Chief Communications Officer

Minneapolis, MN (Hybrid)

$170K/yr – $200K/yrSenior Level12+ years expFull time

Posted 3 months ago

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Job Summary

Drive strategic marketing communications as a senior leader to unify brand, enrollment, and external engagement for the CLA.

  • Lead a marketing communications team and align strategy with college goals.
  • Must-have: BA/BS in a relevant field with 12+ years in strategic communications.
  • Standout: Executive leadership, crisis planning, and cross-functional alignment across a university system.

Job Description

Responsibilities

  • Lead a talented marketing communications team looking for a leader to unify operations, foster a culture of trust, and reimagine how our internal and external communications can drive the College’s mission forward.
  • Developing innovative marketing communication strategies to highlight the groundbreaking research, world-class faculty, and extraordinary students who make the CLA a global leader in liberal arts education.
  • The CCO serves as the college’s lead brand and identity architect, responsible for the development and successful implementation of strategies that position the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) to all internal and external stakeholders.
  • Lead an integrated marketing communications strategy that aligns and supports the University’s brand, communications and enrollment marketing strategies and drives external engagement, student recruitment, and engagement with donors, alumni, and external partners.
  • Key focus areas include developing and implementing a collegiate internal and leadership communications plan that aligns with the CLA’s long-term strategic goals, utilizing analytics to guide decision-making to ensure that communication strategies serve the broader collegiate and University vision, mission and strategic roadmap.
  • Partner with collegiate offices and the Dean's cabinet to promote the CLA's academic programs, research, and major events to diverse audiences, including prospective students, alumni, benefactors and external stakeholders.
  • Strategic Enrollment Marketing Communications Planning - Partner with the Chief Student Success Officer (CSSO) and University Marketing Communications to translate recruitment and enrollment goals into tailored, high-impact marketing communication strategies.
  • Research & Impact Positioning - Collaborate with the Associate Dean for Research (ORGP) and the Associate Dean for Diversity, Inclusion, Community Engagement and Equity (DICEE) and University Marketing Communications to elevate the college’s profile as a premier research institution and an engaged community partner.
  • Executive Leadership & Operational Alignment - Provide mentorship and high-level direction to the marketing communications team. Lead and facilitate a nimble workplan that aligns creative output and resource allocations to advance the actions and objectives within the University and College 5-year strategic plan.
  • External Relations, Crisis Communication, and Advising on Sensitive Matters - Serve as a trusted strategic advisor to the Dean and other collegiate leaders on sensitive communication matters, including handling crisis communications and issue management planning in collaboration with the Strategic Communications team within University Marketing Communications.
  • Manage and review internal and external communications for senior leadership.
University of Minnesota logo

University of Minnesota

One of the nation’s largest schools, the University of Minnesota offers baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral degrees in virtually every field—from medicine to business, law to liberal arts, and science and engineering to architecture. The University of Minnesota system is made up of five campuses in Minnesota including Crookston, Duluth, Morris, Rochester, and the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul). University of Minnesota Extension provides outreach and education services to Minnesota's communities through science-based knowledge, expertise and training.The University of Minnesota was recognized by Forbes in 2018 in the Best Employer, Best Employer for Diversity, and Best Employer for New Grads categories.

Founded in 2007
Minnesota, USA
28K employees (535 in marketing)

Traffic Signals

Monthly Visitors
8.9M
Monthly Google Ads Budget
$782.6K
Traffic Source Mix
Search
45%
Direct
47.8%
Referral
6.1%
Social
0.7%
Paid
0.3%

Headcount Trend

Current headcount: ~28K

Marketing Team

Marketing Team Size
535 (2% of company)
Median Career Experience
13 years
Median Tenure
6.1 years
Marketing Roles Posted (Last 30 Days)
7

Funding

Total Funding
$97.1M
Last Raise
$25K
Grant, 2 years ago

Funding History

  • Dec 2023
    Grant • $25K
  • May 2023
    Grant • $20M
  • Apr 2023
    Grant • $10M

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