The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) is a global membership organization dedicated to advancing the vitality and democratic purposes of undergraduate liberal education. Through our programs and events, publications and research, public advocacy and campus-based projects, AAC&U serves as a catalyst and facilitator for innovations that improve educational quality and equity and that support the success of all students. In addition to accredited public and private, two-year and four-year colleges and universities and state higher education systems and agencies throughout the United States, our membership includes degree-granting higher education institutions in more than twenty-five countries as well as other organizations and individuals. To learn more, visit www.aacu.org.

The Director of Marketing partners with stakeholders across the association to develop, execute, and assess integrated marketing plans that promote AAC&U events, initiatives, membership, products, services, and content and that increase the associations’ brand awareness. The director oversees a marketing specialist and a communications associate. The position reports to the Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs to ensure that marketing goals and activities align with the overall goals and priorities of the association.
• In collaboration with the meetings, program, membership, and editorial teams, lead the development, execution, and assessment of short- and long-term integrated strategic marketing plans to promote events, initiatives, products, services, and content; support member recruitment, retention, and engagement efforts; and improve overall brand awareness.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to develop messaging that supports strategic marketing goals, that can be readily adapted for different audiences and formats and applied effectively across multiple delivery platforms, and that is on brand.
• Lead the development, and oversee the design and production, of all marketing collateral to ensure quality and effectiveness.
• Lead the development, implementation, and ongoing assessment of the association’s social media strategy; make use of social listening and social media monitoring tools to monitor trends and identify opportunities to engage audiences, expand reach, inform future campaigns, improve messaging, and map content to trending issues.
• Partner with the Website Manager to develop search engine optimization strategies, review analytics data, and ensure consistency of branding and messaging across digital platforms.
• Develop, monitor, and report on key performance indicators related to all marketing activities.
• Advise the sponsorship team on the negotiation of in-kind trade and other forms of sponsor agreements and manage the implementation of all marketing activities related to or derived from the agreements.
• Develop and monitor marketing budgets.
• Ensure the association’s brand standards are consistently maintained and enforced.
• Provide leadership, mentoring, and guidance to direct reports.
• Perform other duties, as assigned.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressively responsible experience in marketing management or other directly relevant area; membership association, higher education institution, or nonprofit organization experience a plus.
• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, business, or related field; master’s degree preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and lead effective marketing programs.
• Strong strategic planning and project management skills and ability to manage multiple projects, timelines, and stakeholder relationships effectively.
• Outstanding written communication and storytelling skills; strong attention to detail; and ability to maintain a consistent and appropriate tone across moments and messaging.
• Strong interpersonal and cross-functional communication skills.
• Experience with search engine optimization, web and social media content strategy, and Google Analytics; deep knowledge of all major social media platforms.
• Experience setting KPIs and leveraging analytics to track toward goals.
• Experience managing and overseeing direct reports.
• Broad knowledge and understanding of current issues in higher education and a passion for promoting quality and equity in undergraduate education are plusses.

Salary commensurate with experience; plus, exceptional benefits. Please submit a résumé, a cover letter describing relevant experience, provide relevant work samples and salary requirements to: AAC&U, Box OCPA, 1818 R Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009 or to employment@aacu.org. Review of applications will begin on June 20, 2022.

AAC&U believes that a broadly diverse staff is critical to achieving excellence as a national higher education association. We seek to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool. We are fully committed to equal employment opportunity and compliance with the full range of fair employment practices and non-discrimination laws.