Senior Director Of Marketing, Eell

The Darden School Foundation seeks a Senior Director of Marketing for Darden Executive Education and Lifelong Learning (EELL). The Senior Director will be responsible for EELL marketing and will design and execute a customer-focused growth strategy to support EELL’s strategy and offerings, including Custom Solutions for organizations and Open Enrollment courses for emerging, current and advanced leaders. The work will include B2B, B2 and B2B2C.

The successful candidate will be an experienced marketing professional with demonstrated success in executive education or continuing and professional studies. The candidate will be technology-driven (preferably in a Salesforce environment) and analytical – comfortable working with both quantitative and quantitative data to define insights and meet customer needs.

He/she will have a master’s degree in marketing or business administration or equivalent experience, and a clear track record of spearheading the adoption of marketing best practices and innovation. The incumbent will show demonstrated impact across marketing disciplines, ranking from digital marketing, lead gen, branding, content marketing, social media, events, market research and so on.

The position will report to Darden’s Chief Marketing & Communication Officer (CMO), work closely with the EELL leadership team, and serve as a key member of the leadership team. Preferably, the incumbent will have experience operating successfully in a matrixed environment through collaboration and thought partnership.

Primary duties and responsibilities include:

• Marketing Strategy and Planning: Develops and executes a customer-centric marketing strategy for EELL with a focus on raising awareness of the brand and its offerings and optimizing quality leads. Establishes annual marketing plans, ensures those plans support EELL goals and objectives and aligns with budget and financial commitments. Ensures that messaging and communication strategies are consistent across channels, are centered on the customer and strengthen the Darden brand. Leads collaborative process for the marketing budget allocation and optimization.
• Customer Journey/Lead Generation: Defines the key stages of the customer journey and delivers creative and effective touchpoints that ensure a strong customer experience, from initial awareness to ongoing loyalty. Builds a pipeline of high-quality leads and nurtures them through outstanding and automated communications.
• Data, Analytics and Performance Optimization: Works with data analysts to understand marketing performance and how it can be optimized. Reports regularly on progress and KPIs to senior leadership and recommends ongoing improvements for optimizing strategy, budget allocation, and end-to-end customer experience. Presents information through dashboards and clear, intuitive visualizations.
• Management Responsibilities:
• Team: Oversees a team of three marketing professionals and ensures their development. Collaborates with the editorial, creative and web teams within the marketing hub.
• Budget: Oversees the EELL marketing budget and liaises with EELL leadership and finance.
• Web and digital: Ensures that the EELL website and associated digital assets are leading edge and present a compelling online user experience. Leads the optimization of website content to improve volume/traffic by increasing visibility in organic search results (SEO).
• Events: As part of the marketing strategy, delivers a prioritized recommendation for EELL on events. Sits on the enterprise-wide Strategic Events Council out of Communication & Marketing (C&M).
• Content: Creates a strong inbound marketing program through the creation of valuable content. Oversee the team that manages EELL’s social media presence, measures engagement on social media platforms and optimizes.
• Agency Partners: Working with the CMO and team, manages relationships with external partners, including media buying, website and creative partners. Best Practices: Drives industry best practices and evaluates the market and emerging marketing techniques and technologies. Represents EELL in marketing and higher education professional organizations and peer groups as needed.
• Communication / Advocacy: Communicates results at both a strategic and tactical level to various stakeholder groups. Serves as a valued member of the Darden School Foundation Branding, Marketing and Communication Committee, a part of the Darden School Foundation Board of Trustees.

Successful candidates will have a proven track record that includes:

• Bachelor’s degree from accredited institution required; MBA or advanced degree preferred but not obligatory.
• Experience in executive education or continuing and professional studies appreciated.
• Experience managing in a highly matrixed environment with an ability to influence others and interact with all levels of the organization using negotiating, influencing, and change management skills.
• Record of success in delivering clear and quantifiable marketing goals based on business plans and objectives.
• Strong strategic, critical thinking, and conceptual abilities; capability to lead strategic planning discussions, and turn those into plans and tactics that are executable and measurable.
• Aptitude to understand data, define testing plans and analyze results, assess marketing performance and make data-driven decisions about future marketing activities and investment.
• A marketing approach based on the "client" mindset with an understanding of line of business strategies and goals, and an appreciation for diverse business models that include B2C, B2B, and B2B2C.
• Outstanding written, listening and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex ideas and technologies as well as drafting and presenting formal presentations.
• The ability to work collaboratively through various departments and functions, promoting a culture of proactive teamwork.
• Familiarity with an array of marketing technologies, including Salesforce, Data Cloud and Customer Data Platform.

Please attach a cover letter and resume when applying for this position.

The Darden School Foundation is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, color, disability, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity or expression), national or ethnic origin, race, religion, pregnancy, veteran status, or genetic information. We participate in E-Verify.

Job Type: Full-time

Benefits:

• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Retirement plan
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday
• Weekends as needed

Work Location: In person