Director of marketing and communications

Director of Marketing and Communications

Overview:

The Director of Marketing and Communications is a visionary leader to drive integrated marketing efforts and oversee strategic communications at The Summit Country Day School. The Summit Country Day School is a Catholic independent school minutes from downtown Cincinnati. Affiliated with The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, we offer a coeducational experience for students from 18 months through grade 12. Our mission is to educate leaders of character across five pillars, spiritually, academically, physically, socially and artistically.

Reporting to the Assistant Head of School for Advancement and Community Engagement, this role leads and oversees strategic communications, marketing, brand oversight, internal and external messaging, crisis communications, event and community communications. Tasks include, but are not limited to, project management, writing, editing, social media, publications, internal communications, website management, visual asset management. The Director of Marketing and Communications is charged with developing and implementing a clear, concise, and consistent communications strategy that captures the mission, vision and strategy of The Summit.

The Director of Marketing and Communications leads a team of professionals including two Communications Specialists and works with various contractors for additional photography, graphic design and writing needs.

This position is a member of The Summit’s Senior Leadership Team and works closely with other key administrators, departments, and school divisions to fulfill the mission of the school. will strengthen partnerships with the Admissions and Development programs and Head of School, ensuring thoughtful collaboration on goal setting and project management execution.

This position is full time, Monday-Friday with some evenings/weekends and travel required.

Candidates are expected to submit the following to complete their application:

• Cover Letter (required)

• Two writing samples. Examples could include short-form content (under 300 words), articles (500-1000 words), essay writing (longer than 1000 words), or other creative writing.

• Three marketing samples. Examples could include marketing campaign plans, digital marketing samples, print materials, event promotion materials, branding or visual identity examples, market data analysis and reporting and/or community engagement initiatives.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Leads the creation and execution of a comprehensive communication strategy and implementation of plan and materials to meet admission, development and community engagement goals and align with mission, purpose, and priorities of the organization, using a cohesive brand voice that showcases school accomplishments. This plan goes across multiple Summit constituents and touchpoints in their Summit journey.
• Lead brand oversight and management, consistent with brand guidelines, with school and community leaders, including marks, style, colors.
• Lead production of all-school publications; write and edit articles for the school’s magazine, annual report, website, and other school publications as needed.
• Maintain a Press Kit for public relations; establish relationships, create content, and distribute to local and national media outlets.
• Manage the school online presence including website, external web presence and social media presence on various platforms.
• Oversee and set a plan for the school’s visual content, including photo and video needs.
• Oversee regular school email/web communications; assist leadership, faculty and staff with communication requests.
• Create and support the school’s crisis communication approach; serves as the school’s public relations point of contact.
• Oversee and manage the implementation of the marketing plan, to include various channels, including providing regular updates on effectiveness of different marketing efforts.
• Lead market research and partner on customer satisfaction efforts to influence marketing and communication strategies.
• Engages in learning and sharing industry and product and tool best practices to incorporate into school marketing and communication approaches
• Participates with Assistant Head of School for Advancement and Community Engagement in Board committee agenda preparation and delivery for Marketing and Enrollment Committee, including developing recommendations and reporting for Board of Trustees.
• Engages as an active member of The Summit Senior Leadership Team on various school-wide priorities and projects, as assigned; facilitates productive relationships with school community to assist with effectiveness of programs and capture real-time stories and experiences. Supervisory Responsibilities:
• Oversees, assigns, plans, and oversees the work of departmental team.
• Works closely with, mentors and positively motivates the Marketing and Communications team to strategize and meet departmental goals; conducts timely and constructive performance evaluations.
• Manages outside contractors to meet school and department priorities.
• Partners with HR on employee engagement efforts.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree, Master’s Preferred.
• Minimum 7 years of experience in communications and marketing-related positions.
• Experience working within a non-profit educational institution, preferred.
• Experience managing direct reports, preferred.
• Experience working with communications tools, including proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, digital tools, social medial platforms, email marketing platforms, search engine optimization analytics, creative suites, CRM tools, project management tools and new media platform.
• Proficiency in writing, editing and content production; a portfolio is required. Knowledge in AP style.
• Strong interpersonal, organizational, follow through, and analytical skills that demonstrate effective leadership, collaboration, project management, attention to detail and creativity.
• Desire and experience with process improvement; ability to prioritize and execute own responsibilities and responsibilities of the team, in the face of competing priorities and deadlines.
• Ability to handle multiple, complex situations with professionalism, poise, maturity, and flexibility.
• Commitment to The Summit’s mission, vision and values and desire to be engage in school life. Job Application Requirements: In addition to your resume, please send the following, as available, to .