Director of Digital Marketing

Job Summary

The director of digital marketing provides leadership and oversight of the college’s digital ecosystem and collaborates with stakeholders throughout the Holy Cross community to advance an integrated, digital-first strategy for marketing and communications. Bringing a holistic perspective to the college’s digital presence, the director guides decisions related to marketing technology, information architecture, user experience, content strategy, SEO/SEM, inbound demand and lead generation, and other aspects of the digital portfolio. They also establish and maintain an analytics framework that enables the team to measure ROI, optimize performance, and make informed decisions, as well as report results to members of the leadership team and other stakeholders. Reporting to the senior director of strategic marketing, the director has primary responsibility for managing day-to-day operations of the college’s website and digital ecosystem. They will supervise 1-2 direct reports and serve as a member of the college’s communications and marketing division.

Major Areas of Responsibility

• Manage a comprehensive overhaul of HolyCross.edu in partnership with external vendors and internal stakeholders.
• Assess the college’s digital ecosystem on an ongoing basis to identify opportunities to streamline processes, improve performance, consolidate and/or integrate systems, and deliver a positive user experience to all audiences.
• Advance efforts to build a user-centric, performance-focused environment for the college’s website and related digital properties, helping to ensure that decisions about the digital ecosystem are based on optimally meeting business goals.
• Build partnerships with stakeholders, marketing, and creative teams to define digital marketing strategies and requirements that support business goals.
• Implement a culture of iteration, testing, and optimization aligned with best practice; identify and adopt the appropriate tools to support this work.
• Develop a content strategy that ensures content is optimized for organic search and complies with accessibility standards and best practice, with a focus on inbound demand generation, conversion, and lead capture.
• Provide stewardship for the entire customer lifecycle as it relates to their digital experience, from initial demand generation and brand awareness to engagement as alumni through the decades after graduation, with particular attention to the top-of-funnel pre-application journey for prospective students and their families.
• Devise and implement a strategy to integrate the college’s website(s) with a new enterprise CRM, leveraging marketing automation solutions to deliver relevant, timely communications to users and collect insights on user behavior that will inform other elements of the college’s marketing strategy.
• Build a culture of data-driven decision making for digital strategy throughout the college, establishing a comprehensive plan for analytics and reporting, and continuously optimizing our digital portfolio based on key performance indicators.
• Develop and deploy a college-wide content governance strategy that enables contributors to create and maintain relevant content while establishing appropriate checks and balances for quality assurance.
• Lead a small team with primary oversight of HolyCross.edu and affiliated properties, and in collaboration with others on the marketing team, manage a stakeholder intake and project sprint process.
• Partner with the director of executive & internal communications to identify and implement digital solutions for facilitating effective communication with and among students, faculty, staff, and parents.
• Manage paid digital campaigns, either directly or in collaboration with external vendors, to achieve business goals related to reputation, fundraising, recruitment, and engagement. Provide strategic leadership for marketing planning, forecasting, execution, and channel and creative optimization across the digital portfolio.

Minimum Qualifications

• A bachelor's degree and record of exceptional success, with a minimum 7 years developing, executing, and optimizing a digital marketing program in a complex organization.
• Creative and innovative project development experience, demonstrating the ability to match personal vision with institutional priorities, strategic initiatives, and practical constraints.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a matrixed team with a commitment to a diverse, inclusive, and equitable work environment.
• A self-starter who is also highly collaborative in solving practical problems and dealing with a variety of concrete variables, including managing tradeoffs between technology, user experience, and client needs.
• Extensive knowledge of digital marketing principles and industry trends, including in analytics and assessment; ability to build a culture of data-informed decision making and planning.
• Experience with testing, iteration, and optimization across channels and creative along with working knowledge of the tools required.
• Familiarity with information architecture and taxonomy methods, including card sorts, database management, data structures and relationships, and content aggregation and syndication systems.
• Familiarity with higher education marketing for recruitment, fundraising, and engagement a plus.
• Experience developing standards, schedules, and workflow processes to meet deadlines and goals
• Experience using HTML, CSS, PHP, and JavaScript preferred, as well as experience with a wide variety of content management systems and digital publishing platforms and tools.
• Experience using Adobe Creative Suite and Google Workspace a plus.

Core Competencies

• Collaboration: Exchanging information, ideas, thoughts and feelings thoughtfully with others in a manner that is proactive and enhances partnerships
• Inclusion: Actively engaging with the values of the College by promoting a work environment that embraces diversity and demonstrating respect for the opinions and beliefs of others
• Innovation: Performing one’s job with creativity and proactivity, improving procedures and problem-solving
• Mission/Service Orientation: Focusing on service to others and contributing to the College’s collective mission
• Responsibility: Taking ownership of one’s actions and accountability for one’s tasks and duties
• Employee Development: Commitment and initiative to help one’s employees be successful in achieving goals and growing professionally
• Team Management: Overseeing the success of your employees, helping to allocate resources appropriately and support the accomplishment of common goals

Disclaimer

The description above represents the most significant duties of this position but does not exclude other occasional work assignments not mentioned, the inclusion of which would be in conformity with the factor degrees assigned.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

This is a full time, exempt level position with salary range of $104,000 - $114,000. The College also offers a competitive benefits package for full-time staff, including:

• 10% College contribution to the 403(b) Retirement Plan (1 year wait waiver available)
• NEW - condensed summer 4-day work week
• This position may be eligible for a hybrid work arrangement
• Tuition benefits
• Wellness programs & ongoing Training and Development opportunities
• Generous paid time off
• Free parking and free use of the athletic/fitness facilities.
• Click here to learn more.

To review our Employee Benefit Options, please go to: https://www.holycross.edu/human-resources/benefits

The College is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and complies with all Federal and Massachusetts laws concerning Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action in the workplace.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:

Please send a cover letter and resume. In your cover letter please address how your work supports the College's mission as a Jesuit, undergraduate liberal arts college (see http://www.holycross.edu/mission) and its core commitment to diversity and inclusion. For more information, please visit http://holycross.edu/diversity.

Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled.