Associate Director, Marketing and Communications

Position Summary:

The Associate Director of Marketing and Communications serves as a key advisor and strategic partner to Vanderbilt Divinity School leadership by overseeing all communications and marketing strategy for the School’s programs and initiatives, managing print, web, press releases and digital campaigns, social media, and audio and video that provide information about the Divinity School and showcase stories that speak to the impact of the school on prospective and current students, alumni, donors, faculty research and scholarship, and the broader community. The Associate Director is a subject matter expert who utilizes industry best practices to support the Divinity School’s mission and to expand its reach to a national audience. In concert with the Senior Director of Strategic Enrollment Management, this position further engages our incoming and prospective students as part of a recruitment plan to maximize annual enrollment. The Associate Director also works closely with the co-curricular program directors as well as lifelong learning to promote, support, and attract new audiences to the Divinity School in fulfillment of the school’s larger strategic priorities. 

Reporting to the Dean of the Vanderbilt Divinity School, the Associate Director of Marketing and Communications is a highly collaborative team member who manages multiple projects simultaneously and creatively, thoroughly, and confidently within an environment of competing priorities. The Associate Director is a thought leader who improves upon existing processes and leverages university partners and resources to ensure the Divinity School is positioned as a leader in theological education. The Associate Director has entrepreneurial instincts, a strategic focus, and a desire to “get the job done.” The Associate Director of Marketing and Communications establishes operational plans and workflows to ensure the unit is optimizing its resources and proactively driving results.  

About the Work Unit:

The Divinity School administrators and staff comprise a team committed to excellence in theological education. From different composite areas: admissions, community life, academics, special programming, communications, theological and religious library resources, and development and alumni relations, each person contributes to an innovative and collegial environment. The unit as a whole is committed to the mission of both the University and the Divinity School. We seek to lead the nation in the care, preparation, and professional qualification of our students to the religious and theological professions.

In a global and multi-religious world, the Divinity School seeks to fulfill the following objectives:

• to engage in theological inquiry;

• to help persons prepare for the practice of Christian ministry and public leadership;

• to encourage personal and spiritual formation;

• to prepare agents of social justice; and

• to educate future scholars and teachers, locally and globally.

Key Functions and Expected Performance: 

Communications Strategy, Vision, and Leadership:  

• Develops and implements an integrated, organizationwide strategic communications plan to broaden awareness of the Divinity School’s brand identity within the Divinity School community, internal University audiences, and among prospective students and community partners to create an identifiable meaningful relationship with these audiences and the broader theological community.
• Oversees, or executes as needed, copy intended for public consumption to ensure its alignment with the strategic plan. This includes frequent collaboration with the School’s leadership team to ensure alignment in communication strategy and brand identity across all public and internal facing opportunities which may include, but not be limited to, virtual and in person events and promotion related to them. 
• In conjunction with the Director of Administration and the Senior Director of Strategic Enrollment Management and relevant internal VU partners, conceives and executes the development of print and branded materials to expand the School’s reach. 
• Collaborates regularly with Vanderbilt University’s Marketing and Communications Team to highlight and center the School’s work in the larger University’s mission. 
• Ensures information is concise, complete, accurate, and on brand with the School’s identity and the larger university’s communications strategy for both internal and external communications.
• Builds out