What are the responsibilities and job description for the Director of Communications position at The Principia?
Title: Director of Communications
Department/Location: Marketing & Communications / St. Louis, MO and Elsah, IL
Position Type: Full-time, 12-month
Reports to: Chief Advancement, Marketing, and Communications Officer
Summary
The Director of Communications leads the strategic development and execution of internal and external communications that enhance the reputation, visibility, and engagement of the Principia brand. This role shapes and implements an integrated communications strategy that elevates Principia’s profile and advances its purpose through proactive media, digital, and content efforts while ensuring strong support for the strategic goals and efforts of the College, School, and Advancement marketing teams. Reporting directly to the Chief Advancement, Marketing, and Communications Officer, the Director of Communications oversees a team of writers and editors while collaborating with departments across Principia. The team brings leadership, storytelling, and strategic thinking to effectively communicate complex ideas—effectively engaging students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, and the broader public through timely, impactful messaging.
Who We Are
At our award-winning Early Childhood through grade 12 Principia School in St. Louis, Missouri, and top-ranked Principia College in Elsah, Illinois, Principia faculty and staff make up a close-knit community of educators, coaches, and professionals taking a distinct approach to education—blending academic excellence with Christian Science-based character education. Principia’s team of over 500 employees supports not only Principia School and Principia College, but also a worldwide network of alumni and friends.
Principia employees are part of an engaging academic community preparing students to be tomorrow’s leaders, thinkers, and changemakers. We strive to create a collaborative and inclusive environment where everyone feels they belong and are valued.
Primary Responsibilities
- Oversee the development and implementation of an institution-wide communications strategy that supports Principia’s purpose, strategic priorities, and key initiatives.
- Lead, mentor, and supervise a team of writers and editors, providing editorial direction, ensuring high-quality, consistent content across all platforms and formats, and fostering a culture of storytelling excellence, creative collaboration, and continuous learning.
- Support the School, College, and Advancement marketing teams in developing messaging and copy for admissions materials, family and student communications, and general outreach, collaborating across departments to produce compelling digital and print content that reflects Principia’s voice and advances institutional goals.
- Shape and manage an integrated content strategy, including the bi-annual alumni magazine, blog, and newsletters—managing editorial planning, content development, production, and distribution in collaboration with key departments and leadership.
- Build and maintain a proactive media relations strategy to promote Principia’s achievements, faculty research, and student success stories—enhancing the institution’s reputation within the education sector and broader community.
- Keeps the Principia community informed and inspired through clear, engaging communications that highlight institutional achievements, developments, and opportunities, fostering a sense of connection and pride.
- Shape and oversee corporate-level social media strategy and content guidelines, ensuring alignment with institutional messaging and amplification across units.
- Oversees brand messaging, ensuring stakeholders responsible for internal and external communication have the tools they need to adhere to Principia's brand guidelines and standards.
- Establish and uphold editorial standards, best practices, and review processes to ensure content accuracy, brand consistency, strategic alignment, and message effectiveness.
- Serve on the marketing and communications leadership team, working closely with the Creative Director and Marketing Directors to ensure communication efforts are collaborative, innovative, timely, and within budget.
- Serve as a key ambassador for the communications team, helping to align departmental efforts with institutional priorities and foster a cohesive approach across all campuses.
- Manages the communications budget, ensuring responsible stewardship and alignment with strategic goals.
Core Competencies
- Team player: Ability to collaborate and partner with peers and senior leaders is critical, with an ability to listen, give, and receive feedback, and be comfortable exchanging ideas and speaking candidly in a professional and collegial manner.
- Strategic thinker: Ability to consider complex topics from multiple perspectives and offer innovative solutions.
- Leadership: Exhibits confidence in self and others; inspires and motivates others to perform well; effectively influences actions of others; inspires respect and trust; accepts feedback from others; provides vision and inspiration to peers and direct reports; gives appropriate recognition to others; mobilizes others to fulfill the vision; promotes a positive work environment.
- Communication: Communicates well (written and verbal), delivers compelling presentations, has strong listening skills, passion and drive, and both intellectual and emotional intelligence.
- Innovative: Presents a problem-solving mindset that helps our team come up with creative solutions to challenging issues, with a mentality of self-improvement and organizational excellence; meets challenges with resourcefulness; generates suggestions for improving work; develops innovative approaches and ideas.
- Quality Work: Demonstrates attention to detail, accuracy, and thoroughness.
Minimum Qualifications:
- Student of Christian Science preferred
- Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, or related discipline; advanced degree preferred
- 10 years of communications, marketing, public relations, or related experience, and at least 5 years managing and leading a team
- Demonstrated knowledge and proficiency with communications technologies
- Experience managing digital content
- Advanced understanding of copywriting, graphic design, and publishing practices
- Exceptional copywriting and copy-editing abilities
- Ability to mentor and coach other writers, editors, and content creators
- Familiarity with social media tools and strategies
- Willing and able to learn new technologies and systems
- Strong track record in leading and managing cross-functional teams
- Excellent written, verbal, and presentation communication skills
- Established media relations experience a plus
Compensation and Benefits
We offer a competitive salary range for this position: $106,500 - $122,000 annually, commensurate with experience and qualifications.
In addition to salary, our comprehensive total rewards package includes:
- Generous Employee Tuition Discount: Enjoy a 90% discount on tuition (pro-rated for part-time staff) for your eligible children enrolled from Pre-K3 through College (infant and acorn programs excluded).
- Relocation: Principia provides a relocation imbursement of up to 12% of your annual salary, when moving from outside a radius of more than 50 miles
- Professional Development: Access to learning opportunities, training programs, and career growth support.
- Comprehensive Benefits: Learn more about all our benefits here, including comprehensive health, dental, and vision plans, paid time off, a 403(b) retirement plan with Principia matching, and more.
Equal Opportunity
Principia, a mission-driven institution, believes every person has the right to an equitable and respectful educational environment and workplace. Principia does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnicity, gender (identity or expression), sexual orientation, family status, disability, age, or military or veteran status.
In hiring, admissions, and related decisions, Principia—as an institution with a religious mission—gives preference, where appropriate, to Christian Scientists.
Salary : $106,500 - $122,000
