Director of Communications - Instructional Excellence

UMass Amherst • Amherst, NY

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

Reporting to the Associate Provost for Instructional Excellence, the Director of Communications organizes and leads the strategic communications and internal marketing for the Instructional Excellence unit, including Instructional Design, Engagement, and Support (IDEAS) and the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). They provide strategic guidance to unit leadership, develop a brand strategy to advance the mission and profile of the Instructional Excellence unit, manage editorial standards, communications workflows, and publication processes across offices, evaluate web analytics and performance data, and supervise communications staff.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree.
• Over five (5) years of professional experience supporting communications, marketing, or digital content management.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Strong creative, strategic, and analytical skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work both independently and in a team environment and to promote teamwork, diversity, equity, and inclusiveness.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail with the ability to prioritize work, coordinate projects with multiple stakeholders and deadlines, manage time efficiently, and follow through on assignments.
• Strong computer skills with the ability to learn new systems quickly.
• The ability to exercise sound judgement and maintain confidentiality.

Nice To Haves

• Experience working in a higher education setting.
• Experience writing and editing content for multiple communications channels.
• Experience using web content management systems (e.g. Drupal).
• Experience with mass communication platforms (e.g. Marketing Cloud).

Responsibilities

• Sets strategic direction for the CTL and IDEAS units in partnership with the Associate Provost for Instructional Excellence.
• Aligns cross-unit strategy with university leadership and internal stakeholders to advance the mission and profile of the Instructional Excellence unit in support of institutional priorities.
• Directs a dynamic portfolio of communications projects, balancing immediate needs with long-term priorities, and leads execution of all marketing and communications initiatives.
• Creates and maintains unit branding and editorial standards for production, writing, and quality in alignment with University Relations (UR) and Information Technology (IT) policies.
• Edits and guides content to ensure a consistent voice while preserving each office's distinct role and function.
• Collaborates with UR and institutional stakeholders to coordinate faculty communications related to CTL and IDEAS award programs, fellowships, and related initiatives.
• Sets performance benchmarks and evaluates the effectiveness of CTL and IDEAS communications efforts and web resources using web analytics and other evaluation tools.
• Recommends and implements improvements to communication strategy and marketing initiatives based on performance data, audience needs, and emerging trends.
• Supervises professional communications staff to ensure seamless support across CTL and IDEAS.
• Sets expectations, assigns work, provides ongoing coaching and feedback, and conducts annual performance evaluations.
• Collaborates with the IDEAS media team to plan and produce multi-media marketing and communications content.
• Manages the Marketing Cloud email marketing platform and develops protocols for high quality and effective mass email communications to campus audiences.
• Represents the unit on the UMass Amherst Marketing & Communications Council in Marcom’s Marketing Cloud User Group and represents the institution at professional conferences.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• This position is subject to the terms and conditions of the Professional Staff Union collective bargaining agreement.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director