Director, Advancement Marketing
University of Manitoba
Salary: $95,000 - $131,649
The University of Manitoba is seeking a Director, Advancement Marketing. Reporting to the Executive Director, Marketing and Brand, the Director works to meaningfully engage with the University’s alumni and donors through key channels to move the University mission forward. The Director and this team play a vital role in promoting and building the reputation of the University, its faculties, units, and departments at the internal, local, regional, and national levels.
A senior marketing and communications professional with significant experience with integrated marketing and communications and brand management, the Director will bring a track record of success in leadership and team collaboration. The Director will demonstrate significant experience in building effective strategies for marketing and communications in support of fundraising strategy to drive ambitious revenue goals and brand awareness.
The Director will work directly with External Relations, Deans, department heads, researchers, and other academic leaders in divisions to share best practices in creating, managing, engaging, and supporting effective marketing strategies. When working with partners across the university, the candidate builds strong relationships and possesses strong verbal and written communication skills. The Director will need to be able to manage expectations and synthesize different points of view into a single strategic plan.
The position will closely partner with the External Relations leadership to support collaboration and coordination as part of the University’s overall strategy of deepening alumni and developing volunteer engagement. The Director will be supported by the leadership team and will build upon a culture consistent with principles of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and the University’s vision and values. They are primarily responsible for taking strategies, plans, and marketing and communications from initial concept through to full execution.
Key Duties & Responsibilities
Strategic direction and counsel (35%)
Plays a lead role in the development of annual marketing communications plans, priorities and departmental needs that advance the university’s goals and the experience as it relates to alumni and donors.
Responsible for establishing and delivering an omnichannel content strategy that builds the university’s reputation and advances the strategic priorities and goals for alumni and donors.
Provides oversight and input from initial concept, execution, launch, and post-market analysis. This might include presentations, proposals, and reports that highlight the impact and return on investment for marketing communication activities.
Understands evolving trends in marketing, communications, higher education, and advancement in order to innovate and continuously improve the university brand.
Provides advice-driven solutions, expertise, and marketing communications best practices to External Relations senior leaders and team members.
Establishes mutually beneficial relationships with senior leadership across the university to ensure delivery of a consistent and integrated approach to marketing communications as well as a clear understanding of the direction and opportunities for furthering the alumni and donor experience.
Establish and grow strategic partnerships with key organizations, businesses, and employers to enhance awareness and impact of UM marketing communications plans and its programs.
Project oversight and execution (35%)
Manages and oversees the Advancement Marketing team in the conceptualization and execution of marketing and communications initiatives – in addition to serving as the project sponsor for key projects and initiatives that are both offline and online.
Establishes, measures and reports on the effectiveness of marketing, communications and operations for the department through key performance indicators and analytics.
Responsible for ensuring quality standards are consistently met across marketing and communications for alumni and donor audiences.
Establishes, maintains and improves operational processes and procedures in collaboration with departmental teams and cross-functional leadership.
Monitors and assesses industry trends and implements where appropriate.
Departmental oversight (30%)
Provides direction and oversight for the management of staff within unit.
Provide administrative and operational management to direct reports, including managing human resource functions, developing work plans, and assigning tasks.
Provides direction and oversight of operational requirements for unit.
Prepares annual operating budget for the team and provides recommendations to the ED, M&B for departmental budget expenditures relating to administrative and human resource needs.
As a member of the M&B leadership team, the Director, Advancement Marketing participates in all ED, M&B-related decisions affecting the department including creating or assisting in the definition of budgets, departmental policies and protocols.
Provides recommendations to the ED, M&B for departmental budget expenditures relating to administrative and human resource needs.
Provides direction and recommendations for marketing and communications expenditures. This includes resource prioritization and utilization of staff including forecasting peaks that might require vendors or additional staff resources.
Decisions & Actions
Hiring, training and mentoring for direct reports.
Assesses employee performance during probation/trial periods, recommending completion or extension of these periods as necessary. Terminates employment if required.
Determines content of job descriptions including duties and qualifications.
Makes budget allocation decisions for departmental activities, project spends and marketing communications channels related to alumni and donor audiences. Ensure resources are adequate and available to meet the needs of the department such as staffing, work assignments.
Identifies and contracts external marketing and communication suppliers.
Establishes marketing strategy for work initiated within M&B.
Establishes communications strategy for work initiated within M&B.
Incumbent is responsible for ensuring that all projects integrate with the strategic marketing and communications plans developed for partners and M&B unit.
Incumbent is responsible for upholding strategic direction of projects for partners and team.
Works independently to develop, plan and implement strategic plan for Advancement Marketing.
Decisions & Actions shared with others
Creates institutional alumni and donor marketing communications plans in consultation with M&B and External Relations leadership teams.
Collaborates on decisions to change the alumni and donor marketing communications strategies with the Executive Director, Marketing and Brand, AVP (Donor Relations), Executive Director (Alumni) and VP (External).
Creates institutional marketing communications budget in consultation with the ED, M&B.
Draft strategy and process changes impacting MCO and Advancement Marketing team and share with the ED, M&B.
Incumbent works with partners, stakeholders, managers across the university to ensure strategic alignment of marketing and communications priorities across portfolio and program areas.
Incumbent is responsible for establishing and maintaining strong, collaborative, mutually beneficial relationships with representatives from areas of strategic importance at the University, including senior administrators and directors.
Qualifications & Competencies
Leads with a flexible project management style. You can manage tasks within cross-functional teams that do not report directly to you across multiple departments. Your organizational skills give you and your team the ability to prioritize many projects simultaneously and work to strict deadlines under pressure.
Is outgoing, articulate, well-informed, intelligent and possesses common sense. This allows you to manage a team of marketing and communications professionals collaboratively so that you reach, alumni, fundraising, and donor goals together.
Is passionate about delivering creative ideas with a deep awareness of best practices in offline and online marketing and communications channels and emerging trends.
Experience:
Senior level experience leading and inspiring a marketing and/or communications team – preferably in an agency or large complex organization.
Significant experience within a higher education, advancement and/or non-profit environment.
Demonstrated expertise in successfully building, managing, and evaluating marketing and communications strategies in a large, complex organizational environment.
Expertise in planning, developing, and measuring successful multi-channel marketing communications campaigns.
Demonstrated experience and best practice knowledge of developing and implementing traditional and digital/online marketing communications
Experience leading marketing research and analytics activities and in turn, using insights to design and recommend the ideal user or customer experience.
Experience managing successful relationships and projects with external stakeholders and vendors.
Demonstrated experience delivering high-quality and engaging stories and content.
An acceptable equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.
Skills and Abilities:
Exceptional leadership and relationship building skills.
Excellent written and presentation skills.
Ability to effectively collaborate and negotiate.
Excellent time-management skills and ability to prioritize conflicting demands.
Ability to inspire, motivate and mentor creative teams.
Must have the ability to work and thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
Must possess a high degree of independence, diplomacy, and the ability to work collectively in a fast-paced environment.
Proven record of success in marketing, communications and working with all levels of staff, including senior administration; including board members; external stakeholders; government officials; business leaders and community representatives is an asset.
Other Job-Related Qualifications:
Must be available during non-regular business hours, such as evenings and/or weekends, to attend events / meetings off-campus, on a semi-regular basis.
Formal Education/Training:
A Bachelor’s degree is required.
The ideal candidate will also have specialized marketing communications education and/or PR diploma or certification.
An equivalent combination of skills and experience may be considered.
For More Information
KCI (Ketchum Canada Inc.) has been retained to conduct this leadership search on behalf of The University of Manitoba. For more information about this opportunity, please contact, Helena Debnam, Senior Search Consultant, KCI Search + Talent by email at UMDAM@kcitalent.com
Interested candidates are invited to send a resume and letter of interest to the email address listed above by December 5th, 2022. All inquiries and applications will be held in strict confidence.
Please note that the salary range for this position is $95,000 to $131,649 with a comprehensive benefits package. This position will be based at the Marketing and Brand office at the University’s Fort Garry Campus in Winnipeg, with some flexibility for occasional remote work.
The University of Manitoba is strongly committed to equity and diversity within its community and especially welcomes applications from women, racialized persons, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, persons of all sexual and gender identities, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas. If you require accommodation supports during the process, please advise.