Senior Director of Communications and Marketing

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JOB SPECIFICATION

POSITION: Senior Director of Communications and Marketing

LOCATION: Great Hearts Texas District Offices (North Texas and San Antonio)

REPORTS TO: Vice President of Operations

(Full-time, benefits-eligible)

Work Location: Hybrid

Company Description

Great Hearts Academies is a non-profit charter management organization (CMO) that operates classical, preparatory, K-12 public charter schools. Our academies cultivate the minds and hearts of students through the pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty. We currently serve over 20,000 students across our network, with over 12,000 at our Texas schools, and we expect that number to grow to thousands more. Great Hearts is dedicated to providing additional communities with access to our liberal arts model, and, as the network scales both locally and nationally, we aim to restore excellence to American public education. We proudly prepare students for success at the best colleges and universities in the nation but see our larger purpose as producing great-hearted graduates that are prepared to be intellectual, moral, and engaged citizens. Additional information can be found at

Position:

Reporting to the VP of Operations, the Senior Director of Communications and Marketing will set the vision and strategy to build the Great Hearts Texas brand reputation, and owns critical cross-functional efforts, including marketing execution for student enrollment and staff recruitment, social media management, internal/external newsletter, print publications, develop a world-class communications plan and web and other online communications updates. This high-visibility position leads a team of communications and marketing experts and consultants and requires a meaningful degree of collaboration across a wide range of internal and external collaborators. The role requires a seasoned marketing professional with expertise in performance marketing, branding, analytic data management and amazing writing skills.

This individual will be an ambassador for the organization and build relationships with external and internal stakeholders. The goal is to advance the organization's position with relevant constituents, as well as to drive broader awareness and donor support for the organization. The Senior Director of Communications and Marketing will be responsible for managing internal and external communications, as well as research, development and implementation of the annual communications/marketing vision and strategic plan.

The Senior Director of Communications and Marketing serves as the key communicator for public relations, crisis situations, and advocacy efforts focused on and/or impacting Texas.

Primary Relationships:

The position works closely with the VP of Operations and Senior Director of Enrollment, the Great Hearts Texas Senior Leadership team, department leaders, and academy leaders. This position also coordinates and ensures alignment in charting the direction of the organization's communication and marketing efforts, assuring accountability to all constituencies, and ensuring its effective operation.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

• Creates, implements, and measures the success of external and internal communications.
• Collaborates with the VP of Operations, Senior Leadership Team, Senior Director of Enrollment, and campus-based communicators to ensure consistent communication of image and branding in Texas aligns with to the Great Hearts Texas mission.
• Plays a key leadership role in the planning, managing, and executing of projects and activities related to the organization's marketing efforts and events that engage a multitude of target audiences: faculty, staff, scholars, staff, board members, alumni, donors, elected officials, families, and members of the community.
• Supports the Senior Director of Enrollment with lead generation and fulfillment strategies and processes.
• Develops processes to improve efficiency and ensures a streamlined communication channel with families, employees, board members and community members in the Texas region.
• Copywrites, advises and reviews regional and network-wide messages for/with Texas' CEO/Superintendent, Senior Leadership Team, Executive Directors, Headmasters, Department Leaders.
• Plans and executes board structure improvement projects with the VP of Operations and CEO/Superintendent.
• Supports the Senior Leadership Team ensuring a stewardship communication cycle with all board members, to include campus tours and other cultivation/stewardship touchpoints.

Communications Strategy, Vision, and Leadership:

• Develops and implements an integrated strategic communications plan to advance Great Hearts brand identity; broaden awareness of its programs and priorities; and increase the visibility of its programs across key stakeholder audiences.
• Creates communication and marketing strategies that will allow Great Hearts Texas leadership to cultivate and enhance meaningful relationships with targeted, external audiences, including prospective families, teachers, staff, and financial supporters.
• Transparently communicate strategic plans and regular updates on marketing investments to broad collaborators, provide ongoing data dashboard with ability to change directions as needed.
• Lead and model a strong project management mentality, structure and process for Marketing and school partners to drive impact and results.

Core Functional Work:

• Deploy strategy for owned media - website, social media, schools' physical environments (e.g., signage, environments.
• Collaborate on earned, influence and social media, and empower school teams to build brand through organic social media.
• Lead all aspects of content and deployment of communications hierarchy on Great Hearts Texas websites and on increase internal employee communications.
• Partner with Talent teams to develop and communicate an Employee Value Proposition to current employees and via recruitment marketing for prospective candidates.
• Support engagement initiatives with donor development and boards of trustees.

Communications Operations:

• Oversees the development of all Great Hearts Texas print communications including marketing collateral and electronic communications including Great Hearts Texas website content and new media; manage relationships with associated vendors.
• Serves as a spokesperson and lead point person on media interactions that help promote and/or impact the organization.
• Exercises judgment to prioritize communication requests and manage multiple projects with multiple internal and external relationships.
• Manages the day-to-day activities of the communications function including budgeting, planning and staff development.

Planning and Budgeting:

• Develops short- and long-term plans and budgets for marketing, communications, public relations, and related activities, monitoring progress, assuring adherence, and evaluating performance along the way.
• Develop/resolve appropriate metrics to guide marketing investment decisions and alignment.
• Develops, implements, and monitors systems and procedures necessary for the smooth operations of external and internal communications.
• Keeps informed of developments in the fields of communications, enrollment marketing, public relations, not-for-profit management and governance, and the specific business of Great Hearts Texas and uses this information to help the Organization operate with initiative and innovation.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in journalism, communications, marketing, or related field is required. An advanced degree is preferred.
• 5+ years' experience in communications and marketing roles encompassing brand management, performance/acquisition marketing, and/or communications.
• 3+ years' experience leading and managing successful teams with diverse functional skills.
• Extensive successful writing and editing experience (externally focused) with a variety of print and online media.
• Demonstrated experience and leadership in managing a comprehensive strategic communication, media relations, and marketing program to advance an organization's mission and goals.
• A minimum of five years of experience in planning, writing, editing, and production of newsletters, press releases, annual reports, marketing literature, and other print publications and directories.
• Innovative thinker, with a history for translating strategic thinking into action plans and output.
• Excellent judgment and creative critical thinking skills, including negotiation and conflict resolution skills.
• Able to adapt to new systems and change course easily.
• Superior management skills: ability to influence and engage direct reports and peers.
• Passion for Great Hearts Texas' mission.

Personal Qualities & Values

· Passionately Committed

With humility and curiosity, we seek to know more about our core purpose; seek to share (with each other and with others externally as an advocate); seek to live the mission ourselves with relentless pursuit and intrinsic motivation; seek to understand our work and how it serves the mission…which should result in getting the right stuff done with measurable results because we love actualization - not just the theory

· Servant's Heart

The foundational element of having a servant's heart is the acknowledgement of inherent dignity in their fellow human. Someone with a servant's heart believes that their work is to promote the development of those around them and make it possible for others to be successful in serving the mission of the organization.

· Team Player

We believe our mission can only be accomplished through collaboration and receive true joy in being a part of something greater than ourselves; Each of us is one part of a whole, each with distinct roles, expertise, and responsibilities; working together in synchronicity.

Type of clearance:

Must complete Texas Department of Public Safety fingerprint clearance and background check.

Physical functions: Required but is not limited to standing, sitting, repetitious hand and body movements, bending, squatting, and reaching. May be required to move or position equipment up to fifty pounds.

This description reflects management's assignment of essential functions; it does not exclude or restrict the additional tasks that may be assigned.

Great Hearts Academies is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Job Type: Full-time

Benefits:

• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Paid time off

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift
• Monday to Friday

Application Question(s):

• Do you live in the Dallas Metroplex and or San Antonio area and able to commute?
• Do you have a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism, Marketing, Communications or related field?

Education:

• Bachelor's (Required)

Experience:

• Marketing and Communication: 5 years (Required)

Ability to Relocate:

• Irving, TX 75038: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Irving, TX 75038