Responsibilities

• Develop and lead a comprehensive, multi-year communications and marketing strategy aligned with the Center’s strategic plan, mission, clinical identity, and institutional priorities.
• Serve as a senior advisor to the Medical Director/CEO, senior leadership, and Board committees on reputation, positioning, executive communications, public affairs, emerging issues, and communications risk.
• Translate the distinctive value of Austen Riggs’ treatment model, institutional history, research, education, and thought leadership into clear, compelling messages for national audiences.
• Maintain a current, nuanced understanding of the behavioral health care marketplace, including private equity activity, nonprofit and community-based systems, payer and referral trends, workforce pressures, regulatory developments, consumer behavior, and evolving models of care.
• Develop audience-specific strategies for prospective patients and families, clinicians and referrers, alumni, donors, researchers, educators, policymakers, media, and the broader mental health community.
• Partner closely with Admissions and Referral Relations to strengthen the referral pipeline, improve market intelligence, support census goals, and evaluate the effectiveness of outreach and conversion strategies.
• Collaborate with Development and Alumni Relations, the Erikson Institute, clinical leadership, theOnlineIntensive Outpatient Program, and other departments to ensure that communications are coordinated, mission-aligned, and mutually reinforcing.
• Lead brand stewardship and ensure consistency, accuracy, accessibility, and quality across all internal and external communications, including publications, presentations, campaigns, events, media relations, and executive messaging.
• Direct the Center’s digital strategy, including website governance and optimization, search engine optimization and marketing, social media, email marketing, content strategy, online reputation, CRM integration, marketing automation, and performance analytics.
• Evaluate and implement responsible uses of artificial intelligence in communications and marketing, including content workflows, audience insights, personalization, search strategy, operational efficiency, quality control, privacy, and brand governance.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, journalism, public relations, business, health care administration, orrelatedfield; advanced degree preferred.
• At least 10 years of progressively responsible communications and marketing experience, including significant leadership experience in behavioral health, health care, or a closely related mission-driven field.
• Demonstrated national knowledge of behavioral health carelandscapes includingcommunity, nonprofit, academic, and independent provider settings.
• Proven success leading communications within complex, multidisciplinary organizations thatrequireinfluence across clinical, operational, administrative, governance, and external stakeholder groups.
• Strong record of developing and executing integratedbrand, communications,referral, and growth strategies tied to measurable organizational outcomes.
• Advanced knowledge of digital marketing, website strategy and governance, content management systems, SEO/SEM, social media, email platforms, CRM systems, marketing automation, analytics, and online reputation management.
• Demonstrated ability to assess and apply AI-enabled tools strategically and responsibly, with attention to accuracy, privacy, ethics, governance, and organizational readiness.
• Exceptional writing, editing, presentation, and verbal communication skills, with the ability to make complex clinical and institutional ideas understandable without oversimplifying them.
• Experience with media relations, executive communications, crisis communications, and reputation management.
• Strong financial and operational judgment, including budget management, vendor oversight, prioritization, and resource allocation.

Preferred

• A strategic thinker who can connect mission, market context, audience needs, and organizational goals.
• A collaborative, politically astute leader who can build trust, manage competing perspectives, and move work forward in a complex workplace system.
• A credible and curious learner with respectforclinicalexpertise, institutional culture, and the lived experience of patients and families.
• A decisive, accountable operator who combineshigh standardswith practicality, responsiveness, and follow-through.
• A thoughtful steward of the Austen Riggs brand and reputation, grounded in integrity, discretion, empathy, and sound judgment.
• A modern communications leader who is comfortable with experimentation, data, technology, and responsible innovation.