Assistant Dean of Communications & Marketing (SAIS, School of Advanced International Studies)

We are seeking a Assistant Dean of Communications & Marketing at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a senior leadership role responsible for creating, implementing, and assessing comprehensive external and internal communications and marketing strategies to advance the school’s mission. They will enhance the school’s visibility and reputation by effectively communicating its achievements; sharing the accomplishments and contributions of faculty, students, staff, alumni, institutes, and centers; highlighting the academic rigor and policy relevance of its academic programs and degree offerings; and showcasing the unique co-curricular opportunities at SAIS locations in Washington, DC, Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China. The Assistant Dean will oversee the school’s communications and marketing teams, ensuring the quality and integrity of the SAIS brand across all media channels.

The Assistant Dean of Communications and Marketing will partner with the Dean, SAIS leadership, faculty, and senior university leaders to develop and implement forward-thinking communications strategies that further establish the school’s reputation as a global leader in foreign affairs research, teaching, and learning. The successful candidate will be a strategic thinker with a deep understanding of the complexities of both academic and foreign affairs communications and demonstrated experience navigating fast-paced media environments. They will have a deep understanding of SAIS’ key external constituencies—press, public officials and policymakers, and influential voices in international affairs—and demonstrated ability to tailor content and delivery to engage each group. They will also have a strong track record of leading multifaceted communications efforts, managing and mentoring multidisciplinary teams, and driving initiatives in brand awareness, enrollment and recruitment marketing, and influencer and stakeholder engagement campaigns.

Specific Duties & Responsibilities

Strategic Planning and Leadership

• Develops and oversees the department’s mission and goals to align with the school’s strategic plan and core values.
• Work with the Dean, the school’s leadership team, and university leadership to craft an overall strategic communications and marketing plan—identifying key audiences, priorities, and deliverables—that leverages the school’s unique global presence and advances its strategic priorities.
• Establish clear objectives for the communications and marketing program. Develop and track metrics to continually monitor progress towards goals, measure digital and media success, benchmark against peers, and respond to opportunities for improvement. Provide reports to leadership and stakeholders to demonstrate impact.
• Support school and university leadership in navigating the communications opportunities and risks; provide strategic and tactical guidance to anticipate challenges and protect and enhance the reputation of the school, its people, and its work.
• Build the communications and marketing infrastructure to support future growth, including investment in visual and website assets.
• Liaise with communications and marketing offices at Johns Hopkins University and identify opportunities for collaboration.

External Communications and Media Relations

• Lead the school's media engagement and digital communications to promote the work of the school and its faculty, associated centers, and programs across multiple channels to reach target audiences.
• Drive an active, forward-looking media relations strategy to elevate school leaders, faculty experts, centers, and institutes as thought-leaders on key issues driving the media and public conversation.
• Develop and deploy a robust, owned-media strategy to leverage social media, websites, video, podcasts, live events, and other channels
• Oversee crisis communication for the school, ensuring preparedness and effective response strategies and execution for internal and external audiences.
• Serve as a spokesperson for the school as needed and advise and prepare faculty and other experts for media and public appearances.

Internal Communications

• Develop and execute internal communication plans to engage faculty, staff, and students, utilizing appropriate tools and channels, ensuring consistent messaging, and alignment with strategic goals.
• Partner with school and university leadership to build, refine, and anticipate needs for internal messaging.

Marketing and Branding

• Lead efforts to market and promote the school’s academic programs, scholarship, events, and activities through coordinated marketing campaigns. As