Director, Strategic Communications & Marketing (Johns Hopkins Innovation & Commercial Partnership)

Johns Hopkins University•Baltimore, MD

6d•$119,515 - $209,100•Hybrid

About The Position

Johns Hopkins University’s Innovation & Commercial Partnerships (ICP) brings together the university’s commercialization, corporate engagement, venture creation, strategic partnership, and commercial product strategy work. ICP includes Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures, which leads technology transfer, licensing, startup formation, and venture acceleration, and Corporate Engagement, which serves as a single front door for companies seeking to partner with Johns Hopkins across research, talent, and other forms of collaboration. The Director, Strategic Communications & Marketing leads communications and marketing across ICP, reporting to the Executive Director of Technology Ventures and serving as a shared resource for the full organization. The Director shapes how ICP and its brands are understood by companies, investors and founders, ecosystem partners, faculty and inventors, university leadership, and staff. This role leads the existing marketing and communications team and combines strategic planning with hands-on execution, grounded in a customer-first mindset. The Director will define the voice of a newly expanded function as Johns Hopkins takes a more intentional, “one university” approach to working with industry and moving discoveries into the market. The role calls for a skilled writer and strategist who can translate complex science and deal activity into compelling stories for business and academic audiences, and an entrepreneurial, creative approach to testing ideas, learning quickly, and building new capabilities. The Director develops and executes integrated communications and marketing plans; stewards ICP’s brand architecture and messaging; leads marketing for programs, events, offerings, and digital experiences; oversees content, media relations, and owned channels; supports internal communications and organizational alignment; leads and develops the team; manages budgets, vendors, and agencies; and builds strong working relationships across university communications offices, schools, Johns Hopkins Medicine, and external partners. Event planning and logistics remain with the teams that own each event.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Communication, Marketing, or a related field.
Ten years of related experience, including developing and executing multifaceted communications efforts to position and elevate the reputation of an institution and its leadership with multiple audiences.
U.S. citizenship or legal permanent residency is required due to Federal Export Controls.
Ability to manage competing priorities across multiple internal clients and deliver results under pressure.
Superior writing and editing skills, including the ability to translate technical and scientific work for business, investor, and general audiences.
Customer-first mindset, with curiosity about the people served, empathy for their perspectives and constraints, and the ability to meet them with passion and understanding.
Experience leading a small team, managing budgets, and directing agencies or contractors.
Demonstrated ability to build collaborative, trusted relationships and influence across a decentralized, matrixed organization, including with faculty, executives, communications colleagues, and external partners.
Experience advising senior leaders and managing sensitive or confidential communications with sound judgment and discretion.
Track record of building integrated campaigns across earned, owned, and digital channels, including websites and newsletters.
Experience marketing to business audiences, including B2B marketing, corporate partnerships, or business development support.
Technical proficiency: Budgeting—Advanced; Crisis Communications—Advanced; Editing—Advanced; Internal Communications—Advanced; Media Monitoring and Analysis—Advanced; Media Relations—Advanced; Public Speaking—Advanced; Stakeholder Engagement—Advanced; Vendor Relationship Management—Advanced; Writing—Authority.

Nice To Haves

Understanding of the innovation and commercialization landscape, including technology transfer, startups, venture capital, and industry partnerships.
Creativity and entrepreneurial initiative, with comfort navigating ambiguity in a newly formed organization.
Familiarity with academic environments and the university communications ecosystem.
Experience communicating about technology commercialization, innovation, venture creation, life sciences, or technology industries in a university, research institution, company, or investment firm.
Established relationships with key media outlets.
Experience working in government, higher education, or a research-intensive environment.

Responsibilities

Ground communications and marketing in audience research, customer discovery, and insight from ICP colleagues.
Develop and execute an integrated communications and marketing plan across Technology Ventures and Corporate Engagement, with clear objectives, audiences, and channels.
Establish performance metrics, track and benchmark results, assess paid advertising and sponsorship returns, and report to ICP leadership.
Advise ICP leadership on communications opportunities and risks, and monitor peer, company, and media activity to sharpen ICP’s positioning.
Coordinate communications priorities across ICP teams and transparently triage and resource requests against organizational goals.
Steward ICP’s umbrella brand and sub-brands in alignment with university brand guidelines.
Codify ICP’s value proposition and external messaging, including why Johns Hopkins partners with industry and what companies can expect.
Lead marketing for ICP programs, events, and offerings, including the corporate front door and its evolution into an integrated digital experience.
Develop business development messaging and collateral to help staff position Johns Hopkins as a partner of choice.
Build campaigns and materials that encourage faculty engagement in commercialization and clarify licensing, startup formation, and industry partnership pathways.
Support go-to-market planning and marketing for new commercial offerings in partnership with Commercial Strategy & Operations.
Pilot and evaluate new marketing formats, channels, and ideas; scale approaches that work.
Manage external agencies, designers, and vendors as needed.
Oversee ICP websites, newsletters, social media, video, and annual report, ensuring consistent messaging across both arms.
Develop impact stories about startups, licensed technologies, corporate partnerships, and inventors, and partner with university and divisional communications offices to place them.
Lead ICP media relations with the university’s Office of Communications and prepare leaders and faculty founders for media and public appearances.
Produce talking points, presentations, messaging frameworks, and Q&A documents for ICP leadership and staff.
Lead communications and marketing for flagship events, summits, and convenings; event logistics remain with the teams that own each event.
Develop and execute internal communications that help ICP staff understand business priorities and support team alignment and change management.
Partner with leadership on internal messaging needs, including all-staff communications and updates to university partners.
Lead, coach, and develop the marketing and communications team, setting priorities and workflows that serve both arms of ICP.
Manage the communications and marketing budget and recommend staffing and resourcing as ICP’s scope grows.
Evaluate and adopt tools and practices, including AI-enabled content and analytics tools, to extend team capacity.
Serve as ICP’s liaison to university communications, Johns Hopkins Medicine Marketing & Communications, divisional communications offices, alumni relations, development, and other university partners.
Build a regular planning partnership with the university’s Office of Communications, aligning story visibility, review, and approvals so ICP news is amplified through central channels.
Develop regular touchpoints and shared story pipelines with divisional communications teams and Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Coordinate joint announcements and campaigns with state and regional economic development and ecosystem partners.
Perform other duties as assigned.