Chief Communications Officer

Chief Communications Officer

The University of Chicago, a global leader in research and education, seeks a mission-aligned, strategic, and engaged leader to serve as the Chief Communications Officer. This is a critical time for higher education, and this position offers a significant opportunity to be part of a dynamic leadership team that advances the University of Chicago as a premier institution for research and education into the future.

The Chief Communications Officer will serve as the head of communications, leading the University's central communications office and working in collaboration with academic and administrative leaders across the University. Serving as a key member of the President's leadership team and reporting to the President, the Chief Communications Officer will advance the University's mission, values, and principles by providing expertise, strategic guidance, and day-to-day leadership.

The successful candidate will create and cultivate the pathways for the expertise, mission, values, and activities of the University to reach diverse audiences through a variety of engagement tools. Working collaboratively across campus, this leader will navigate different types of engagement internally and externally with authenticity and ambition, bringing forward the best that the University has to offer to important societal conversations.

Responsibilities:

• Advise the University's President and other senior officers on a broad range of internal and external communications, both proactive and reactive.
• Drive the development of proactive strategic communications plans on matters of institutional importance; working with deans, faculty, and other University leaders to develop and execute on plans over a sustained period of time while measuring impact and adjusting plans as needed.
• Reach and build relevant audiences leveraging all elements of the University's communications capacity, including media relations, public affairs, and branding; the University's news office and internal communications; the University's creative communications group; and the design and content of the University's website.
• Create and cultivate pathways for UChicago expertise to contribute to national conversations, whether in economics, international affairs, the arts, biomedical science, artificial intelligence, and beyond.
• Monitor scholarly activities across the University and identify progress, breakthroughs, and achievements to surface through various communications platforms for academic and general audiences.
• Lead teams to develop and execute on plans to tell the stories of the University in creative and connected ways so that the stories of the University reach important audiences in different areas, including locally in Chicago.
• Engage a variety of external communication tools, evolving strategy, and techniques for the current and future of how society engages with information. Innovate and be willing to try new things.
• Authentically champion the distinctive voice of the University of Chicago in ways that are credible internally and externally.
• Collaborate with the Office of the President to support opportunities for presidential communications that advance institutional priorities.
• Act as a steward of the brand, ensuring consistent application of standards across a complex organization.
• Serve as primary leader and advisor on issues management, leading crisis communications, and providing strategic advice and guidance on brand and reputational risk.
• Serve as a key leader to monitor, pre-empt, manage, and respond to a range of issues and crises. Play a significant role in public affairs, working in collaboration with colleagues in government affairs, understanding the nuances of political landscapes (local, federal, international), and the University's opportunities and risks within that evolving landscape.
• Work closely with academic deans and officers to coordinate and integrate communications across the University, including advancement activities, alumni and community engagement, institutional partnerships, and the recruitment of students, faculty, and staff.
• Inspire, lead, and mobilize a team of 30+ professionals in the central communications office as a key strategic partner to leaders and initiatives around campus.
• Guide another network of 200+ campus communicators who report into units around campus, enhancing the opportunity for University-wide communications and engagement that is strategic and impactful.
• In coordination with partners, enhance strategic coverage at the community, regional, national, and international levels, resulting in increased awareness and understanding of the University of Chicago and its positioning as a global leader in higher education.
• Collaborate with external partners and associations across higher education on shared interests.
• Serve as a key operational leader adept at exploring and integrating new tools and approaches, such as artificial Intelligence, into both the communications portfolio and more broadly, across the University.
• Identify challenges and emerging issues faced by the organization. Work with University leadership and staff to recognize internal and external communications opportunities and solutions, and define and execute appropriate strategies to support them.
• Provide strategic alignment across the University by collaborating with campus partners to advance the University's position with relevant constituencies and targeted audiences.
• Serve as a spokesperson on media and constituency interactions that promote and/or impact the organization.
• Oversee the day-to-day activities of the communications function, including budgeting, planning, and staff development.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Competencies:

• Ability to understand, distill, and convey complex information to a wide range of audiences.
• High degree of media literacy across print, digital, social, and emerging formats, with a particularly deep understanding of the Chicago and broader Midwest media ecosystem, as well as the national landscape as it affects higher education.
• Demonstrated expertise in issues and reputation management, including advising executive leadership during high stakes situations.
• Understands and has enthusiasm for the University's mission, distinctive character, and a deep commitment to its values and principles.
• Energy and enthusiasm for meaningful storytelling that engages audiences and drives impact.
• Adept at working in a relationship-driven culture, building consensus, and engaging in rigorous debate about ideas.
• A service-minded leader who leads with confidence, inspires teams, and celebrates shared success.
• An optimistic leader who sees opportunity to galvanize and advance the greatest ambitions of the University of Chicago at a time of societal change for institutions.
• Performance reflecting high standards of ethics, integrity, and exceptional judgment on matters of high sensitivity and confidentiality.
• Intellectual agility, strategic vision across boundaries, an entrepreneurial mindset, and a collaborative spirit.
• Able to serve as a trusted partner to a variety of constituencies, able to build credibility with key internal stakeholders, local community members, and the media.
• Financially astute and solutions-oriented.
• Curious, creative, and flexible.
• Tolerance for complexity and ambiguity, thrives in fast-paced environments, and is energized by solving large, multi-dimensional problems.

Additional Responsibilities

Education, Experience, or Certifications:

Education:

• Bachelors degree required.
• Advanced degree preferred.

Experience:

• Knowledge and skills developed through 15+ years of work experience in a related job discipline required.
• A record of exceptional leadership success and demonstrated scholarly, professional, or creative achievement required.
• Diverse background with experience across a variety of industry sectors, including higher education, government, early-stage companies, established companies, non-profit organizations preferred.
• An established record of effective leadership of a dynamic enterprise within an organization with diverse and complex constituencies required.
• Experience working across public and private entities, including experience with government offices and insight into the University's positioning within a political context preferred.

Required Documents:

• Resume
• Cover Letter
• References (3)

When applying, the document(s) MUST be uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.

Job Family

Senior Administrators

Scheduled Weekly Hours

37.5

Pay Frequency

Monthly

Pay Rate Type

Salary

​FLSA Status

Exempt

​Pay Range

$400,000.00 - $450,000.00

The included pay rate or range represents the University's good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits Eligible

Yes

The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including