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Inside Higher Ed · 2 days ago

Assistant Dean of Communications & Marketing (SAIS, School of Advanced International Studies)

Washington, DC

Full-time

Hybrid

Director/Executive

$165K/yr - $180K/yr

10+ years exp

Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is seeking an Assistant Dean of Communications & Marketing to lead strategic communications and marketing efforts. The role involves enhancing the school's visibility, overseeing communications teams, and developing strategies to engage key external constituencies.

Digital MediaEducationHigher EducationJournalismRecruiting

Responsibilities

Develops and oversees the department's mission and goals to align with the school's strategic plan and core values

Work with the Dean, the school's leadership team, and university leadership to craft an overall strategic communications and marketing plan—identifying key audiences, priorities, and deliverables—that leverages the school's unique global presence and advances its strategic priorities

Establish clear objectives for the communications and marketing program

Develop and track metrics to continually monitor progress towards goals, measure digital and media success, benchmark against peers, and respond to opportunities for improvement

Provide reports to leadership and stakeholders to demonstrate impact

Support school and university leadership in navigating the communications opportunities and risks; provide strategic and tactical guidance to anticipate challenges and protect and enhance the reputation of the school, its people, and its work

Build the communications and marketing infrastructure to support future growth, including investment in visual and website assets

Liaise with communications and marketing offices at Johns Hopkins University and identify opportunities for collaboration

Lead the school's media engagement and digital communications to promote the work of the school and its faculty, associated centers, and programs across multiple channels to reach target audiences

Drive an active, forward-looking media relations strategy to elevate school leaders, faculty experts, centers, and institutes as thought-leaders on key issues driving the media and public conversation

Develop and deploy a robust, owned-media strategy to leverage social media, websites, video, podcasts, live events, and other channels

Oversee crisis communication for the school, ensuring preparedness and effective response strategies and execution for internal and external audiences

Serve as a spokesperson for the school as needed and advise and prepare faculty and other experts for media and public appearances

Develop and execute internal communication plans to engage faculty, staff, and students, utilizing appropriate tools and channels, ensuring consistent messaging, and alignment with strategic goals

Partner with school and university leadership to build, refine, and anticipate needs for internal messaging

Lead efforts to market and promote the school's academic programs, scholarship, events, and activities through coordinated marketing campaigns

As needed, hire and manage external agencies to support this work

Develop marketing campaigns and strategies to enhance awareness, reputation and position the school with prospective students, faculty, staff, and the broader public policy community

Oversee the development of the school's brand and visual identity, in coordination with University Communications and key stakeholders, and manage the use of the brand and creation of branded materials within the established university brand guidelines

Plan and execute a brand audit and website update campaign that engages all members of the SAIS community

Monitor and provide Dean and Dean's leadership team with regular updates on trends in higher education and the international relations and diplomacy landscape, including regular benchmarking to support strategy and decision-making

Lead, coach, develop, and supervise the long-term development of the team

Develop, manage, and oversee communications budget, ensuring optimal allocation of resources for maximum impact

Hire and manage any outside contractors or vendors needed to support the communications and marketing program

Develop and implement strategies for continuous improvement and adaptation to new communication technologies and practices

Serve as the liaison to the communications offices at the University, other divisions, Johns Hopkins Medicine, governmental organizations, and other universities' policy schools to identify and leverage opportunities for collaboration

Represent the school in university committees and professional functions, fostering partnerships and enhancing reputation

Qualification

Strategic communicationsMedia relationsBrand managementTeam leadershipDigital communicationsMarketing strategiesCrisis communicationStakeholder engagementInterpersonal skillsProject managementCollaboration

Required

Bachelor's Degree

At least 10 years of managerial-level, progressively responsible experience in leading full-service strategic communications and marketing programs

Hands-on experience engaging national and international media, public officials, policy influencers, and multilateral/diplomatic communities, with a track record of developing audience-specific strategies and narratives that deliver measurable results

Exemplary interpersonal skills and the ability to influence and build trusted relationships with senior-level internal and external stakeholders

Superior writing and editing skills

Ability to prioritize well and manage multiple complex projects simultaneously and produce results under pressure

Strong and sophisticated understanding of the current debates in foreign affairs and implications for institutions of higher education

Preferred

Experience developing and running comprehensive strategic communications programs that engage with international and foreign affairs media

Comfort achieving results in a highly collaborative environment incorporating stakeholders and decision-makers across multiple teams and departments

Capacity to build trust and influence at the executive level; experience providing advice and counsel to senior leaders

Demonstrated ability to leverage a robust network of journalists, media professionals, communications professionals, and foreign policy experts to advance the school's visibility and outreach efforts

Strong media relations experience, comfort speaking on the record and working with reporters, and the ability to seek and build new relationships with high-level media contacts as needed

Comfort and familiarity with a wide range of media relations and marketing tools and tactics, and a track record of evaluating and incorporating new tools as they become available

Demonstrated ability to lead and manage a multidisciplinary team, oversee multiple projects, and work in a fast-paced environment

Strong leadership skills with a track record of leading high-performing communications and marketing teams in the field of foreign affairs

Experience hiring staff, developing teams, crafting and overseeing budgets, and managing contract resources or agencies for discrete projects

Previous professional experience in and/or content expertise in academic or government environments

Advanced degree in a relevant field