Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a comprehensive, School-wide marketing strategy aligned with Columbia Journalism School’s institutional priorities and enrollment and revenue goals.
• Conduct audience research and segmentation to identify new and emerging markets for the School’s degree and non-degree programs. Develop compelling positioning, messaging, and campaigns tailored to distinct audiences and programs.
• Build and execute integrated, multichannel campaigns across paid, owned, earned, social, digital, email, search, and other appropriate channels. Identify opportunities to strengthen the School’s visibility and competitive position and introduce new approaches to reaching audiences beyond traditional higher education and journalism recruitment channels.
• Manage the School’s marketing budget and recommend investments based on strategic priorities, performance, and expected return.
• Serve 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. Develop and execute strategies and campaigns that generate awareness, interest, and qualified prospective students for the School’s degree programs.
• Identify new audiences, markets, partnerships, channels, and approaches for reaching prospective students, including career changers and individuals who may not have previously considered journalism education. Develop marketing strategies that communicate the value of a Columbia Journalism School education, including the relevance and transferability of journalism skills across a changing media and professional landscape.
• Partner with Admissions to develop the marketing funnel from initial awareness and lead generation through prospect engagement, while supporting Admissions’ work converting prospects into applicants and enrolled students.
• Use audience, campaign, enrollment, and conversion data to evaluate effectiveness and continually refine recruitment marketing strategy. Partner with Admissions and Communications on email, digital, web, social, paid-media, and other campaigns throughout the recruitment cycle.
• Work with the Chief of Staff to align marketing strategy with the School’s broader communications priorities, institutional voice, and reputation.
• Supervise the Senior Digital Communications Specialist and provide strategic direction for digital communications, social media, multimedia storytelling, website content, and other communications channels.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Minimum of five to seven years of progressively responsible experience in marketing, audience development, enrollment marketing, growth marketing, communications, or a related field.

Preferred

• 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.
• Understanding of the changing journalism and media landscape and an interest in the role journalism education can play within it.
• The successful candidate will be 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. As part of a small Marketing & Communications team, the Director must be adaptable and willing to work hands-on across functions when needed.
• The position requires 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.