Job Bank

• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Bargaining Unit:
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• End Date if Temporary:
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Salary Range: $245,000 - $275,000

Position Summary

Reporting to the Dean, the Vice Dean of Communications & Public Affairs is responsible for leading and managing the Columbia Business School (CBS) public affairs portfolio, strategic plan communication, and brand. A member of the senior leadership team, the Vice Dean will lead a cross-School effort to develop and execute an integrated strategy for community relations, communications, marketing, events, and publishing that defines and builds the CBS identity; extends the reach and impact of CBS???s research; and advances CBS???s reputation locally, nationally, and internationally.

Central to the success of the Vice Dean will be the ability to work with the Dean, senior leadership team, and partners to build and implement a coordinated multi-platform outreach strategy that illuminates CBS strengths and optimizes the reach and impact of the School???s research and expertise.

The Vice Dean will supervise and manage School departments that contribute directly to these goals, including Marketing and Communications, Community Relations, and Events; the Vice Dean will also be the primary liaison to Columbia Business School Publishing, an imprint of Columbia University Publishing. The Vice Dean will also convene cross-School groups to build shared practices and tools for School departments that contribute indirectly to these goals, including CaseWorks, Development and Alumni Relations, the Career Management Center, Admissions and Financial Aid, and Executive Education

Responsibilities

Leadership & Vision

• Serve as a strategic advisor to the Dean to guide policy, positioning, and crisis management.
• With the Dean and senior leadership team, contribute to and drive internal alignment with a strategic plan for the School.
• Develop school-wide communications and public affairs goals; collaborate with direct reports and partners to create flexible, directional plans to reach and measure progress toward goals; and advise on tools and staffing to support School-wide coordination.
• Develop goals, measurement tools, and communication of School impact on local communities and beyond.
• Increase reach, comprehensiveness, and depth of School thought leadership platform; staff and support stories about CBS research, executive summaries on up-to-the-minute research to guide business; build partnerships with news and media organizations; build and refine integrated communications plan across audiences.
• Supervise leadership team of public affairs offices, including Marketing & Communications, Community Relations, and Events; and act as liaison to Columbia Business School Publishing.
• Recruit, train, supervise, and mentor departments to promote the development of skilled, highly motivated and responsive teams.

External Audience Engagement & Impact

• Working across the full CBS community, redefine and create guidelines to ensure consistency for the CBS brand, including development of key messages and proof points, shared tools to coordinate dissemination of communications, and collaborative planning and execution of major communications.
• Develop and maintain database of potential speakers with School contacts.
• Build audiences, engagement, and centralized tools for tracking and increasing audience engagement.
• Build and sustain partnerships with departments that contribute indirectly to public affairs goals, including CaseWorks, Development and Alumni Relations, Career Management Center, Admissions and Financial Aid, Executive Education, and centers and programs.
• Convene cross-School group to develop School-wide event plan and promotion strategy to engage key audiences, donors, students, media; ensure that events optimize engagement of key audiences; and ensure that insights from the School???s event calendar are promoted and shared with key audiences.
• Extend the reach of Community Relations programs, by increasing support for their event planning, promotion, and distribution.

Internal Communications & Events

• With direct reports and partners, develop internal communications tools that ensure School-wide processes are transparent through timely, regularly maintained internal communications. Convene cross-School group to develop coordinated cadences of communications across various offices, measure impact and growth of communication platforms, develop guidelines for use of School communication tools.
• Build centralized events team to oversee planning for signature events and to liaison with external partners using the CBS campus.

Minimum Qualifications

• Minimum of 15 years senior experience directing communications, marketing, or community relations strategy in a complex institution.
• Advanced degree in Journalism, Business Administration, Communications, or related field.
• Minimum 5 years of executive leadership experience in public or not-for-profit organizations.
• Strong record of financial oversight and sound business judgment.
• Excellent communications skills, including expertise in writing, editing, video and visual design, all media, data analytics, and branded merchandise.
• Demonstrated commitment to and knowledge of higher education.
• Experience, knowledge, skills, and cultural competence in working with diverse communities.
• Specific knowledge and experience in business education.
• Demonstrated success and acumen in managing, mentoring, and motivating staff. Strong leadership ability and style necessary to develop, manage, and inspire a highly talented and energetic professional staff.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.

About Columbia University

Columbia University is one of the world's most important centers of research and at the same time a distinctive and distinguished learning environment for undergraduates and graduate students in many scholarly and professional fields. The University recognizes the importance of its location in New York City and seeks to link its research and teaching to the vast resources of a great metropolis. It seeks to attract a diverse and international faculty and student body, to support research and teaching on global issues, and to create academic relationships with many countries and regions. It expects all areas of the university to advance knowledge and learning at the highest level and to convey the products of its efforts to the world.

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