Senior Director, Presidential Communications

Newark, DE (On-site)

Salary Not AvailableSenior Level10+ years expFull time

Posted 3 months ago

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Job Summary

Drive strategic, high-stakes presidential messaging by writing speeches and shaping narratives for internal and external audiences at a top research university.

  • Own the President’s speeches and high-level messaging across campus and external events.
  • Must-have: Demonstrated experience writing for senior executives and translating complex topics into accessible narratives.
  • Standout: Advisory role with cross-functional impact on reputation and strategic communications.

Job Description

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.

Requirements

  • 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.
  • 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.

Preferred

  • Experience as a spokesperson is a plus.
University of Delaware logo

University of Delaware

The University of Delaware - a state assisted, privately chartered institution - is a Land Grant, Sea Grant, Space Grant and Carnegie Research University (very high research activity). The University, with origins in 1743, was chartered by the State of Delaware in 1833. A Women's College was opened in 1914, and in 1945 UD became permanently coeducational. The main campus is located in Newark, Delaware, a suburban community of nearly 30,000, situated midway between Philadelphia and Baltimore. Courses are also offered at the Wilmington campus and at other locations throughout the State, including Dover, Georgetown, Milford, and Lewes.

Newark, Delaware, USA
11K employees (591 in marketing)

Traffic Signals

Monthly Visitors
2.1M
Monthly Google Ads Budget
$185.6K
Traffic Source Mix
Search
47.4%
Direct
45%
Referral
6.3%
Social
0.6%
Paid
0.5%

Headcount Trend

Current headcount: ~11.4K

Marketing Team

Marketing Team Size
386 (3% of company)

Funding

Total Funding
$5.3M
Last Raise
$200K
Grant, 1 years ago

Funding History

  • Oct 2024
    Grant • $200K
  • Sep 2023
    Grant • $3M
  • Jul 2023
    Grant • $100K

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