Executive Director for Leadership Engagement and Communications

Position Summary

Find out more about this role by reading the information below, then apply to be considered.

The Executive Director for Leadership Engagement and Communications ensures proactive engagement and communication among senior university leaders. The incumbent increases connectivity between university leaders and the community through new engagement tactics and strategies and by producing new communications products and frameworks to catalyze understanding, awareness, and fluency. This position provides timely feedback to the senior leaders, assuring that they are well-informed / prepared, optimally positioned, and in a manner that is responsive to community sentiment and needs. The Executive Director is responsible for ideating, developing, writing, editing, and producing key briefings and comms products that effectively convey vision, priorities, challenges, and major insights to leadership teams and to the broader university community.

Reporting to the Vice President for Communications and Public Relations (VPCPR), the position also serves as the chief deputy for the Communications and Public Relations team, fulfilling supervisory and leading areas as assigned. The incumbent supports, advises, and assists the VPCPR in managing resources or representing the division as assigned.

Position Specific Responsibilities / Accountabilities

Leadership Engagement, Development, and Communications

Create, support, and sustain a model for the optimally positioned executive university leader. Develop and implement comprehensive engagement and communications strategies to ensure executive leaders are proactive and synchronized with each other.

Act as a guide, coach, sounding board, and support resource to executive leaders, assuring that outcomes align with the university's values, mission, brand, and strategic interests / goals.

Ensure the President's Cabinet, the Deans' Council, and assigned executive leaders are synchronized in their messaging. Implement tactics to ensure they are well-informed, brief them with regularity, help them understand each other's areas, and provide guidance in how they represent the university on issues of focus or interest.

Support leaders in their proactive communication with the community, including through articles, town halls, or other mediums.

Author executive summaries with updated talking points, statements, positions, and related / timely content.

Maintain official senior leadership information listings, invitation lists, emergency contacts, and distribution lists are updated and consistent.

Ensure senior leaders are fluent on university communications protocols, new or changed policies, protocols, or guidance.

Standardize and improve processes and protocols for leadership announcements, including onboarding and offboarding.

Collaborate with leaders and their management teams to communicate priorities, initiatives, and challenges with clarity and effectiveness.

Engage leaders to ensure they are represented in university communications, working closely to understand their areas of focus and accomplishments. Provide guidance and support in crafting and delivering impactful messages that resonate with the university community.

Assist leaders in defining and articulating their stories and narratives.

Write, edit, and produce compelling content that highlights the achievements, initiatives, and goals of university leaders.

Promote transparency by ensuring that key information is shared consistently and effectively across the university.

Ensure all communications are accurate, engaging, and aligned with the university's mission, branding, and messaging.

Provide support and connectivity for leadership bodies as assigned. This may include report outs or follow-ups from specific leadership groups as assigned.

Leadership Relations and Outcomes Reporting

Produce quarterly and annual reports highlighting the accomplishments and challenges of the MarComm team. Summarize outputs and outputs. Devise report card or metrics that articulate areas of achievement to provide guidance or require attention or improvement. Work closely with MarComm leaders and unit-specific team members to produce and articulate findings.

Collaborate with MarComm leadership team and Presidential Communications to produce updates to governance boards. Ensure that highlights reflect progress toward strategic goals and represent division-wide output and outcomes. Evaluate university board reports to determine content that may be appropriate for leadership engagement and awareness.

Produce strategic publications that require collaboration with and management of internal and external resources to create, edit, accomplish, and deliver.

Ensure a culture of urgency and frequency in delivering key information to executive leadership, including increasing the regularity of strategic publications such as the SOS card, fact card, and other informational resources.

Deputy CPR Department Leader

Serve as the chief deputy to the Vice President for Communications and Public Relations. Support, advise, and assist the VPCPR in leading strategies, tasks, team members, budgets, and resources. Address or resolve issues, challenges, responsibilities, or activities associated with or on behalf of the VPCPR position. Supervise assigned areas, topics, or personnel as assigned.

As a senior public information officer, ensure accurate and timely information reflects the university's official position and promotes a positive image, increases beneficial visibility and exposure, reinforces brand narratives, and increases positive engagement.

Produce complex communications plans. Write, edit, review, and approve statements, talking points, press releases, and other external communications for high visibility, high risk, and high impact issues. Respond to, handle, and resolve inquiries, comments, and other feedback from the public.

Elevate, preserve, and defend the university's reputation by developing and executing proactive and comprehensive issues management and crisis communications strategies, reputational risk mitigation measures, and offensive / defensive communications tactics.

Manage and implement concurrent short-, medium-, and long-term plans to build robust, responsive, and broad-based communications, content management, and outreach capacity and programs.

Cultivate collaborative and productive relationships with key colleagues across the university community and external contacts to support goals and objectives. Proactively participate in university committees, collaborative projects, and initiatives.

Ensure consistent, high-quality, detail-oriented output from team members and units. Enforce quality control standards, providing continuous feedback to writers / editors.

Review, edit, and approve the university's most visible communications assets to ensure a high degree of consistency, control, appropriateness, tone, mission integration, brand platform alignment, and target objectives are considered, reflected, and achieved.

Advance the university's mission-focused and diversity, equity, and inclusivity goals by proactively identifying and improving processes for how MarComm develops and delivers diverse and inclusive content, and through active and persistent collaboration strategies that reinforce the university's anti-racism objectives.

Perform other duties as assigned.

Loyola Marymount University Expectations

Exhibit behavior that supports the mission, vision, and values of the university. Communicate and model high standards of professional, responsible, and ethical conduct. Demonstrate a commitment to outstanding customer service.

The incumbent must be capable of supervising creative, communications, and technical teams, as well as managing complex projects involving dependencies, deadlines, budgets, and external resources. They should effectively apply marketing and communication strategies across various projects, initiate and develop ideas, and evaluate processes to ensure high professional standards. The role requires assessing internal client needs and recommending appropriate solutions, while also working independently with both internal and external stakeholders. Success in this position relies on strong relationship management and consensus-building skills.

Requisite Qualifications

Typically, a master's degree, preferably with a specialization in communications, journalism, and / or business management or related fields.

Minimum of 8 years of related communications and / or public relations experience in positions of increasing responsibility, preferably within higher education.

Minimum of 5 years of experience in a senior leadership role with a hands-on collaborative style with cross-disciplinary direct reports and / or teams.

The incumbent is expected to continue upgrading knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to keep abreast of best practices and industry trends.

Ability to demonstrate a record of leading an organization and producing outcomes that reflect diverse, inclusive, and anti-racist values.

Experience with building complex communications organizations and organizational content capacity required. Expert-level knowledge of communications and content management methodologies.

Advanced experience with traditional and digital communications functions, channels, and activities. Ability to interpret large amounts of data in a multi-tasked environment.

Possesses exceptional verbal and written communication skills and compelling and impactful presentation abilities. Must demonstrate examples of motivating and inspiring optimism, creativity, productivity, and collaboration as an experienced leader of creative, communications, and public relations organizations.

Experience brainstorming ideas and concepts for communications and content development and recommend solutions within the context of an institutional brand, communication, and marketing strategy.

Demonstrated experience managing creative projects and executing across multiple communications and marketing channels and media.

Demonstrated ability to work independently and entrepreneurially; experience creating, developing, and implementing new initiatives.

Evidence of a positive, energetic, flexible, and creative leadership style that produces high-quality deliverables with meticulous attention to detail. Must be metrics-driven and results-oriented manager with excellent analytical skills. Ability to provide quick turnaround and updates for multiple requests while maintaining high-quality work.

Must be able to perform successfully in a fast-paced, intellectually intense, and service-oriented environment. Significant experience leading successful outcomes and navigating political dynamics within a complex organization required. Willing and able to adjust to changing demands and shifting priorities.

Extensive successful writing and editing experience and managing a team of writers / editors in an institutional setting.

Excellent judgment and creative problem-solving skills, including negotiation, mediation, and conflict resolution skills.

Reasonable Expected Salary - $143,100 - $150,000. Salary offer commensurate with education and experience.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of this position.

Staff Regular

Salary range : $143,100.00 - $200,300.00 Salary commensurate with education and experience.

Loyola Marymount University, a Carnegie classified R2 institution in the mainstream of American Catholic higher education, seeks outstanding applicants who value its mission and share its commitment to inclusive excellence, the education of the whole person, and the building of a just society. LMU is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing an environment free from discrimination and harassment as defined by federal, state and local law. We invite all persons in the full diversity of their being, life experience, and beliefs to apply. (Visit www.lmu.edu for more information.)

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Salary : $143,100 - $200,300