Assistant Director of Digital Marketing & Communications

Assistant Director Of Digital Marketing & Communications

Khan Lab School, founded by Sal Khan in 2014, is an innovative TK-12 independent school with 3 campuses, serving over 260 students in Silicon Valley, CA and Wichita, KS. Our Lower School (grades TK-5) is in Palo Alto, CA, and our Middle and Upper Schools (grades 6-12) are in Mountain View, CA.
We were established to test and refine the educational vision outlined in Sal Khan's 2012 book, "The One World Schoolhouse," which explores the development of modern education, the origins of Khan Academy, and a forward-thinking approach to both in-person and online learning. Building on this foundation, Sal Khan's latest book, "Brave New Words," further expands on his educational philosophy and vision for the future. At Khan Lab School, we're committed to implementing these innovative ideas and preparing students for success in the rapidly evolving knowledge economy.
Khan Lab School is seeking a creative, collaborative, and technically curious Assistant Director of Digital Marketing & Communications to lead the school's brand, marketing, and community communications. This is a newly created, high-impact role, reporting directly to the Executive Director.
The Assistant Director is expected to bring recommendations to leadership — not just execute on direction — including regular reporting to the Board of Trustees and oversight of student interns who extend the department's reach. This role also directly shapes how prospective families discover, evaluate, and choose Khan Lab School, making it one of the most consequential contributors to enrollment health and long-term institutional growth.
As the school's dedicated marketing leader, the Assistant Director is responsible for building and running a cohesive marketing and communications program that amplifies KLS's extraordinary story, grows enrollment awareness, and strengthens community connection. A central element of this role is managing the school's relationship with an outside marketing agency: setting strategy, directing creative, holding the agency accountable to KLS's brand standards and performance goals, and ensuring all output reflects the authentic voice and values of the school.
This is fundamentally a doer's role. The right candidate gets things done — they write the post, build the template, pull the report, and solve the problem in front of them. They bring fresh ideas, earn trust across faculty, staff, families, and external partners, and are energized by the challenge of building systems that make the whole team more effective.
A defining characteristic of this role is a daily, hands-on relationship with AI tools. We're not looking for someone who has heard of AI — we're looking for someone who already reaches for tools like Claude Design, Pomelli, and others, as part of their everyday workflow, and who gets excited about discovering what's next. They will also build and maintain a library of branded templates that empower faculty, staff, and administrators to handle lower-stakes communications independently, reducing bottlenecks and freeing the Assistant Director to focus on higher-impact work.
This role is ideal for a resourceful problem-solver who thrives at the intersection of mission-driven storytelling and results-oriented execution — someone who understands that awareness alone doesn't drive enrollment, and who knows how to build the infrastructure to capture momentum.
Specific Job Duties & Responsibilities

Serve as the steward of the KLS brand — ensuring a consistent voice, visual identity, and messaging across all channels in alignment with KLS brand guidelines.
Develop and own the annual content strategy and editorial calendar, grounded in performance data, audience behavior, and enrollment funnel analysis — not intuition alone
Direct and produce a range of content formats — written, visual, and video — including social posts, email campaigns, press releases, viewbooks, event collateral, and digital publications.
Oversee student-created content programs, including the student marketing club, providing editorial direction and quality standards while preserving student voice and authenticity.
Manage and maintain a growing library of professional photography and video content; coordinate 1-2 professional shoots per year for imagery, with iPhone-quality content produced on campus regularly by the Assistant Director and others.
Maintain and improve the KLS website in collaboration with web vendors or the outside agency; ensure all pages are optimized for search (SEO), conversion, and mobile experience.
Manage and create the school's digital publications on platforms ensuring annual reports, viewbooks, and newsletters are searchable, shareable, and on-brand.
Leverage content produced by School Founder Sal Khan — including regularly clipping media appearances, podcast segments, and talks for use across school social channels, blog posts, and enrollment marketing materials.
Use AI tools — including Claude Design, Pomelli, and other emerging platforms — as part of your daily workflow to increase the speed, quality, and creativity of the department's output.
Stay current on new AI tools and proactively adopt those that improve marketing effectiveness; bring a learner's mindset and share discoveries with the team.
Proactively identify workflows where AI tools can reduce manual effort and improve consistency across brand touchpoints.
Build and maintain a library of branded, easy-to-use templates (in Canva, Google Docs, email platforms, and similar tools) that empower faculty, staff, and administrators to create internal, lower-stakes communications independently — reducing bottlenecks and enabling the team to self-serve.
Bring a problem-solving mindset to operational challenges: when something is slow, broken, or unclear, identify and implement a better solution rather than waiting for direction.
Proactively surface innovative ideas for promoting the school's programs, events, and mission — staying current on trends in digital marketing, AI, and independent school communications.
Collaborate closely and generously across departments — approaching every internal partnership with a spirit of service, clarity, and follow-through.
Manage an organized photo archive that is complete and accessible to others, as needed.
Build and execute KLS's digital marketing program across owned, earned, and paid channels — including Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Vimeo, and TikTok.
Develop and manage the school's social SEO strategy — hashtag architecture, keyword use, and short-form video — so Khan Lab School is findable where prospective families actually search.
Plan and manage the school's paid digital advertising in partnership with an outside agency, including Google Ads and Meta/Instagram campaigns; monitor performance data and direct the agency to optimize for awareness and inquiry.
Build and manage the school's email marketing program (Mailchimp), including segmented campaigns for prospective families, current family communications, and event invitations in collaboration with the admissions team.
Manage and optimize the school's presence on third-party review and ranking platforms including Niche.com, GreatSchools, and Google Business Profile.
Own the school's marketing analytics function: build and maintain dashboards tracking website traffic, social growth, email engagement, and paid ad performance; identify trends and conversion gaps; translate findings into clear strategic direction for agency partners; and deliver monthly performance reports to the Executive Director and leadership team that connect marketing activity to enrollment outcomes.
Serve as the primary point of contact for an outside marketing agency, managing the day-to-day relationship, creative reviews, project timelines, and deliverables.
Develop and communicate clear briefs that translate the School's mission and enrollment goals into actionable direction for agency partners.
Evaluate agency performance against defined KPIs — including cost-per-inquiry, conversion rates, and audience growth — and hold partners accountable to brand standards, deadlines, and budget using data, not just intuition.
Manage additional marketing vendors, as needed, including photographers, videographers, print vendors, and platform providers, as required. Be able to produce quality video and photographs, as needed.
Lead all-school communications to current families — newsletters, ParentSquare announcements, emergency communications, and divisional updates — in a voice that is warm, clear, and on-brand.
Support the Executive Director and leadership team with communications drafting, talking points, presentation materials, and internal messaging.
Build and maintain media relationships; serve as the school's primary point of contact for press inquiries; manage proactive PR outreach to local and national education media.
Coordinate with the Business Office on gala materials, annual fund campaigns, and alumni outreach.
Support the Admissions team by ensuring all top-of-funnel marketing materials, landing pages, and campaigns are aligned with enrollment goals — while the Admissions team owns the inquiry and application process directly.
Participate actively in the life of the school — attending community events, open houses, division showcases, and the