Associate Dean, Strategy and Communications

The Associate Dean (AD) serves as the chief brand architect and strategic communications lead for Columbia College. As a senior advisor and key thought partner to the Dean—working in close coordination with the Chief of Staff—the AD provides the vision and leadership to elevate the College’s global reputation and articulate the value of a liberal arts education in the 21st century. The AD leads an integrative team of 13 professionals across communications, marketing, editorial, and events to drive a unified, omnichannel brand strategy for the multi-school, shared undergraduate experience. This role balances high-level strategic planning with operational excellence, ensuring all activities are mission-aligned and data-driven.

Strategic Leadership & Brand Identity

• Signature Narrative: Shape and promote the Columbia College brand, leading the development of a cohesive narrative that differentiates the College through its distinctive liberal arts and science education grounded in the Core Curriculum, the resources of a world class research university, and location in the City of New York
• Brand Architecture: Ensure the College’s distinctive identity is clearly articulated across College units, within the University, and for the broader higher education ecosystem.
• Integrated Visual Identity: Cultivate a consistent, energizing, and fresh visual/brand identity for all initiatives and events across diverse audiences, including undergraduates, staff, faculty, alumni, families, and the general public.
• Strategy Evolution: Leverage emerging trends and analytics to continuously evolve the school’s strategy, establishing metrics to evaluate the impact of communications, marketing, and events.

Executive Counsel & Thought Leadership

• Advisory Role: Serve as a key member of the Office of the Dean’s leadership team and College senior staff, providing high-level counsel on reputation management, thought leadership, and executive presence.
• Executive Messaging: Develop impactful messages, remarks, and presentations for the Dean that maintain a consistent, authentic voice that incorporates the College and University brand (i.e. Core Curriculum, liberal arts, research, student experience), and content relevant to current events and higher education trends.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Orchestrate an annual communications plan for the Dean and the school that reflects the unique perspectives and needs of students, faculty, staff, families, and alumni.
• Executive Engagement: Guide the Dean’s executive engagement strategy to amplify the Dean’s presence and reinforce school messaging.

Cross-Functional Strategy & Influence

• Strategic Partnership: Partner with senior leaders across the College to provide best-in-class communications, marketing and events that support individual units while contributing to the overarching success of the College.
• Brand Alignment: Synchronize unit-specific communications and marketing with unit leaders so that all narratives reinforce the College’s core identity and strategic priorities.
• Best Practices: Steward the collaborative development and codification of tools, templates, and brand standards across communications, marketing, and events functions. Uphold consistency through intentional training and a cycle of continuous reassessment.

Media Relations & Crisis Management

• Primary Strategist: Serve as the chief strategist for media relations and crisis communications, guiding senior leadership through sensitive or high-impact situations.
• Protocol Development: Collaborate with the Director of Strategic Communications to develop crisis protocols that support timely and effective responses to media inquiries and unforeseen challenges.
• Reputation Management: Build high-impact, trust-based relationships with key external and internal stakeholders to proactively shape coverage and enhance brand reputation.

External Affairs & Editorial Direction

• University Collaboration: Lead engagement with the University’s Office of Public Affairs to unite messaging on complex issues and leverage shared strategic priorities.
• Storytelling Direction: Guide the strategic direction for storytelling across all platforms—print, digital, social, and video—that promotes a consistent, authentic, and engaging “Columbia College voice”.

Team Leadership & Operations

• Unit Oversight: Direct the operations of a complex unit encompassing communications, marketing, editorial, and events.
• Supervision: Directly supervise the Director of Strategic Communications, Editorial Director, Director of Special Events and Programs, and Project Manager.
• Budget & Culture: Oversee the departmental budget with a focus on high-impact resource allocation while cultivating a culture of innovation, inclusivity, and professional growth.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree required
• 10+ years of progressively responsible experience in senior strategy and communications roles or related field
• At least 5-7 years in senior management or leadership roles, including managing professional staff and overseeing multiple functional areas (e.g., digital, media relations, editorial, brand strategy, events)
• Proven experience in crisis communication and reputation management within a high-profile organization
• Exemplary written and oral communication skills, including speechwriting, editing, and public speaking
• Demonstrated ability to build collaborative relationships and influence partners
• Self-directed strategic thinker skilled at critical, analytical, and creative thinking
• Strong visual aesthetic with an intuitive understanding of multimedia content and design
• A demonstrated ability to collaborate with senior-level staff of academic and administrative divisions, handle multiple priorities, and lead team efforts
• Capable of handling confidential information with discretion
• Must be available for evening and weekend crisis response, leadership, and related activities

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree in a relevant field; especially familiarity with the humanities and the liberal arts
• Experience in a higher education environment or a similarly complex, mission-driven institution
• Familiarity with CRM platforms (Salesforce, Slate, etc.) and related email marketing tools (Marketing Cloud, Mailchimp, etc.) new and emerging web technologies, social media platforms, and analytics tools (Google Analytics, Hootsuite, etc.)
• Technical fluency in emerging digital marketing trends, SEO, and social media analytics