Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)

Xavier University • Cincinnati, OH

9d

About The Position

Xavier University seeks an accomplished, strategic, and results-oriented Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer (VP/CMO) to join the Executive Cabinet as a new senior leadership role reporting directly to the President. The VP/CMO will lead a centralized Division of Marketing and Communications and be accountable for Xavier’s brand, reputation, marketing strategy, budget, and talent.

In partnership with Strategic Enrollment Management, Advancement, Athletics, and leaders across the University, the VP/CMO will develop a research-driven brand platform that articulates Xavier’s distinctive identity and the value of a Xavier education. The role will build an in-house, agency-style marketing operation that brings brand strategy and performance marketing together to advance institutional priorities and support enrollment, revenue, and growth. The successful candidate will connect marketing investment to measurable results and use market research, data analytics, emerging technologies, and artificial intelligence to inform strategy, optimize performance, and strengthen Xavier’s position and reputation.

Requirements

• Master’s degree.
• At least 10 years of progressive leadership experience, including at least 5 years in an executive-level role as a CMO, VP of Marketing, VP of Communications, or comparable senior leader.
• Significant experience serving as a vice president or cabinet-level leader overseeing a marketing and communications organization and serving on a senior leadership team.
• Commitment to advancing Xavier University’s Jesuit Catholic mission through marketing, communications, and institutional leadership.
• Deep understanding of college and university operations, including shared governance with faculty, academic program structures, and enrollment and advancement cycles.
• Demonstrated results tying marketing to revenue, including enrollment, customer acquisition, fundraising, or comparable growth metrics.
• Strong data orientation, including setting measurable goals, interpreting performance data, and making evidence-based budget decisions.
• Experience commissioning and applying market and brand research, including perception tracking, segmentation, and driver analysis, and leading analytics or data-science staff or partners.
• Applied experience with AI, marketing technology, and automation, supported by concrete examples, and specific ideas for applying these capabilities in a marketing organization.
• Financial literacy sufficient to partner with a CFO, manage a budget, discuss financial drivers, and discuss the balance sheet.
• Experience in media relations, reputation management, and crisis communications.

Nice To Haves

• Experience at a mission-driven college or university, ideally a Catholic or Jesuit institution.
• Experience leading centralization or reorganization of a marketing function.
• Experience building a brand platform from research and sustaining it across multiple years.
• Experience building an in-house, agency-style marketing team that serves colleges and academic units.

Responsibilities

• Set Xavier’s brand strategy and market position, grounded in its Jesuit Catholic mission, and ensure consistent use across colleges, units, and channels.
• Lead research and development of Xavier’s brand platform and secure approval from the President and Board of Trustees.
• Maintain consistent use of the brand platform across colleges, programs, and channels, and facilitate cabinet-level alignment on Xavier’s identity, competitive position, and institutional goals.
• Make the data-grounded case for brand investment, including optimizing its level and mix.
• Share accountability with Strategic Enrollment Management for undergraduate and graduate enrollment results and strengthen the enrollment funnel from prospects and inquiries through deposited students.
• Support Advancement campaigns and communications that enhance donor and alumni engagement, and help measure their contribution to advancement goals.
• Apply audience segmentation to define and reach prioritized alumni, prospective students, and families.
• Ensure media relations, executive and presidential communications, and internal communications align with the brand platform, in partnership with a dedicated communications leader responsible for day-to-day media relations.
• Proactively protect Xavier’s reputation and maintain a tested issues and crisis-response plan.
• Build a data-driven division with clear metrics, dashboards, and reporting to the President and cabinet.
• Establish an ongoing brand-perception research program covering prospective students, parents, current students, alumni, and donors, and use findings to identify factors influencing enrollment and giving.
• Strengthen source analytics and data-science capabilities to segment audiences and attribute results to marketing spend by channel.
• Partner with Institutional Research and IT to integrate CRM, web, media, and survey data into a single source of truth for reporting.
• Bring research and data into brand and marketing decisions with deans, colleges, and units.
• Partner with IT and Institutional Research to establish privacy, access, and data-quality safeguards for audience research, integrated marketing data, and analytics.
• Apply AI and automation to marketing and communications, partnering with IT on the technology stack, CRM, and data integration.
• Establish practical AI guidelines addressing human review, accuracy, bias, protection of confidential information, and appropriate disclosure of AI use.
• Build and strengthen the Division of Marketing and Communications as a centrally funded, in-house agency and strategic partner to colleges and units.
• Develop a shared operating framework with Strategic Enrollment Management, Advancement, and Athletics for coordinating embedded marketing and communications activities, including campaign planning, brand standards, service priorities, and resolution of competing requests.
• Manage the divisional budget and agency and vendor partnerships, with rigorous oversight, accountability, and reporting on spending and performance.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, and prescription insurance plans.
• Health savings accounts, flexible spending accounts, and dependent care accounts.
• Life and long-term disability insurance, accident and illness insurance, and retirement savings plans.
• Paid time off options including vacation, sick leave, and holidays.
• Tuition remission for employees and eligible dependents.

What This Job Offers

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