR by contacting the SUNY Geneseo University Police Department at .

Core Duties

• Develop and implement a forward-looking, data-informed strategic communications and marketing plan for Geneseo that is aligned with college priorities and honors college identity and that demonstrates and elevates our equity-centered vision.
• Serve as a strategic advisor to the President, cabinet, and other senior leaders on communications, brand management, enrollment marketing, media strategy, social media, and crisis response.
• Serves as the primary campus liaison to SUNY System Administration’s Office of Communications, ensuring alignment with system-wide initiatives and coordinated response to statewide issues.

Job Duty/ Responsibility: Public Information Officer (PIO)

• Serve as the chief spokesperson for the College.
• Write and create all crisis and emergency communications, ensuring efficient, timely, transparent, and coordinated messaging.
• Advise institutional leaders on crisis strategy, reputational risk, and media relations.
• Establish an issues‑monitoring function to proactively identify emerging risks, reputational threats, and opportunities for strategic messaging.

Job Duty/ Responsibility: Brand Elevation and Content Strategy

• Drive a unified, compelling brand identity that reflects the college’s mission, values, and distinctive attributes.
• Champion a content-first strategy that prioritizes meaningful storytelling, and effective enrollment marketing and positioning.
• Ensure cohesive messaging across digital, print, media, and in-person channels.

Job Duty/ Responsibility: External Relations and Reputation Management

• Enhance and expand relationships with external partners, including media, community stakeholders, alumni, donors, and government agencies in conjunction with the offices of the president and college advancement.
• Develop communications that showcase the college’s value, impact, and leadership locally, regionally, and nationally.

Job Duty/ Responsibility: Internal Communications and Community Engagement

• Foster strong campus relationships that increase trust in and understanding of the Communications and Marketing officer.
• Provide transparent, timely internal communication strategies that support institutional culture and priorities.
• Ensure communications reflect and reinforce the institution’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, and belonging.

Job Duty/ Responsibility: Web Strategy and Digital Experience

• Set the strategic direction and provide executive oversight for the College’s digital presence, including governance and priorities of the website, ensuring alignment with institutional goals.
• Address critical capacity gaps by supporting the creation and integration of dedicated frontend web development/design expertise within Communications and Marketing.
• Ensure continuous improvement of the college’s website as its most important marketing platform through strategic oversight and prioritization.

Job Duty/ Responsibility: Team Leadership and Culture

• Provide executive oversight of operating budgets, staffing plans, external vendors, contracts, and resource allocation for Communications & Marketing.
• Support autonomy, while holding accountability, delivering strategic institutional positioning, and providing strategic guidance.
• Create an organizational structure that capitalizes on the team’s skills and expertise and ensures work aligns with strategic priorities.
• Support professional growth, collaboration, creativity, and morale.
• Lead with empathy, respect, and trust.

Supplemental Questions

Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).

• * Do you have a Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, public relations, journalism, or related field?
  • Yes
  • No
• * Do you have a record of successful and increasingly more responsible leadership experience in marketing, communications, or public relations for a complex organization?

  (Open Ended Question)

• Do you have experience leading communications in crisis or high-pressure situations?
  • Yes
  • No
• Do you have experience supervising professional staff and leading cross-functional teams?
  • Yes
  • No

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