Western Governors University
Sr. Director, Marketing & Communications - Leavitt School of Health
Western Governors University, Millcreek, Utah, United States,
If you're passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country-and you're committed to working hard to play your part in building that future-consider WGU as the next step in your career.
Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.
Current WGU employees should submit an internal application before 8/14/2024 to be considered.
The Sr. Director, Marketing & Communications - Leavitt School of Health is responsible for the development and execution of marketing and communication strategies that support brand development, new student enrollment, and other priorities for one or more WGU schools and their related program portfolios (e.g., Business, Health, Education, Technology).
Among the Sr. Director's responsibilities is ownership for the development of rich insights into audience needs, product-market fit, competitive landscape, etc., and the translation of such into messaging and actionable product development and growth strategies (i.e., "product marketing"). They will promote the awareness and positive reputation of WGU among key target audiences through the effective use of media, engagements, special events, campaigns, content, promotions, and other related activities. This will include planning and implementing strategies and tactics to build and maintain a positive reputation and gain publicity for activities, programs, and events related to the portfolio of WGU offerings.
The Sr. Director is the Marketing team's expert in all internal and external factors that affect performance, including the evolving portfolio of academic course and program offerings, industry associations and employer partnerships, target audiences, market demand trends, and competitor behavior. They drive action to grow the impact of current portfolio offerings and participate in identifying opportunities for portfolio expansion, partnerships, and other growth opportunities.
The Sr. Director works in daily partnership with senior executives and other leaders to set performance targets and budgets, develop supporting strategies, execute specific initiatives, and forecast and report on results. This person will be a critical bridge between MarCom and the Academic organization. In this role, the Sr Director will spend relatively equal time interfacing with school leaders and members of the MarCom team and will interface directly with C-level executives on a regular basis. Exceptional ability to build trust and wield strong influence across each of these organizations is critical to the success of this role.
The Sr. Director is also responsible for understanding and communicating with cross-organizational partners regarding marketing spending and performance metrics, as well as reviewing and reconciling P&L spending and invoicing vs. budget monthly.
The Sr. Director oversees a team of marketing and communications professionals dedicated to the school and partners with centralized marketing and communications services to develop and drive initiatives for their assigned school(s). This role requires a marketing leader with proven success in contributing to product development strategy, bringing new offerings to market, driving action through influence vs. direct authority, as well as demonstrating fluency in various marketing and communications disciplines, including the full breadth of brand, traditional and digital media, SEO, content marketing, conference and event marketing, and more.
Essential Functions and Responsibilities:
Manage a direct budget of $5-10M (or more) dedicated to school-specific brand development and growth initiatives; additionally, provide strategic guidance and influence a larger budget managed cross-functionally.
Build relationships of trust with executive leaders across the academic organization, c-suite, MarCom, Strategic Partnerships, and university-wide; facilitate strong cross-organizational information sharing and cooperative strategy development.
Be the expert in all marketing and communications activities and internal and external factors influencing portfolio performance.
Represent MarCom in cross-functional reporting and other settings, including interfacing regularly with executive leadership and demonstrating strong accountability for performance.
Assist with setting school-specific performance targets for readiness and certificate offerings and provide regular reporting, forecasts, and root-cause insights to inform ongoing adjustments to drive KPIs.
Work closely with internal and/or agency creative, media, web, and other teams to ensure that campaign needs are accurate, on time, on brand, and performance-optimized.
Some travel required (up to 20%)
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
Significant client or key stakeholder management experience.
Executive-level communication ability. Must be able to clearly and persuasively communicate both verbally and in writing with staff at all levels of the university.
Strong quantitative and strategic analysis skills. Must be able to gather and analyze structured and unstructured data and research to identify significant trends, implications, and opportunities.
Ownership mentality and drive for continuous improvement.
Experience developing models to forecast marketing performance based on historical trends, spending, market conditions, etc.
Fluency in a wide variety of marketing and communications disciplines, including brand, traditional, and digital media, SEO, content marketing, and conference and event marketing.
Proven success in bringing new products and/or services to market.
Exceptional project management and organization skills.
Direct people leadership, including hiring, coaching, and managing to achieve performance targets.
Drive and ability to influence others to act without direct reporting authority, including senior executives.
Qualifications:
Minimum Qualifications:
Meaningful client/stakeholder management experience.
Product marketing experience.
Demonstrated track record of managing multiple complex projects at one time.
Bachelor's degree.
Twelve (12+) years of marketing experience.
Five (5+) years of people leadership experience
Preferred Qualifications:
Client-facing agency experience.
Industry experience in higher education and/or areas relevant to WGU schools (e.g., healthcare, K12 education, IT).
MBA, MS Marketing, or other relevant graduate degree.
Working Conditions
This role is based in WGU's Salt Lake City office and requires 3+ days of in-office work per week
#LI-HYBRID
#LI-ZARD
The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs.
At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:
Pay Range: $151,200.00 - $272,100.00
WGU will accept applications for this position until 12:00 AM ET, 08/14/2024
How to apply: apply online
Full-time Regular Positions (FT classification, standard working hours = 40)
This is a full-time, regular position that is eligible for bonuses; medical, dental, vision, telehealth and mental healthcare; health savings account and flexible spending account; basic and voluntary life insurance; disability coverage; accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity supplemental coverages; legal and identity theft coverage; retirement savings plan; wellbeing program; discounted WGU tuition; and flexible paid time off for rest and relaxation with no need for accrual, flexible paid sick time with no need for accrual, 11 paid holidays, and other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave.
The University is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.
Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.
Current WGU employees should submit an internal application before 8/14/2024 to be considered.
The Sr. Director, Marketing & Communications - Leavitt School of Health is responsible for the development and execution of marketing and communication strategies that support brand development, new student enrollment, and other priorities for one or more WGU schools and their related program portfolios (e.g., Business, Health, Education, Technology).
Among the Sr. Director's responsibilities is ownership for the development of rich insights into audience needs, product-market fit, competitive landscape, etc., and the translation of such into messaging and actionable product development and growth strategies (i.e., "product marketing"). They will promote the awareness and positive reputation of WGU among key target audiences through the effective use of media, engagements, special events, campaigns, content, promotions, and other related activities. This will include planning and implementing strategies and tactics to build and maintain a positive reputation and gain publicity for activities, programs, and events related to the portfolio of WGU offerings.
The Sr. Director is the Marketing team's expert in all internal and external factors that affect performance, including the evolving portfolio of academic course and program offerings, industry associations and employer partnerships, target audiences, market demand trends, and competitor behavior. They drive action to grow the impact of current portfolio offerings and participate in identifying opportunities for portfolio expansion, partnerships, and other growth opportunities.
The Sr. Director works in daily partnership with senior executives and other leaders to set performance targets and budgets, develop supporting strategies, execute specific initiatives, and forecast and report on results. This person will be a critical bridge between MarCom and the Academic organization. In this role, the Sr Director will spend relatively equal time interfacing with school leaders and members of the MarCom team and will interface directly with C-level executives on a regular basis. Exceptional ability to build trust and wield strong influence across each of these organizations is critical to the success of this role.
The Sr. Director is also responsible for understanding and communicating with cross-organizational partners regarding marketing spending and performance metrics, as well as reviewing and reconciling P&L spending and invoicing vs. budget monthly.
The Sr. Director oversees a team of marketing and communications professionals dedicated to the school and partners with centralized marketing and communications services to develop and drive initiatives for their assigned school(s). This role requires a marketing leader with proven success in contributing to product development strategy, bringing new offerings to market, driving action through influence vs. direct authority, as well as demonstrating fluency in various marketing and communications disciplines, including the full breadth of brand, traditional and digital media, SEO, content marketing, conference and event marketing, and more.
Essential Functions and Responsibilities:
Manage a direct budget of $5-10M (or more) dedicated to school-specific brand development and growth initiatives; additionally, provide strategic guidance and influence a larger budget managed cross-functionally.
Build relationships of trust with executive leaders across the academic organization, c-suite, MarCom, Strategic Partnerships, and university-wide; facilitate strong cross-organizational information sharing and cooperative strategy development.
Be the expert in all marketing and communications activities and internal and external factors influencing portfolio performance.
Represent MarCom in cross-functional reporting and other settings, including interfacing regularly with executive leadership and demonstrating strong accountability for performance.
Assist with setting school-specific performance targets for readiness and certificate offerings and provide regular reporting, forecasts, and root-cause insights to inform ongoing adjustments to drive KPIs.
Work closely with internal and/or agency creative, media, web, and other teams to ensure that campaign needs are accurate, on time, on brand, and performance-optimized.
Some travel required (up to 20%)
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
Significant client or key stakeholder management experience.
Executive-level communication ability. Must be able to clearly and persuasively communicate both verbally and in writing with staff at all levels of the university.
Strong quantitative and strategic analysis skills. Must be able to gather and analyze structured and unstructured data and research to identify significant trends, implications, and opportunities.
Ownership mentality and drive for continuous improvement.
Experience developing models to forecast marketing performance based on historical trends, spending, market conditions, etc.
Fluency in a wide variety of marketing and communications disciplines, including brand, traditional, and digital media, SEO, content marketing, and conference and event marketing.
Proven success in bringing new products and/or services to market.
Exceptional project management and organization skills.
Direct people leadership, including hiring, coaching, and managing to achieve performance targets.
Drive and ability to influence others to act without direct reporting authority, including senior executives.
Qualifications:
Minimum Qualifications:
Meaningful client/stakeholder management experience.
Product marketing experience.
Demonstrated track record of managing multiple complex projects at one time.
Bachelor's degree.
Twelve (12+) years of marketing experience.
Five (5+) years of people leadership experience
Preferred Qualifications:
Client-facing agency experience.
Industry experience in higher education and/or areas relevant to WGU schools (e.g., healthcare, K12 education, IT).
MBA, MS Marketing, or other relevant graduate degree.
Working Conditions
This role is based in WGU's Salt Lake City office and requires 3+ days of in-office work per week
#LI-HYBRID
#LI-ZARD
The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs.
At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:
Pay Range: $151,200.00 - $272,100.00
WGU will accept applications for this position until 12:00 AM ET, 08/14/2024
How to apply: apply online
Full-time Regular Positions (FT classification, standard working hours = 40)
This is a full-time, regular position that is eligible for bonuses; medical, dental, vision, telehealth and mental healthcare; health savings account and flexible spending account; basic and voluntary life insurance; disability coverage; accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity supplemental coverages; legal and identity theft coverage; retirement savings plan; wellbeing program; discounted WGU tuition; and flexible paid time off for rest and relaxation with no need for accrual, flexible paid sick time with no need for accrual, 11 paid holidays, and other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave.
The University is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.