Chief Communications and Marketing Officer

Adler University•Chicago, IL

1d•$170,000 - $200,000

About The Position

The Chief Communications and Marketing Officer (CCMO) is a senior leader responsible for developing, leading, and continuously advancing a comprehensive and integrated communications and marketing strategy for Adler University during a critical period of institutional transformation. This role requires an innovative, visionary, hands-on strategist who can assess, build, and manage. The CCMO will lead with clarity through complexity, solve problems in real time, and design new ways to position the institution competitively. Reporting directly to the President, the CCMO serves as the University’s most senior communications leader, enhancing institutional reputation, shaping public narratives, and ensuring that every dimension of Adler’s communications presence reflects and advances its mission, strategic priorities, and values. This role has a mandate to build and strengthen the University’s communications and marketing apparatus with a commitment to innovation and excellence, advancing the School’s newly established mission, vision, values, and rebranding. This is a role of strategic consequence and institutional leadership, requiring the CCMO to navigate a complex, multi-stakeholder environment to align the needs and priorities of academic and administrative leaders, the Board of Trustees, faculty, students, external partners, media, and the broader public into a single, coherent institutional strategy. The CCMO possesses a deep understanding of the media landscape, the evolving role of communications technology, and how new centers of social influence drive decision-making.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, public relations, journalism, public affairs, or a closely related field; equivalent executive-level experience considered.
Minimum of 10 years of progressively senior communications leadership at the enterprise or institutional level in complex organizations.
Proven experience advising a CEO, President, or equivalent executive on communications strategy, public narrative, and brand, including direct board-level engagement.
Demonstrated track record in high-level public relations: senior media relationships, national press strategy, proactive story placement, and high-stakes spokesperson experience.
Expertise in digital strategy, paid media, content marketing, earned media storytelling, and CRM/marketing automation.
Experience navigating complex, multi-stakeholder environments and integrating competing communications needs into a coherent institutional strategy.
Track record managing institutional reputation through major transitions, politically sensitive situations, or periods of significant organizational change.
Demonstrated leadership of communications professionals, cross-functional teams, and external vendors and agencies in a matrixed environment.
Experience managing budgets and allocating resources across a communications or marketing function.
Exceptional executive presence, public speaking, and written communications skills.
Familiarity with higher education, large nonprofits, government, or mission-driven organizations, including shared governance and accreditation contexts.
Familiarity with international and cross-cultural communications and addressing a diversity of audiences.

Nice To Haves

Experience leading communications through institutional transformation

Responsibilities

Develop, own, and continuously advance a comprehensive communications strategy that unifies institutional priorities, institutional planning, enrollment, advancement, academic excellence, and community engagement into a coherent narrative framework.
Serve as the central integrating voice for University communications, translating the priorities of diverse stakeholders into a unified institutional strategy and consistent brand voice across all channels, geographies, and audiences.
Play an active role in the University’s strategic planning processes, ensuring communications goals and resources are embedded from the outset, not a tactical after thought.
Establish the institutional messaging architecture — core narratives, brand voice, and audience-segmented key messages — that anchors all University communications.
Build and systematize the infrastructure, standards, and tools that make Adler’s communications consistent, scalable, and coherent across all geographical hubs, programs, and channels.
Elevate and advance academic achievements, the voices of outstanding faculty experts, and University-wide thought leadership to show Adlerian work in action and highly relevant public conversations.
Serve as the senior steward of brand integrity, making final determinations on the use of the University’s name, identity, and narrative in high-stakes or diverse contexts.
Serve as a full member of the President’s executive team, contributing communications expertise to institutional decision-making and serving as a strategic thought partner to fellow cabinet members.
Represent Adler University at national higher education associations, communications conferences, and policy forums, advancing the University’s external profile and contributing to the field as appropriate and with a clear ROI.
Shape and amplify the Institution's public presence through thought leadership and executive visibility in deliberate service of Adler’s institutional mission, strategic priorities, and reputational goals.
Develop and execute a multi-year presidential communications strategy that advances the President’s visibility among national and international audiences as an expression of the University’s leadership and impact.
Prepare and advise the President for high-stakes engagements: major speeches, media interviews, accreditor and government interactions, donor presentations, and crisis moments.
Serve as the primary communications advisor to the President on matters of institutional significance, in close coordination with the SVP/COO, Provost, and VP for Advancement.
Lead the development and execution of an integrated marketing strategy — spanning digital, paid, content, and CRM channels — that drives awareness, consideration, conversion, advocacy and retention across all of Adler’s academic programs and audiences.
Own Adler’s integrated marketing strategy across owned, earned, and paid channels, ensuring a cohesive, data-informed presence that reflects the University’s brand and advances enrollment and institutional visibility goals.
Direct paid media strategy and investment — including search, social, programmatic, and display — with campaigns that are audience-segmented, performance-tracked, and optimized against clear enrollment and awareness KPIs.
Lead content marketing strategy, overseeing the development of mission-aligned content that engages prospective students, alumni, donors, and partners across the full funnel.
Champion earned media storytelling as a strategic enrollment and reputation lever, translating faculty expertise, student outcomes, and institutional milestones into narratives that reach and resonate with target audiences.
Oversee CRM and marketing automation strategy, ensuring prospect and constituent communications are personalized, well-sequenced, and integrated with broader institutional communications and advancement goals.
Bring rigor and accountability to marketing investment by establishing clear performance frameworks and reporting cadences that translate data into actionable strategic decisions.
Analyze and evaluate emerging communications technologies, including digital innovations, social media changes, generative AI, etc to ensure Adler is maximizing new tools with intention, focus and integrity.
Provide executive oversight of Adler’s enrollment marketing function, supervising the communications and marketing leads responsible for prospective student engagement across all programs and geographies.
Ensure enrollment marketing strategy is fully integrated with the University’s broader communications, brand, and advancement priorities to unify various functions, share assets and operate cohesively.
Partner closely with enrollment leadership, internal communications and marketing leadership, and the Provost to align marketing activity with recruitment goals, program priorities, and institutional targets, ensuring the team is resourced and directed accordingly.
Hold the team accountable to clear performance outcomes, reviewing campaign results, pipeline data, and conversion metrics to inform ongoing strategy and resource allocation decisions.
Establish enrollment marketing metrics and reporting standards, leading ongoing analysis of campaign performance, pipeline health, and conversion trends to drive continuous improvement and ensure the team is consistently optimizing toward measurable outcomes.
Own and actively manage Adler’s external institutional strategy — including senior media relationships with global, national, and regional outlets, higher education press, and issue-specific journalists.
Lead proactive PR strategy: identifying high-impact story opportunities, placing Adler’s voice in relevant conversations, and managing the University’s press profile with strategic rigor.
Serve as a senior spokesperson in high-stakes situations, including crisis coverage and major announcements.
Partner with the VP of Advancement to ensure institutional communications strategy supports robust development and advancement goals; serve as a critical strategic partner in alumni engagement and donor communications.
Maintain proactive, sustained and prioritized communications with Adler’s key external stakeholders, including donors, alumni, community partners, accreditors, peer institutions, and government contacts.
Lead communications strategy for major institutional milestones, new programs, campus development, major gifts, strategic partnerships, etc to ensure precision and impact.
Amplify the University’s thought leadership ecosystem, coordinating faculty, executive, student, and alumni voices to ensure Adler’s expertise shapes relevant public discourse.
Serve as the University’s primary cross-functional communications leader, convening and aligning communications activity across academic and administrative divisions to ensure a unified institutional voice.
Establish enterprise-wide communications policies, standards, and governance frameworks ensuring consistency, compliance, and institutional alignment across all campuses and channels.
Provide strategic communications counsel to academic deans, vice presidents, and senior leaders, ensuring major initiatives are supported by well-sequenced, coordinated communications plans.
Present communications strategy, reputation updates, and major initiatives to the Board of Trustees and University Senate, maintaining transparent and active communications with both governing bodies.
Serve as the University’s lead communications executive during crises and reputational threats to managing media, stakeholder communications, and internal messaging with clarity and speed.
Develop and maintain the enterprise crisis communications framework, ensuring preparedness across reputational, legal, regulatory, public health, campus safety, and political risk categories, in close coordination with the Provost, SVP/COO, and legal counsel.
Anticipate and monitor emerging issues through regular environmental scans of media, policy, and peer institution developments.
Supervise communications and marketing team, partnering with them to set clear priorities, foster a culture of excellence and mission alignment, and invest in the professional growth of all team members.
Oversee and delegate management of relationships with external consultants, agencies, and communications firms — directing their work, managing contracts, and ensuring external resources are strategically deployed and accountable to institutional goals.
Manage resource allocation ($1M+ budget), monitor expenditures, and ensure fiscal responsibility in alignment with institutional priorities.
Build a high-performing, collaborative team culture that integrates full-time staff and external partners into a cohesive, strategically aligned communications operation.