Communications Director

Reporting to Thayer’s Chief of Strategic Marketing & Communications and working collaboratively with departments across the School, the Communications Manager is responsible for effectively promoting Thayer’s name and reputation to prospective families, current parents/guardians and students, alumni and their relatives, donors, the media, and the local community. The manager oversees a dedicated department that produces a wide range of internal/external print and digital communications, coordinates public and media relations, defines and maintains common editorial and graphic standards across school communications, and manages Thayer’s relationships with freelancers and vendors specializing in photography, videography, graphic design, printing, marketing, and web design/maintenance.  Daily tasks include overseeing the School’s website (including analytics reporting and search-engine optimization efforts); editing emails, newsletters, and socials; serving as editor and writer for the Academy’s news feeds and magazines (published twice yearly); and managing the creation and production of many other publications and communications pieces, including videos, brochures, press releases, signage, invitations, and programs. Role responsibilities Oversee department of four full-time staff (copywriter & editor; graphic designer; video & photo specialist; and a social media & website manager) and one part-time staff (graphic design support), managing all project loads & schedules Serve as a writer and editor for Thayer Magazine, a twice-annual print & digital publication sent to prospective families, current parents and guardians, alumni, friends, and other supporters  Edit internal & external communications for administrators & faculty across campus (everything ranging from admission emails to advancement office print & digital pieces) Oversee the management of Thayer’s website and communications-led micro-websites Oversee management of all of the Academy’s photo & video assets, including the schedules & projects assigned to our in-house visual media director and freelance photography & videography team.  Manage search-engine optimization efforts & regularly monitor our Google My Business account/Google Knowledge Panel & Google results, scrubbing them as needed Oversee tracking of the school’s Google Analytics & regularly analyze data trends over months/years to determine which pages need adjustment or tweaking & where our traffic is coming from Serve as the School’s social media strategist, overseeing the social media manager’s efforts on social media (primarily on Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn) and the visual media director’s efforts on video channels (primarily YouTube), providing analyses on the effectiveness of posts and video collections Support the photography & video specialist’s efforts in sourcing new content ideas, securing student participants, creating storylines, and writing scripts for videos, as well as helping to direct video production as needed Work with technology and advancement offices as needed on account management and other web-related projects, such as data integrations related to our student, parent/guardian, faculty/staff, and alumni directories  Oversee & maintain Thayer’s relationships with a host of freelance photography, videography, graphic design, printing, marketing, and web vendors Oversee production of print/digital projects for advancement & admission offices, creating production schedules for each & managing each from conception to delivery of hard copies/final files Serve as media coordinator, building the school’s press list & overseeing distribution of press releases on major school initiatives & regular reports such as student honor roll Assist with the communications team's coverage of school events during the day, as well as some weekends and evenings.