Director of Marketing & Communications

Director of Marketing & Communications Reporting to the Chief of Staff, the Director of Marketing and Communications will lead the development and execution of an integrated marketing strategy for Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. The position will play a central role in expanding the School's reach, strengthening its market position, and identifying and engaging new audiences for its degree programs, professional and executive education offerings, and other strategic initiatives.
A primary focus of the role will be enrollment marketing. Working closely with Admissions and Financial Aid, the Director of Marketing and Communications will develop strategies to increase awareness of Columbia Journalism School among prospective students, generate qualified prospects, and grow the pipeline for the School's academic programs. The successful candidate will bring particular expertise in identifying and reaching audiences who may not already be considering graduate journalism education and translating the School's distinctive strengths into compelling campaigns that drive interest and enrollment. The position will complement and amplify the School's existing recruitment efforts by bringing dedicated marketing expertise in audience development, market research, positioning, campaign strategy, and lead generation.
The Director will also provide marketing strategy and support for other School priorities, including professional and executive education programs, alumni and development initiatives, and other emerging programs. The position will work across departments to understand their goals, identify audiences, and develop effective approaches to reaching them.
The Director of Marketing and Communications will supervise the Senior Digital Communications Specialist and help integrate marketing strategy with the School's digital communications, content, social media, website, and storytelling efforts. Working as part of a small, collaborative team, the Director must be equally comfortable setting strategy and executing it and will contribute directly to campaigns, content, digital platforms, and other marketing and communications work as needs arise. The position will establish goals and metrics for marketing initiatives, assess performance and return on investment, and use data and experimentation to continuously improve the School's approach.
Responsibilities include developing and implementing a comprehensive, School-wide marketing strategy aligned with Columbia Journalism School's institutional priorities and enrollment and revenue goals; conducting audience research and segmentation to identify new and emerging markets for the School's degree and non-degree programs; building and executing integrated, multichannel campaigns across paid, owned, earned, social, digital, email, search, and other appropriate channels; managing the School's marketing budget and recommending investments based on strategic priorities, performance, and expected return; serving as the School's lead marketing strategist for student recruitment, working in close partnership with Admissions and Financial Aid to complement and strengthen existing recruitment efforts; identifying new audiences, markets, partnerships, channels, and approaches for reaching prospective students; partnering with Admissions to develop the marketing funnel from initial awareness and lead generation through prospect engagement; using audience, campaign, enrollment, and conversion data to evaluate effectiveness and continually refine recruitment marketing strategy; working with the Chief of Staff to align marketing strategy with the School's broader communications priorities, institutional voice, and reputation; supervising the Senior Digital Communications Specialist and providing strategic direction for digital communications, social media, multimedia storytelling, website content, and other communications channels; identifying opportunities to leverage faculty expertise, student experiences, alumni accomplishments, academic programs, events, research, and School initiatives in support of marketing goals; collaborating with colleagues across the School to ensure consistent messaging and effective use of the Columbia Journalism School brand; working hands-on across marketing and communications functions as needed, including developing and deploying campaigns, drafting and editing content, managing digital channels, updating web content, and supporting time-sensitive communications; developing marketing strategies for professional, executive, certificate, and other non-degree educational offerings, with particular attention to audience development and enrollment growth; partnering with Development, Alumni Relations, Academic Affairs, and other units on priority initiatives requiring marketing strategy or audience engagement; establishing processes for prioritizing and managing School-wide marketing needs based on institutional goals, available resources, and potential impact; establishing KPIs and reporting frameworks for marketing initiatives, including audience growth, lead generation, engagement, conversion, enrollment, and return on investment; analyzing campaign and audience performance and translating findings into actionable recommendations; developing a culture of testing and experimentation, including testing messages, audiences, channels, creative approaches, and calls to action; monitoring changes in media consumption, digital marketing, higher education, journalism, and audience behavior and recommending new approaches as appropriate; evaluating marketing platforms, tools, vendors, agencies, and partnerships and managing external resources as needed; and performing other related duties and special projects as needed.
Minimum Qualifications include a Bachelor's degree required and minimum of five to seven years of progressively responsible experience in marketing, audience development, enrollment marketing, growth marketing, communications, or a related field.
Preferred Qualifications include experience in higher education, graduate enrollment marketing, professional or executive education, or another education-related environment; experience marketing programs or services that require a significant investment or considered decision by the consumer; demonstrated success identifying and cultivating new audiences beyond an organization's traditional customer or participant base; experience with CRM, marketing automation, digital advertising, analytics, audience segmentation, and campaign-management platforms; experience managing marketing budgets and external agencies or vendors; experience working in journalism, media, education, nonprofit, cultural, membership, or other mission-driven organizations; and understanding of the changing journalism and media landscape and an interest in the role journalism education can play within it.
Other Requirements include the successful candidate being a creative, strategic, collaborative, and data-informed marketer who is equally comfortable developing long-term strategy and rolling up their sleeves to execute the work; the position requiring an ability to work effectively with colleagues across the School, understand the goals and needs of different programs and departments, establish priorities among competing demands, and build consensus while maintaining clear accountability for marketing strategy and results; demonstrated experience developing and executing marketing strategies that produce measurable audience acquisition, lead generation, enrollment, membership, customer acquisition, or comparable growth; experience developing and executing integrated campaigns across multiple channels, including digital and paid media; demonstrated ability to use data and analytics to inform strategy, assess campaign performance, and make investment decisions; experience supervising staff and/or leading multidisciplinary teams; excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills; strong project-management skills and demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities and stakeholders in a complex organization; and Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran. Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.