Director of Communications and Marketing

Director of Communications and Marketing The Marketing and Communications department of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Operations works to advance the University's mission and strategic goals by serving as a liaison between the division and its many public audiences, partners, and stakeholders. The office develops and oversees a wide range of communications products, including e-newsletters, leadership announcements, reports, digital signage, web content, social media, presentations, talking points, and print publications, ensuring consistent quality and brand alignment across all formats. This position reports to the Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives and Communications for Finance and Operations. The Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing serves as the second-ranking communications leader for the Division of Finance & Operations (F&O), acting on behalf of the Executive Director when needed and ensuring continuity across strategic and day-to-day operations. This is a distinctive opportunity for a communications professional who thrives in a complex, mission-driven environment and wants to shape how a large and highly visible university division tells its story, from crisis communications and leadership messaging, to employee engagement and public-facing campaigns. Primary Duties and Responsibilities: Converts the Executive Director's strategic priorities into clear work plans, campaigns, timelines, and deliverables, ensuring leadership priorities are translated into effective messaging and high-quality execution across channels and audiences. Assists the Executive Director with strategic planning, attends meetings on their behalf, and acts as their designee in their absence. Identifies proactive storytelling and marketing opportunities that advance the division's mission and reputation. Sets standards for brand alignment, messaging consistency, editorial quality, and audience effectiveness. Monitors execution to ensure projects align with strategic goals, messaging priorities, and quality standards. Serves as the primary point of contact between F&O Communications and University Communications and Marketing (UCM) for strategic planning, content development, and design support on key projects. Coordinates with UCM to request and manage support for content, design, photography, videography, and digital specialist resources, ensuring F&O projects meet university brand and quality standards. Collaborates with UCM's Strategic Communications team on media strategy, media response and issues management. Coordinates day-to-day workflow, deadlines, approvals, and cross-functional collaboration to ensure operational continuity. Executes day-to-day internal communications, including staffing updates, website updates and administrative communications. Maintains hands-on expertise across communications disciplines and writes, edits, produces, or reviews content when needed. Serves as social media manager in the absence of a separate designated staff member for that function. Responsible for planning, organizing, and managing daily operations, including management of one staff member. Includes support of staff development and professional growth. Guides communication and marketing priorities, resource allocation, and long-range planning in alignment with divisional goals. Serves as unit point of contact on public records requests pertaining to unit records, or delegates as appropriate. Minimum Education and Experience Requirements - Master's or Bachelor's and 0-2 years' experience; or will accept a combination of related education and experience in substitution. Required Qualifications, Competencies, and Experience: Communication & Content Expertise: Exceptional interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills. Knowledge of techniques for disseminating information through various channels, including print, web, email, and existing and emerging social media platforms. Thorough knowledge of the methods of planning, writing, and editing publications. Knowledge of communication and publication principles and techniques; must be a skilled listener able to translate complex information into plain English. Detailed knowledge of and experience with maintaining an interactive website and communicating via social media. Strategic & Organizational Skills: Experience working with strategic and integrated communications planning, as well as implementation and change management. Proven ability to manage and lead effectively both people and programs including planning, resource allocation, budget allocation, and supervision; independent judgment and initiative required. Experience in the principles of project management; ability to manage time effectively and meet project deadlines. Demonstrated experience in setting and achieving challenging goals. Interpersonal & Collaborative Skills: Strong diplomacy skills able to successfully manage external and internal relationships and effectively liaise with colleagues at all levels, including central university units such as UCM. Customer service-oriented attitude with demonstrated experience working in a highly collaborative, team-oriented environment. Coalition building and collaboration skills; effective organizational communications both internal and external to the organization. Operational Knowledge: Knowledge of principles of management and human resources management related to day-to-day program operation and the supervision of staff. Familiarity with news media operations and their deadlines; ability to respond quickly to requests for information. Understanding of what information is considered private and should not be disseminated; knowledge of how to distribute information and which media to contact to effectively reach campus or the public. Preferred Qualifications, Competencies, and Experience - Experience in a higher education institution. University of North Carolina