The Principia
The Principia is hiring: Director of School Marketing and Communication in St Lo
The Principia, St Louis, MO, United States
Title: Director of School Marketing and Communication
Department/Location: Principia School, St. Louis, MO
Position Type: Full-time, 12 month
Summary
Principia School is looking for a Director of School Marketing and Communication. In this role, you will lead and implement strategies to elevate Principia School's brand, increase enrollment, and enhance visibility through consistent and impactful messaging. Your expertise in marketing, communication, and public relations, along with your ability to develop cohesive brand messaging, will be key to your success. Reporting to the Head of School, you will play a critical role in advancing Principia's mission by effectively sharing its values and strengths with both internal and external audiences. You will have a dotted line reporting relationship to Principia's Chief Advancement, Marketing, and Communications Officer and collaborate cross-functionally with Principia's broader marketing and communications teams, as well as other institutional team members to maximize the impact of the School's marketing and communications efforts.
Who We Are
At our award-winning pre-K-12 school in St. Louis, Missouri, and top-ranked Principia School in Elsah, Illinois, Principia faculty and staff make up a close-knit community of educators, coaches, and professionals taking a distinct approach to education-blending academic excellence with Christian Science-based character education. Principia's team of over 500 employees supports not only Principia School and Principia School, but also a worldwide network of Alumni & Friends.
At Principia School, our core value is LOVE. Love and its attributes underpin our foundational beliefs as well as our educational approach. We focus on developing the whole child-intellectually, physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually, preparing students for the next steps in life. We foster a challenging yet supportive environment where character unfolds naturally, and talent is cultivated through boundless opportunities. Character education plays an essential role in every aspect of the student experience, and classroom work is augmented by character trips, leadership development, and real-world, hands-on, project-based learning.
Principia employees are part of an engaging academic community preparing students to be tomorrow's leaders, thinkers, and changemakers. We strive to create a collaborative and inclusive environment where everyone feels they belong and are valued.
Primary Responsibilities
The statements above describe the general nature and level of work but are not a complete list of responsibilities and are subject to change at the discretion of Principia.
Equal Opportunity
Principia, a mission-driven institution, believes every person has the right to an equitable and respectful educational environment and workplace. Principia does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnicity, gender (identity or expression), sexual orientation, family status, disability, age, or military or veteran status.
In hiring, admissions, and related decisions, Principia - as an institution with a religious mission - gives preference, where appropriate, to Christian Scientists.
Department/Location: Principia School, St. Louis, MO
Position Type: Full-time, 12 month
Summary
Principia School is looking for a Director of School Marketing and Communication. In this role, you will lead and implement strategies to elevate Principia School's brand, increase enrollment, and enhance visibility through consistent and impactful messaging. Your expertise in marketing, communication, and public relations, along with your ability to develop cohesive brand messaging, will be key to your success. Reporting to the Head of School, you will play a critical role in advancing Principia's mission by effectively sharing its values and strengths with both internal and external audiences. You will have a dotted line reporting relationship to Principia's Chief Advancement, Marketing, and Communications Officer and collaborate cross-functionally with Principia's broader marketing and communications teams, as well as other institutional team members to maximize the impact of the School's marketing and communications efforts.
Who We Are
At our award-winning pre-K-12 school in St. Louis, Missouri, and top-ranked Principia School in Elsah, Illinois, Principia faculty and staff make up a close-knit community of educators, coaches, and professionals taking a distinct approach to education-blending academic excellence with Christian Science-based character education. Principia's team of over 500 employees supports not only Principia School and Principia School, but also a worldwide network of Alumni & Friends.
At Principia School, our core value is LOVE. Love and its attributes underpin our foundational beliefs as well as our educational approach. We focus on developing the whole child-intellectually, physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually, preparing students for the next steps in life. We foster a challenging yet supportive environment where character unfolds naturally, and talent is cultivated through boundless opportunities. Character education plays an essential role in every aspect of the student experience, and classroom work is augmented by character trips, leadership development, and real-world, hands-on, project-based learning.
Principia employees are part of an engaging academic community preparing students to be tomorrow's leaders, thinkers, and changemakers. We strive to create a collaborative and inclusive environment where everyone feels they belong and are valued.
Primary Responsibilities
- Develops and manages an annual, multi-channel marketing strategy for Principia School that supports external communications and initiatives designed to grow enrollment, builds positive brand awareness and reputation, and drives the School's strategic goals.
- Guides, mentors, and manages the School's marketing team; hires and oversees additional freelancers and consultants, as needed.
- Directs and manages the School's visual brand and messaging in collaboration and alignment with Principia's broader brand and messaging strategy, collaborating with Principia's creative services team on the development of creative assets, such as graphics, videos, and written content.
- Supports the Head of School and School senior leadership with communications for internal and external audiences and events, in collaboration with Principia's communications leads.
- Works with the Assistant Head of School for Enrollment Management to identify, evaluate and improve the customer acquisition process; develops and maintains marketing materials that are relevant and impactful, including the development of a creative campaign within the new CRM system.
- Supports admissions events and activities through a range of marketing communications; develops and executes campaigns that drive enrollment growth; develops campaign and communication plan for Admissions Customer Relations Management system.
- Responsible for the School's external websites and social media channels, collaborating with cross-functional teams and the creative services and communications teams to ensure the School's digital presence is accurate, relevant, informative, easy to navigate, and is consistent with messaging and visual identity guidelines.
- Monitors, analyzes and regularly reports on marketing metrics and key performance indicators, measuring and optimizing results and ROI on marketing campaigns.
- Oversees the marketing budget, ensuring cost-effective allocation of resources and optimal ROI.
- Serves as a member of the School's Leadership Team.
- Serves as a member of an institutional marketing leadership team in order to ensure all marketing communications, campaigns, and strategies are consistent and institutionally aligned; seeks opportunities for collaborations that support Principia's institutional goals.
- Collaborates with creative services and communications teams to coordinate and create content for Principia's publications and earned media stories that promote the School's thought leaders, faculty and staff accomplishments, student spotlights and outcomes, and promotes events, building brand recognition and reputation.
- Collaborates with Principia's Advancement (Development and Alumni) Team in support of the School's fundraising, alumni network, and alumni event outreach efforts.
- Stays current on marketing trends, tools, and best practices, especially for higher education, regularly reevaluating effective strategies, key target audiences, and new social channels to enhance digital marketing efforts.
- Leadership: Exhibits confidence in self and others; inspires and motivates others to perform well; effectively influences actions of others; inspires respect and trust; accepts feedback from others; provides vision and inspiration to peers and direct reports; gives appropriate recognition to others; mobilizes others to fulfill the vision; promotes a positive work environment.
- Positivity: Optimistic, positive, and focused on elevating and bringing out the very best in themselves and others.
- Team player: Ability to collaborate and partner with peers and senior leaders is critical, with an ability to listen, give and receive feedback, and be comfortable exchanging ideas and speaking candidly in a professional and collegial manner
- Strategic Thought: Works to articulate the vision and shows creativity when defining solutions
- Communication: Communicates well (written and verbal), delivers presentations, has good listening skills with high energy, drive, and both intellectual and emotional intelligence
- Project Management: Monitors status of projects, thoroughly deals with project details, holds project owners and participants accountable, delivers clear, accurate depiction of status
- Inclusion: Demonstrates awareness and respect for cultural differences, actively seeks to understand diverse perspectives, and supports cross-cultural interactions. Fosters an inclusive environment where individuals of all backgrounds feel valued and respected.
- Innovative: Presents a problem-solving mindset that helps our team come up with creative solutions to challenging issues, with a mentality of self-improvement and organizational excellence; meets challenges with resourcefulness; generates suggestions for improving work; develops innovative approaches and ideas
- Quality: Demonstrates attention to detail, accuracy, and thoroughness
- Student of Christian Science
- Supportive of Principia's mission, vision, and values as articulated here https://www.principia.edu/about/mission
- Bachelor's degree in marketing, advertising, public relations, communications, or related fields
- Minimum 10 years of experience in communications, marketing, branding, public relations, or a related field required; higher education or non-profit experience preferred
- Excellent writing skills, must provide portfolio examples
- Demonstrated experience in directing, managing, and creating content for multi-channel platforms, including web, social media, print, and email
- Experience managing employees and leading creative teams and processes
- Project management experience
- Experience working with social and web data analytics, creating reports, and analyzing trends
- Understanding of mobile app platforms and technology, and demonstrated experience with SEO and website development
- Experience with CRM platforms, particularly Slate, preferred
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office, Google Suite, and Adobe Suite applications (Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator) a plus
- Strong command of and experience with various social media platforms
The statements above describe the general nature and level of work but are not a complete list of responsibilities and are subject to change at the discretion of Principia.
Equal Opportunity
Principia, a mission-driven institution, believes every person has the right to an equitable and respectful educational environment and workplace. Principia does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnicity, gender (identity or expression), sexual orientation, family status, disability, age, or military or veteran status.
In hiring, admissions, and related decisions, Principia - as an institution with a religious mission - gives preference, where appropriate, to Christian Scientists.