WGVU Director of Marketing and Communications

Grand Rapids, MI (On-site)

Salary Not AvailableSenior Level7+ years expFull time

Posted 12 days ago

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Job Description

Responsibilities

  • Serve as a member of the WGVU Public Media Senior Leadership Team, contributing to the mission, vision, and strategic direction of the organization.
  • Develop and implement comprehensive marketing and communications strategies that support WGVU’s mission, brand positioning, audience growth goals, and revenue development initiatives, including integrated campaigns that support programming promotion and fundraising efforts in collaboration with the Development Department.
  • Provide executive oversight, supervision, and mentorship to the Marketing and Communications Department, including professional development, performance management, and goal-setting for all direct reports.
  • Lead brand management and ensure consistent messaging and visual identity for WGVU Public Media across television, radio, digital, social media, print, and community engagement channels.
  • Oversee all external communications including media and press relations, community outreach, stakeholder messaging, crisis communications, and coordination with PBS, NPR, and other public media partners on national marketing initiatives and co-promotions; cultivate relationships with local, regional, and national media contacts.
  • Provide strategic direction and approval authority for WGVU’s digital communications strategy, including website, email marketing, social media, and audience engagement platforms.
  • Lead internal communications efforts that align staff around organizational priorities, messaging, and culture.
  • Create and present an annual communications strategy and bi-annual communications analysis to station leadership.
  • Develop, manage, and report on department budgets; analyze marketing performance and audience data to inform strategic decision-making and present outcomes to senior leadership.
  • Perform other duties as required/assigned by leadership.

Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Journalism, Public Relations, or related field.
  • Minimum of seven (7) years of professional experience in marketing, communications, or a related field.
  • Minimum of three (3) years of demonstrated experience leading, supervising, and developing professional staff and teams.
  • Demonstrated experience managing integrated marketing campaigns across multiple media platforms.
  • Strong strategic thinking and ability to translate organizational goals into actionable marketing strategies.
  • Experience analyzing marketing metrics and audience data to guide strategy.
  • Experience with various computer software applications (Microsoft Office, Outlook, Teams, etc).
  • Commitment to WGVU’s vision of diversity, inclusion, and equity.
  • Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
  • Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and meet deadlines.

Preferred

  • Master’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Business Administration, or a related discipline.
  • Experience in public media, nonprofit communications, or higher education communications.
  • Understanding of public media audiences, mission-driven communications, and public broadcasting environments.
  • Experience with digital marketing platforms, marketing automation tools, and audience analytics systems.
  • Experience managing media relations and public communications during organizational initiatives or transitions.
  • Experience managing cross-functional or multi-disciplinary teams.

Benefits

  • Minimum starting salary of $95,000, commensurate with experience.
  • Comprehensive benefits package including medical, vision, dental, life insurance, generous employer retirement contributions, wellness resources and tuition waiver effective on date of hire.
Grand Valley State University logo

Grand Valley State University

Grand Valley State University, one of the 100 largest universities in the nation, attracts more than 25,000 students with high-quality programs and state-of-the-art facilities. Grand Valley is a comprehensive university serving students from all 83 Michigan counties and dozens of other states and foreign countries. Grand Valley offers 87 undergraduate and 37 graduate degree programs from campuses in Allendale, Grand Rapids and Holland, and from centers in Muskegon, Traverse City and Detroit. The university is dedicated to individual student achievement, going beyond the traditional classroom experience, with research opportunities and business partnerships.

Founded in 1960
Allendale, Michigan, USA
6.3K employees (288 in marketing)

Traffic Signals

Monthly Visitors
1.1M
Monthly Google Ads Budget
$218.1K
Traffic Source Mix
Search
43.3%
Direct
50.1%
Referral
5.1%
Social
1%
Paid
0.3%

Headcount Trend

Current headcount: ~6.3K

Marketing Team

Marketing Team Size
176 (3% of company)
Marketing Roles Posted (Last 30 Days)
1

Funding

Total Funding
$1.9M
Last Raise
$1M
Grant, 26 days ago

Funding History

  • Feb 2026
    Grant • $1M
  • Mar 2022
    Grant • $900K

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