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Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.
Job End Date
OngoingAt UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.
Job Summary
As one of the leading Faculties of its kind in the world, the UBC Faculty of Education is comprised of four academic departments and two Schools, a large teacher education program with a First Nations component, a variety of cross-unit programs, centers and institutes, and several service units. The Faculty enrolls over 2000 students in our undergraduate and graduate programs each year on two campuses, and employs 200+ tenure stream Faculty, 300+ term Faculty, and 170+ staff.
The Director, Marketing & Communications, provides strategic executive leadership of all communications, marketing, and engagement functions across the Faculty of Education on both Vancouver and Okanagan campuses. Reporting to the Dean, the Director, Marketing & Communications, sets the long-term vision and multi-year strategy to build the brand and reputation of the Faculty of Education, to grow enrolment and generate revenue generation, to advance international engagement, and to manage issues/crisis communications. This position is responsible for shaping and executing integrated marketing and communications strategies that enhance visibility (locally, nationally and globally), engage key audiences (prospective students, alumni, donors, partners, media, etc.), promote business objectives and priorities (recruitment for instance) and support the Faculty achieving its strategic goals. This position leads an integrated portfolio that includes strategic marketing, communications, brand management, digital engagement, media relations, and issues management, and collaborates with the Dean’s leadership team, central UBC Communications & Marketing, and unit-level partners to deliver impactful campaigns, compelling storytelling, and consistent messaging across all platforms. The incumbent serves as the Faculty’s primary marketing and communications strategist and executive advisor, and represents the Faculty at the institutional level in high-profile initiatives.
In addition to setting Faculty-wide strategy across marketing and communications, the Director will also provide operational leadership to the marketing team. This includes stewarding execution of multi-channel marketing plans and paid media investments; directing the Faculty’s web strategy and the first-year website renewal (UX research, information architecture, accessibility, SEO, content redevelopment) in partnership with vendors; instituting segmentation, nurture funnels, and campaign analytics/KPIs; leading market and competitor research; and strengthening governance through brand standards, shared tools, and cross-unit working groups across both campuses. The Director will ensure these executional functions remain tightly aligned to the Faculty’s strategic priorities and integrated with Communications & Events for consistent storytelling and recruitment outcomes.
Key objectives associated with this leadership position and their team include:
Elevate the Faculty’s profile locally, nationally, and internationally.
Increase the number of qualified applications and registrations across the Faculty of Education’s portfolio, including credit-bearing graduate and undergraduate programs, teacher education, non-credit offerings, the English Language Institute, professional learning, and international engagement programs.
Expand local, national, and international partnerships and community engagement.
Strengthen alumni relations to encourage meaningful giving of time, talent, and resources.
Improve cross-unit communication to ensure consistent messaging and brand alignment.
Build collaborative communications and marketing initiatives across the Faculty.
Organizational Status
Reports to the Dean, Faculty of Education. Serves as a member of the Faculty’s senior leadership team and collaborates with Assistant and Associate Deans, Directors, Department Heads, Development and Alumni Engagement (DAE), and UBC Executive leaders. Oversees a marketing and communications team that includes an Associate Director, Communications & Events; other marketing and communications professionals, and contractors. Provides dotted-line leadership to unit-based communications and marketing staff as part of a matrixed service model.
Work Performed
Directs and leads a team of marketing and communication professionals to plan and implement a new operating model to integrate the currently distributed communications and marketing efforts to unify, promote and elevate the Faculty of Education’s reputation and its program enrolments on both Vancouver and Okanagan campuses.
Builds a Marketing and Marketing Office that leads the Faculty-wide marketing and communications functions. This office supports all units and programs in the Faculty, in marketing and communications strategies and directions, including, but not limited to, credit graduate and undergraduate programs, teacher education programs, non-credit programs, English Language Institute programs, professional learning programs, and international engagement programs, by defining strategies and collaborating with unit-level communicators.
Provides long-term strategic leadership of the Faculty’s marketing and communications portfolio, including brand, reputation, media, and stakeholder engagement.
Develops and implements a multi-year strategic communications and marketing plan aligned with the Faculty’s academic, research, recruitment, and advancement goals.
Establishes a clear framework for marketing and communication including governance, review processes, work standards, escalation mechanisms, policies and procedures, and roles and responsibilities that guides communications professionals in the Faculty.
Responsible for the Faculty’s public/media relations strategies and efforts. This includes advising and supporting the Dean in crisis and issues management in consultation with UBC Central Communications, and overseeing key messaging development and production.
Oversees executive communications strategy for the Dean, including speeches, media engagement, internal updates, and institutional messaging.
Drives communications innovation across the Faculty by developing new and/or improved methods of communication with external and internal audiences and stakeholders to enhance opportunities for information sharing and advance the Faculty’s interests.
Provides expert communications counsel to the senior leadership team within the Faculty of Education.
Ensures Faculty-wide communications governance, content and channel strategy, digital accessibility, and visual identity compliance.
Provide leadership to major initiatives including website redevelopment, strategic plan launches, digital content campaigns, and external relations initiatives.
Leads data-informed decision-making and analytics reporting to track audience engagement, media coverage, campaign performance, and reputation growth. Responsible for ensuring data collection, analysis and interpretation, and the effective leveraging of information to enhance the effectiveness and efficacy of the marketing and communication strategies.
Advises academic and administrative leaders on strategic storytelling, marketing approaches, and audience positioning.
Represents the Faculty on cross-UBC leadership committees and builds relationships with government, community, and media partners.
Oversees budget planning, staffing, HR decisions, and long-term capacity development within the Communications & Marketing team.
Marketing Strategy Operationalization & Oversight
Leads execution of integrated, Faculty-wide marketing plans across digital channels (email, web, SEO/SEM, social, campaign landing pages), setting budgets and optimizing ROI to deliver enrolment and reputation outcomes.
Directs web strategy and the first-year website renewal program, including vendor procurement/management, UX research and design, information architecture, accessibility, governance, and content redevelopment.
Establishes campaign measurement frameworks and dashboards; defines KPIs and ensures data-driven optimization across marketing and web performance.
Develops audience segmentation and nurture programs (domestic/international prospects, alumni, partners) to grow qualified demand and engagement.
Provides oversight to market and competitor research to inform program positioning, new market opportunities, and go-to-market plans.
Provides oversight to paid media investments and digital platform budgets; forecasts and reports on spend and performance.
Negotiates and oversees agency and vendor contracts to deliver web, creative, media, and research services at scale.
Chairs cross-Faculty working groups and strengthens governance (brand standards, templates, shared tools) to align unit-level activity with Faculty priorities across Vancouver and Okanagan campuses.
Provides leadership to major digital initiatives (e.g., website redevelopment, strategic plan launches, content campaigns), ensuring integration with overall marketing and communications strategy.
Consequence of Error/Judgement
Must be able to work independently and exercise sound judgment and decision-making in managing proactive and reactive communications needs and issues. Every action and decision made could have significant impact on the brand equity and reputation of the Faculty and potentially the University. The quality, ethics, integrity, and accuracy of communicated information/publications produced under this position’s leadership are critical to the Faculty. Inaccurate and inappropriate or poor messaging could seriously affect the image and reputation of Faculty members, the Faculty and the University as a whole and could result in poor fundraising and/or negative perception of the University s academic record. Poor judgement may lead to poor quality of publications and affect the image of the Faculty or may lead to overly high costs and damage to the Faculty s overall budget. Professional judgements and initiative in managing special projects are required. A high level of tact, discretion and negotiating skills to effectively bring together and coordinate input from various stakeholders are essential.
Supervision Received
Reports to the Dean. Works with considerable latitude within a broad policy framework. Work is reviewed in terms of effectiveness of development and implementation of communication plans and projects. Accountable to the Dean for achievement of long-term strategic objectives and institutional impact.
Supervision Given
Directly manages senior staff across communications and marketing functions; provides dotted-line leadership to embedded communicators across the Faculty. Responsible for hiring, developing and managing the direct reports.
Minimum Qualifications
Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline. Minimum seven years of related experience, or communication services, or the equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own
- Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion
Preferred Qualifications
Senior level experience in planning, directing and managing a complex marketing and communications portfolio preferably in a higher education sector or public/non-profit organizations.
Demonstrated commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and decolonization (EDID) in professional practice, including inclusive messaging, audience engagement strategies, and team leadership.
Demonstrated success leading strategic communications and brand initiatives in complex, decentralized organizations.
Extensive experience with digital and social marketing, with expertise in effectively leveraging social media platforms (e.g., TikTok, Instagram, etc.) for specific customer target markets.
Ability to work effectively and diplomatically with various levels of senior administration, campus audiences, and external agencies.
Demonstrated strong communication skills such as development of marketing materials, presentation skills, business and communication plans, and strategic plans.
Demonstrated experience in directing effective and proactive marketing campaigns, developing ROI metrics, and providing analytic measurement of marketing efforts.
Executive-level experience in digital engagement, media relations, crisis/issues management, and marketing governance.
Knowledge of post-secondary, public sector, or mission-driven environments.
Exceptional interpersonal, leadership, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
Strong understanding of data analytics, website designs, content strategy, accessibility standards, and channel integration.
Excellent leadership skills with the ability to mentor, coach and manage employees.