Director, Strategic Enrollment Marketing and Communications

Lead the Way at UF, Join Our Division of Enrollment Management’s Strategic Leadership Team!

About the Opportunity

Are you a passionate, creative leader and skilled communicator driven by developing marketing and communications that bolster recruitment, enrollment, and retention of first-time students in Higher Education?

The Division of Enrollment Management is seeking dynamic and talented creative leaders to serve as the inaugural Director of Strategic Enrollment Marketing and Communications for the University of Florida. This role requires an energetic, skilled communicator who can promote the university’s recruitment and enrollment brand to diverse audiences across student life cycle.

The ideal candidate will excel in building relationships, understanding campus partners’ needs, and demonstrating expertise in enrollment marketing in the current landscape of higher education. The Director will be an essential leader and manager responsible for creating and implementing a vision and strategy, designing, creating, leading, and implementing integrated data-driven marketing and communications strategies and campaigns to promote the comprehensive student experience that results in optimum enrollment outcomes.

Key Functions and Responsibilities Include but are not limited to:

STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP & PLANNING

• Works closely with the Associate Vice President and other leaders within the Division of Enrollment Management as part of a core Enrollment Management Leadership team to provide advice to the Vice President and Chief Enrollment Strategist.
• Provides leadership in the planning, development, and execution of strategic marketing communications efforts aimed at prospective students and their families, high school counselors, and community influencers including its core differentiators, brand pillars, and value propositions to key audiences.
• Create Strategic Marketing Messaging and Campaigns for Student Enrollment Lifecycle
• Understand segmentation and differentiate tactics/messaging for various personas.
• Collaborates with enrollment leadership across the division to create dynamic, engaging campaigns that are timely, accurate & effective. Includes producing, creating, and monitoring communication from name purchases (search).
• Establishes metrics for success in an integrated strategic communications and marketing action plan, regularly assessing the success of efforts and creating a plan for ongoing evaluation.
• Develop KPIs and benchmarks to evaluate the performance of enrollment marketing and communications efforts and monitor the success of campaigns using analytics and other assessment methods.
• Develops a deep understanding of the voice of the student and identifies key opportunities/leverage points for improving their experience and building advocacy and loyalty.

CREATIVE STRATEGY and LEADERSHIP

• The incumbent works closely with the Associate Vice President to set the direction of enrollment marketing and communications; exhibits demonstrated leadership skills and experience leading staff and serving in a leadership role for complex projects.
• Directing enrollment marketing and communications requires this position to capture the vision and details of intended messaging, communicate effectively, and develop the creative efforts of a collaborative team.

ENROLLMENT MARKETING PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

• Leads the planning, development, and execution of strategic marketing and communication efforts aimed at prospective students and their families, high school counselors, and community influencers.
• Collaborates with enrollment management units, other university offices, and external vendors in directing the programs and operations for enrollment management communications and marketing.
• Stays on the cutting edge of strategic enrollment marketing in higher education, including trends, tools, competitive landscape, and best practices.
• Creates Key Marketing Messages/Campaigns for the Student Enrollment Lifecycle
• Borrows from outside industries to strategize new initiatives.
• Maintains expert-level knowledge of industry CRMs to employ best-in-class operational processes.
• Evaluates, develops, and coordinates with the Admissions Leadership on the design and production of all communications related to the admissions/recruitment lifecycle.
• Reviews, manages and approves EM content across traditional and digital channels with content providers and edits/tracks for consistency, accuracy, and timeliness.
• Assures the integrity, high quality, and consistency of the university’s image, tone, style, narrative, visual identity, and brand.
• Negotiates contracts, monitors marketing budget spending, and considers new ways of doing business to achieve optimal results.
• Ensures timely and accurate production and execution of all communication on budget.
• Proficiency in leveraging Google Analytics or other analytics tools/solutions with experience evaluating traditional and digital marketing campaigns to produce informative reports and provide analytical insights to non-technical audiences.

DEPARTMENT LEADERSHIP

• Directs a team of 6+ high-performance communications and creative professionals.
• Maximizes financial, human, and University resources to achieve annual enrollment marketing goals.
• Determines marketing campaign budgets and ensures that all staff adhere to them.
• Fosters a creative and productive environment by coaching team members, promoting accountability, and driving continuous improvement through data-informed decision-making and outcomes assessment.
• Coaches team members to maximize creativity, productivity, and effectiveness.
• Hire, supervise, and train personnel, freelance and contracted partners, and students to provide services necessary to fulfill responsibilities.
• Engages in campus, regional, and national professional opportunities to stay abreast of national trends, best practices, and benchmarking regarding enrollment management.
• Assures the integrity, high quality, and consistency of the university’s image, tone, style, narrative, visual identity, and brand.
• Ensures timely and accurate production and execution of all communication on budget.
• Represent the University at local, state and national meetings, forums and professional association functions. Supports enrollment goals through special projects and other assigned duties.

DIGITAL MARKETING & ANALYTICS

• Promotes and implements modern, effective communication strategies to maximize UF’s EM digital presence using various platforms including social media, web design, CRM portals, online advertising, and demand generation, to engage key stakeholders and meet multi-year goals.
• Ensures maximum traffic and conversion rates through consistent monitoring of digital analytics.
• Creates KPIs and benchmarks to assess enrollment marketing and communications performance and campaign success with analytics tools like Google Analytics, and provides clear, insightful reports on traditional and digital marketing efforts to non-technical audiences.

QUALIFICATIONS

Minimum Qualifications:

Master’s degree in an appropriate area and six years of relevant experience; or a bachelor’s degree in an appropriate area and eight years of relevant experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

• An energetic and sophisticated leadership style with high emotional intelligence, embodying honesty, integrity, and diplomacy. Demonstrate a strong work ethic, optimism, and excellent listening skills.
• A commitment to show up as a collaborative team player who works well with diverse groups both within and outside the University. They bring experience in team-centric environments, remain calm under pressure, and handle stressful situations with a positive, solution-oriented approach.
• Demonstrate a track record of thought leadership on enrollment communications topics by staying up to date on emerging trends, developing professional contacts with colleagues, attending professional development engagements, and delivering presentations that inform, educate, and inspire.
• Outstanding record for partnering with and drawing out the best in other professionals as a leader and manager.
• Ability to lead, plan, develop, and implement projects/programs that deliver on strategic priorities for both the office and for the broader institution, with the interpersonal intelligence to maintain relationships while also redirecting efforts if a project is not viable or aligned with these priorities.
• Proven experience with art direction. Excellent layout skills with a strong attention to detail. Experience in prepress and print production.
• Demonstrated understanding of branding and strategic messaging. Experience presenting design concepts and the ability to articulate a clear vision.
• Understanding of customer relationship management (CRM) technology within the higher education landscape, preferably with SLATE and/or Salesforce.
• Demonstrate flexibility and agility through a willingness to adjust to changing demands and shifting priorities.
• Ability to be hands-on with the development and production of Marketing and Communications collateral print and digital.
• Experience working with project management software, social marketing tools, email marketing tools, production software suites, and CRM solutions.
• Ability to recruit, hire, train, supervise, and evaluate staff.

COMPENSATION

Base Salary: 130,000 – 140,000

The University of Florida offers a competitive salary commensurate with similar positions and includes a full benefits package. Click here to view the university’s Total Rewards Benefits plans.

Ready to Take the Next Step?

Embark on an exciting creative and leadership journey with us developing Marketing and Communications that attract the best and brightest to the University of Florida! Candidates must apply online at Careers at UF. Inquiries, nominations, and requests for discovery calls can be sent to AJ Brown with the Strategic Talent Group at stg@hr.ufl.edu.