Loyola Marymount University
Senior Director for Academic Communications, Provost’s Office
Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California, United States, 90079
To be considered for an interview, please make sure your application is full in line with the job specs as found below.Reporting to the Vice President for Communications and Public Relations, the senior director partners closely with the EVP/Provost, is embedded within the Provost’s Office, and ensures a seamless workflow between Academic Affairs and MarComm. The incumbent develops positive, constructive, and collaborative working relationships between divisions, assuring that organizations, expectations, and priorities are synchronized.
Leadership and Personnel Management
Direct the Academic Communications unit, comprised of communications and creative professionals. Hire, supervise, train and assess the performance of personnel, freelance and contracted partners, and students. Coach team members to maximize creativity, productivity, and effectiveness. Develop a culture of accountability through evidence-based decision-making, outcomes assessment, and process improvement where individual and team progress, deadlines, and results are thoughtfully evaluated and reported with regularity. Foster an environment in which trust, candor, and continuous improvement are reflected as essential characteristics of a highly operating team.
Meet with team members and their assigned deans or unit leaders with regularity to establish, develop, and track progress to agreed-upon priorities. Guide team members and embedded areas on appropriate and best use of assigned resources, ensuring that MarComm resources are best deployed according to their intended purpose. Develop metrics that measure performance and take appropriate actions to ensure progress, focus and outcomes.
Professionalize team member positions, operational plans, and goals to assure divisional outcomes. Perform gap analyses, develop college/school/unit report cards that surface potential issues that prevent or diminish the focus of assigned team members. Collaborate with unit leaders to identify out-of-scope requests and work and develop methodologies to redirect non-MarComm work to appropriate resources.
Troubleshoot disconnects and differences in perspectives among the deans, team members, the Provost, and MarComm leadership, serving as a unifying force that educates, builds consensus, and brings colleagues together through proactive and effective relationship management, collaboration, and diplomacy.
Proactively engage academic communications team members to develop and improve knowledge, to focus their time and activities, to integrate further with MarComm Central, to cross-train, and to be more fluent in MarComm policy, protocol, and practice. Devise methods that reward tighter collaboration, participation, and advocacy for MarComm’s objectives and priorities.
Review and evaluate tactics, assess impact, and adjust strategies to improve continuously upon the effectiveness of team member outcomes and communications.
Develop and support a working and decision support environment based on metrics, measurement, and data analysis. Deploy metrics to measure progress and success, and report on those metrics with regularity. Identify, propose, develop, and track performance, fostering an environment of accountability and continuous improvement.
Complete other duties and projects as assigned.
Communications Strategy, Management, and Planning
Create, develop, and implement all phases and elements of robust communications and engagement plans, tactics, and strategies. Share annual plans with academic and MarComm leadership to ensure awareness and understanding of efforts and approach.
Manage and implement concurrent, independent short-, medium-, and long-term communications projects that support the Provost and the Provost’s Office’s goals and priorities. Develop and implement communications plans, website maintenance and editorial schedules, and production schedules for academic communications efforts. Apply consistent operating standards to each of the colleges, schools, and academic units.
Serve as the senior communications producer and speechwriter for the Executive Vice President and Provost. Collaborate closely with the EVP as a thought partner and strategist, translating complex concepts and vision into clear, compelling, and thought-provoking messages and narratives that engage community constituents.
Executive Writing, Editing, and Producing
Identify, research, and produce original written content and products that include keynote speeches, talking points, question/answer scripts, executive summaries, case studies, and other business communications. Draft and edit institutional announcements, communications, or scripts for live and recorded delivery, statements, correspondence, internal newsletters, or quotes for public news releases or promotional materials.
Conceptualize, produce, and publish social media content intended to increase positive engagement with the EVP and Provost. Respond to social posts within an established framework.
Proofread, edit, and approve the work of senior leaders who submit materials in draft form to the Provost’s Office. Interact with high-level executives, colleagues, and board members as assigned.
Set and ensure high standards for accuracy, narrative structure, consistency and tone, voice and cadence, word usage, style, brand narratives, and other quality assurance guidelines for communications from the Provost’s Office.
Assure attention to detail through fact-checking and verification protocols. Devise and implement production workflows to support objectives and streamline requests, reviews, and approvals.
Stay abreast of news topics and trends related to higher education, leadership, economic, popular culture, politics, or other subject matters that may be reflected or referenced in communications. Maintain an organized, current, and functional library of reference information, statistics, rankings, news sources, articles, etc. for immediate retrieval.
Collaboration, Coordination, and Web/Calendar Content Creation
Serve as the primary liaison between the Provost’s Office, the deans, academic unit leaders, and MarComm, facilitating cross-collaboration to accomplish shared goals.
Work closely with the Senior Director of Executive Communications to ensure that the President and EVP/Provost’s communications are synchronized.
Coordinate with university communications professionals to incorporate the EVP/Provost’s objectives into broader communications and marketing activities, talking points, presentations, reports, and other channels. Assure alignment of communications efforts and goals with the university’s overall communications strategy.
Collect and maintain information on events, lectures, and activities sponsored by the Provost’s Office and the colleges/schools for inclusion in the university’s online calendar of events.
Collaborate with the Digital Strategies and Solutions team to develop an online content maintenance plan that ensures the timely updates of news, events, and general content of the EVP/Provost’s website.
Requisite Qualifications
Minimum 7 years’ experience in speechwriting, communications, or public relations work. Experience must include working with senior level executives in higher education.
Bachelor’s degree required, master’s degree preferred in communications, journalism, public relations, English, or related field. Incumbent is expected to continue upgrading knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to apply best practices and industry trends.
Speechwriting and institutional communications experience are required. Evidence of successful production of high-quality speeches and communications for senior executives evidenced by a portfolio or work samples required during the final consideration process.
Incumbent must be able to work in a confidential environment when necessary and be able to work with University Counsel.
Demonstrated expert-level understanding of creative process and ability to synthesize highly complex information into the formulation of editorial concepts. Demonstrated ability to implement communications projects to satisfy objectives.
Demonstrated computer proficiency with common software production suites.
Ability to produce high-quality deliverables with meticulous attention to detail. Must be metrics-driven and results-oriented with proven analytical skills.
Possesses exceptional verbal and written communications skills and compelling and impactful presentation abilities. Can demonstrate the ability to motivate and inspire teams as well as colleagues, constituents, and audiences.
Highly collaborative style with experience developing and implementing communications strategies successfully; background that demonstrates relationship cultivation, consensus building, flexibility, team orientation, and managing through influencing.
Must be able to perform effectively in a fast-paced, intellectually intense, creatively challenging, service-oriented environment, while also managing multiple projects with varying deadlines.
Experience working successfully in a complex organization, preferably in higher education.
Willing and able to adjust to changing demands and shifting priorities, and address urgencies that arise on evenings or weekends.
Evidence of positive, energetic, and flexible leadership style with a track record for producing high-quality deliverables with meticulous attention to detail. Must be metrics driven and results oriented with excellent analytical skills. Ability to provide quick turnaround and updates for multiple requests while maintaining high quality work.
Self-starter, able to work independently and entrepreneurially; experience creating, developing and implementing new initiatives.
Excellent judgement and creative problem-solving skills, including negotiation, mediation, and conflict resolution skills.
Reasonable Expected Salary – $120,000 – $130,000. Salary offer commensurate with education and experience.
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Leadership and Personnel Management
Direct the Academic Communications unit, comprised of communications and creative professionals. Hire, supervise, train and assess the performance of personnel, freelance and contracted partners, and students. Coach team members to maximize creativity, productivity, and effectiveness. Develop a culture of accountability through evidence-based decision-making, outcomes assessment, and process improvement where individual and team progress, deadlines, and results are thoughtfully evaluated and reported with regularity. Foster an environment in which trust, candor, and continuous improvement are reflected as essential characteristics of a highly operating team.
Meet with team members and their assigned deans or unit leaders with regularity to establish, develop, and track progress to agreed-upon priorities. Guide team members and embedded areas on appropriate and best use of assigned resources, ensuring that MarComm resources are best deployed according to their intended purpose. Develop metrics that measure performance and take appropriate actions to ensure progress, focus and outcomes.
Professionalize team member positions, operational plans, and goals to assure divisional outcomes. Perform gap analyses, develop college/school/unit report cards that surface potential issues that prevent or diminish the focus of assigned team members. Collaborate with unit leaders to identify out-of-scope requests and work and develop methodologies to redirect non-MarComm work to appropriate resources.
Troubleshoot disconnects and differences in perspectives among the deans, team members, the Provost, and MarComm leadership, serving as a unifying force that educates, builds consensus, and brings colleagues together through proactive and effective relationship management, collaboration, and diplomacy.
Proactively engage academic communications team members to develop and improve knowledge, to focus their time and activities, to integrate further with MarComm Central, to cross-train, and to be more fluent in MarComm policy, protocol, and practice. Devise methods that reward tighter collaboration, participation, and advocacy for MarComm’s objectives and priorities.
Review and evaluate tactics, assess impact, and adjust strategies to improve continuously upon the effectiveness of team member outcomes and communications.
Develop and support a working and decision support environment based on metrics, measurement, and data analysis. Deploy metrics to measure progress and success, and report on those metrics with regularity. Identify, propose, develop, and track performance, fostering an environment of accountability and continuous improvement.
Complete other duties and projects as assigned.
Communications Strategy, Management, and Planning
Create, develop, and implement all phases and elements of robust communications and engagement plans, tactics, and strategies. Share annual plans with academic and MarComm leadership to ensure awareness and understanding of efforts and approach.
Manage and implement concurrent, independent short-, medium-, and long-term communications projects that support the Provost and the Provost’s Office’s goals and priorities. Develop and implement communications plans, website maintenance and editorial schedules, and production schedules for academic communications efforts. Apply consistent operating standards to each of the colleges, schools, and academic units.
Serve as the senior communications producer and speechwriter for the Executive Vice President and Provost. Collaborate closely with the EVP as a thought partner and strategist, translating complex concepts and vision into clear, compelling, and thought-provoking messages and narratives that engage community constituents.
Executive Writing, Editing, and Producing
Identify, research, and produce original written content and products that include keynote speeches, talking points, question/answer scripts, executive summaries, case studies, and other business communications. Draft and edit institutional announcements, communications, or scripts for live and recorded delivery, statements, correspondence, internal newsletters, or quotes for public news releases or promotional materials.
Conceptualize, produce, and publish social media content intended to increase positive engagement with the EVP and Provost. Respond to social posts within an established framework.
Proofread, edit, and approve the work of senior leaders who submit materials in draft form to the Provost’s Office. Interact with high-level executives, colleagues, and board members as assigned.
Set and ensure high standards for accuracy, narrative structure, consistency and tone, voice and cadence, word usage, style, brand narratives, and other quality assurance guidelines for communications from the Provost’s Office.
Assure attention to detail through fact-checking and verification protocols. Devise and implement production workflows to support objectives and streamline requests, reviews, and approvals.
Stay abreast of news topics and trends related to higher education, leadership, economic, popular culture, politics, or other subject matters that may be reflected or referenced in communications. Maintain an organized, current, and functional library of reference information, statistics, rankings, news sources, articles, etc. for immediate retrieval.
Collaboration, Coordination, and Web/Calendar Content Creation
Serve as the primary liaison between the Provost’s Office, the deans, academic unit leaders, and MarComm, facilitating cross-collaboration to accomplish shared goals.
Work closely with the Senior Director of Executive Communications to ensure that the President and EVP/Provost’s communications are synchronized.
Coordinate with university communications professionals to incorporate the EVP/Provost’s objectives into broader communications and marketing activities, talking points, presentations, reports, and other channels. Assure alignment of communications efforts and goals with the university’s overall communications strategy.
Collect and maintain information on events, lectures, and activities sponsored by the Provost’s Office and the colleges/schools for inclusion in the university’s online calendar of events.
Collaborate with the Digital Strategies and Solutions team to develop an online content maintenance plan that ensures the timely updates of news, events, and general content of the EVP/Provost’s website.
Requisite Qualifications
Minimum 7 years’ experience in speechwriting, communications, or public relations work. Experience must include working with senior level executives in higher education.
Bachelor’s degree required, master’s degree preferred in communications, journalism, public relations, English, or related field. Incumbent is expected to continue upgrading knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to apply best practices and industry trends.
Speechwriting and institutional communications experience are required. Evidence of successful production of high-quality speeches and communications for senior executives evidenced by a portfolio or work samples required during the final consideration process.
Incumbent must be able to work in a confidential environment when necessary and be able to work with University Counsel.
Demonstrated expert-level understanding of creative process and ability to synthesize highly complex information into the formulation of editorial concepts. Demonstrated ability to implement communications projects to satisfy objectives.
Demonstrated computer proficiency with common software production suites.
Ability to produce high-quality deliverables with meticulous attention to detail. Must be metrics-driven and results-oriented with proven analytical skills.
Possesses exceptional verbal and written communications skills and compelling and impactful presentation abilities. Can demonstrate the ability to motivate and inspire teams as well as colleagues, constituents, and audiences.
Highly collaborative style with experience developing and implementing communications strategies successfully; background that demonstrates relationship cultivation, consensus building, flexibility, team orientation, and managing through influencing.
Must be able to perform effectively in a fast-paced, intellectually intense, creatively challenging, service-oriented environment, while also managing multiple projects with varying deadlines.
Experience working successfully in a complex organization, preferably in higher education.
Willing and able to adjust to changing demands and shifting priorities, and address urgencies that arise on evenings or weekends.
Evidence of positive, energetic, and flexible leadership style with a track record for producing high-quality deliverables with meticulous attention to detail. Must be metrics driven and results oriented with excellent analytical skills. Ability to provide quick turnaround and updates for multiple requests while maintaining high quality work.
Self-starter, able to work independently and entrepreneurially; experience creating, developing and implementing new initiatives.
Excellent judgement and creative problem-solving skills, including negotiation, mediation, and conflict resolution skills.
Reasonable Expected Salary – $120,000 – $130,000. Salary offer commensurate with education and experience.
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