Senior Director of Communications

The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) is seeking to add an experienced Senior Director of Communications to its team.

The Senior Director of Communications provides strategic leadership direction for ADEA’s communications efforts, including the development of the organization’s library of online and digital publications and the creation and execution of proactive public relations strategy and media outreach across all platforms. This position will ensure activities are mission-driven and scalable and provide rapid and effective communication with key stakeholders, leveraging existing tools, methods and best practices. This role is also responsible for managing outreach in forming and maintaining strategic partnerships with communications professionals at like-minded organizations, member institutions and media in the oral health, healthcare and higher education communities. The position collaborates with ADEA spokespersons to draft messaging, speeches and presentations for both internal and external needs. The role leverages content, data and messaging to position ADEA as The Voice of Dental Education to existing and new audiences.   

The Senior Director collaborates with the Chief Communications and Marketing Officer and Vice President of Marketing and Branding to develop and execute the organizational marketing and communications strategy and planning. This position manages and supports the development of a team of five full-time and one part-time employee.

Primary Responsibilities

Publications

• Performs environmental scan of publications by other associations and nonprofits and applies that knowledge to decisions that are in ADEA’s best interests.
• Maintains a master production schedule for all of the organization’s publications and enforces timelines and deliverables.
• Writes text and copy as needed.

Media Communications

• Leads and coordinates all activities of communications, PR and media consultants.
• Designs a proactive press and media strategy and cultivates and sustains effective working relations with news executives, editors, and journalists to create opportunities to position ADEA as the thought leader in oral health education.
• Acts as primary lead for the association’s media service, Cision.
• Oversees the creation and maintenance of the ADEA communications and media contact database.
• Leads the public relations production and distribution of press releases and communications with local, regional and national media outlets.
• Monitors effective benchmarks for measuring the impact of all communication platforms and report on results and their contribution to the overall strategic framework for the organization.
• Collaborates with other staff to provide content for social media channels, blogs, podcasts and other communications platforms as necessary.
• Provides media training for ADEA spokespersons, Board of Directors and other stakeholders as necessary.

Budgets, Advertising and Finance

• Oversees and develops the budget for the Communications area, including budgets for publications, media resources and related subscriptions and/or software. Meets the expenses and revenue budgeted for each.
• Advises the Chief Communications and Marketing Officer about advertising possibilities and ways to generate additional revenue.
• Oversees the work of ADEA’s online advertising agency to ensure maximum return on advertising on all platforms.
• Reconciles expenses, consultant invoices, and other Communications-related bills and processes them in Anybill.

Supervision

• Manages and develops a team to support departmental goals, which includes five full-time employees (Director of Publications, Senior Communications Manager, Senior Editor, Copyeditor and Proofreader, and Publications and Membership Manager) and one part-time employee.

• Baccalaureate degree in English, Communications, Journalism or a related degree.
• A minimum of ten years managing media, public relations, communications and publications, with at least five years in a leadership or supervisory role.