Executive Director of Communications

Knox College seeks an Executive Director of Communications to develop and help implement compelling, effective messaging and communications strategies for prospective students and parents, alumni, donors, the on-campus community, and other critical regional and national audiences. Reporting to the president and serving on the senior staff, the executive director will work collaboratively with both admission and advancement to design digital and print marketing campaigns to support the student recruitment, donor relations, and fundraising priorities of the college. This person will also work closely with the president on priority institutional communications and serve as the College’s official spokesperson.

We seek someone who is smart, imaginative, nimble, and eager to try new things. Knox has a proud reputation for its one-of-a-kind academic experiences, its inclusive and creative community—we are one of the 50 most diverse campuses in the U.S.—and a nearly 200-year commitment to keeping a high-quality liberal arts education available to all promising students, regardless of background. Like most national liberal arts colleges, however, Knox is at a critical moment, as we face contemporary challenges, including the nationwide decline in the number of college-bound students and the ongoing effects of the current pandemic.

In this role, you can expect to:

• Work closely with the leadership of admission and advancement, respectively, on critical recruitment and fundraising communications and marketing initiatives across the full portfolio of outreach media available and especially in the emerging areas of digital technologies.
• Support the president on priority institutional communications, leadership messaging, media outreach, and more.
• Provide leadership and guidance for—and collaborate with—an outstanding team of 10 communications and marketing professionals, including designers, developers, writers, photographers, and videographers.
• Develop a comprehensive communications strategy, complete with priority messages, a creative tactical plan, and ambitious outreach goals.
• Ensure that Knox is capitalizing effectively on new and emerging technologies and marketing tools that effectively combine with print and web media for maximum strategic impact and reach in service to core Knox priorities.