Senior Director, Strategic Communications and Marketing- Candler School of Theology

Emory•Atlanta, GA

15d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Director of Strategic Communications and Marketing Officer serves as Candler School of Theology’s senior communications and marketing strategist. Reporting to the dean, this role leads an integrated communications and marketing function that advances Candler’s mission, strengthens its public voice, supports enrollment and advancement priorities, amplifies faculty and programmatic strengths, and protects the school’s institutional reputation. Candler is entering a new chapter. The school is rooted in the Christian faith and shaped by the Wesleyan tradition, with a mission to educate faithful and creative leaders for the church’s ministries throughout the world. At this moment, Candler has an opportunity to build upon the Wesleyan commitment to open inquiry, enhancing its distinctiveness as a global site for the study and practice of theological education; a place of serious interfaith dialogue and convening; a school with a stronger national and global footprint; and an institution whose faculty, staff, students, alumni, centers, and public programs are known more widely for their intellectual, spiritual, and civic contributions. The Senior Director of Strategic Communications and Marketing Officer will help Candler tell that story with clarity, imagination, discipline, and strategic purpose. The person who assumes this role will transform the school’s communications activities by developing an integrated communications and marketing strategy. The successful candidate will develop and execute a school-wide communications and marketing strategy; align messaging across Admissions, Advancement, academic programs, centers, initiatives, and the dean’s office; lead digital-first storytelling; support enrollment and donor-facing campaigns; strengthen internal communications; and serve as a trusted adviser to the dean and senior leadership.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in communications, marketing, journalism, public relations, higher education administration, or a related field
10 years of progressively responsible experience in communications, marketing, public relations, media, or related work, including supervision of staff.

Nice To Haves

A related master's degree
Experience in higher education, theological education, nonprofit leadership, public affairs, or mission-driven institutions.
Graduate degree in communications, marketing, journalism, theology, religion, public policy, higher education, or a related field.
Demonstrated success in enrollment marketing, advancement communications, executive communications, media relations, digital strategy, brand management, crisis communications, and campaign development.
Experience translating faculty research, institutional priorities, or complex ideas into compelling public narratives.
Experience supporting public programming, convening, interfaith engagement, executive education, lifelong learning, or global institutional positioning.
Strong understanding of digital communications, short-form video, social media, web strategy, analytics, and audience segmentation.
Ability to build trust across faculty, staff, students, alumni, donors, church leaders, communications professionals, and university partners.
Strategic and practical. Creative and disciplined. Relational and decisive.
Able to move quickly without being careless.
Able to protect institutional reputation without becoming risk-averse.
Comfortable working with the dean and senior leaders on sensitive, high-visibility matters.
Committed to theological education, faculty excellence, student formation, public life, interfaith dialogue, and Candler’s mission.
Able to build systems, not simply respond to requests.
Able to help Candler speak with clarity, courage, humility, and imagination.

Responsibilities

Serves as the dean's senior adviser on communications, messaging, public voice, internal communications, executive communications, media strategy, and reputation management.
Helps to position Candler as a distinctive theological school with national and global reach.
Partners closely with Admissions to support recruitment.
Partners closely with Advancement and Alumni Engagement to support audience communications and philanthropic priorities.
Uses data, analytics, and audience insight to improve communications, performance, and guide resource allocation.
Leads editorial, digital, video, and social strategies that highlight Candler's intellectual, theological, spiritual, and public contributions.
Creates structures for faculty thought leadership and public commentary in areas where Candler has distinctive strengths.
Develops communication strategies that support Candler as a serious convening place for interfaith dialogue, theological inquiry, civic engagement, and public life.
Strengthens Candler's presence in Atlanta, across the United States, and in global conversations about theology, religion, ethics, leadership, and public life.
Leads a digital-first communications strategy across web, social media, video, email, newsletters, digital campaigns, and other owned channels.
Oversees campaign planning for enrollment, events, public programs, faculty visibility, donor engagement, and major institutional moments.
Ensures that digital content is timely, visually compelling, audience-aware, and aligned with Candler and Emory brand standards.
Develops appropriate metrics and dashboards to assess reach, engagement, conversion, turnaround time, and strategic impact.
Oversees media relations, proactive press outreach, talking points, public statements, and crisis communications in coordination with Emory University communications.
Establishes intake, prioritization, project management, and service-level expectations so communications resources are aligned with school priorities.
Serves as a collaborative partner to the dean's advisory group, dean's council, Admissions, Advancement, Business Operations, Academic Affairs, Student Life, Worship and Spiritual Formation, centers, initiatives, and affiliated partners.
Leads, supervises, and develops communications and marketing staff.
Fosters a culture of creativity, accountability, collaboration, responsiveness, and responsible self-direction.
Develop, implement, and assess a school-wide strategic communications and marketing plan aligned with Candler’s priorities, including enrollment, advancement, faculty excellence, Methodist and ecumenical identity, public programming, adult and lifelong learning, interfaith convening, and institutional reputation.
Translate institutional priorities into clear messaging, audience strategies, campaigns, editorial plans, and digital content.
Develop a stronger system for showcasing Candler faculty, staff, students, alumni, centers, initiatives, and public-facing programs.
Support storytelling for The Candler Foundry, La Mesa, Methodist Studies, worship and spiritual formation, student life, religion and public life, interfaith dialogue, public theology, and other strategic priorities.
Help design the communications architecture for public lectures, conferences, artist residencies, donor-facing convenings, executive education, lifelong learning, and cross-Emory partnerships.
Protect and strengthen Candler’s brand, reputation, and institutional voice.
Clarify decision rights for brand, messaging, high-risk communications, public statements, and school-wide channels.
Ensure compliance with Emory policies related to name use, trademarks, logos, visual identity, privacy, public safety, and institutional communications.
Lead internal communications that build trust, clarity, and alignment across faculty, staff, students, and key partners.
Develop a hub-and-spoke model that allows central communications to set strategy and standards while enabling program-level speed and subject expertise.
Clarify roles, responsibilities, workflows, expectations, and professional development pathways.
Build a team that can balance strategic work, routine communications, urgent requests, and reputational risk.