Associate Vice President of Creative and Creative Director - University of St Thomas

The University of St. Thomas invites qualified candidates to apply for an Associate Vice President of Creative and Creative Director position within the Marketing, Insights & Communications (MIC) department.

The University of St. Thomas embraces diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity for all. Our convictions of dignity, diversity and personal attention call us to embody and champion a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment.  The University is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer (EEO).  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, status as a protected veteran, or other protected characteristic.  We are committed to building a skilled team that represents a variety of backgrounds and perspectives. This commitment is consistent with our mission: Inspired by Catholic intellectual tradition, the University of St. Thomas educates students to be morally responsible leaders who think critically, act wisely, and work skillfully to advance the common good.  A successful candidate will possess a commitment to the ideals of this mission.

JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

The University of St. Thomas offers a competitive and comprehensive benefits program, which includes:

• Up to 100% tuition remission for employees and dependents upon eligibility
• Up to 50% tuition remission for spouses upon eligibility
• A generous Employer retirement contribution of 9.4% of annual salary upon eligibility
• Medical, dental, and vision options
• Employer-paid disability, life, and AD&D benefits

JOB SUMMARY

The Associate Vice President of Creative/Creative Director plays a critical role in raising St. Thomas’ brand visibility to help the university reach its strategic objectives - including enrollment, fundraising, alumni engagement and other goals. Reporting to the Chief Communications Officer, this role is one of four leadership team members within the larger, 30-person Marketing, Insights & Communications (MIC) department, helping to craft and bring to life a compelling brand narrative that resonates with the university’s target audiences.

The AVP develops and implements the university’s creative strategy, ensures brand cohesion across the university’s marketing and communications efforts, and generates ideas for innovative storytelling. This role leads and empowers a team of multi-media visual communications professionals (including art directors and designers, photographers and videographers) to execute projects (which can include designing promotional materials such as collateral, web modules and environmental signage; ideating tactics such as advertising campaigns - including digital, social media, video, and broadcast -  and other ways to engage audiences, etc.) that align with the university’s brand and strategic priorities. The AVP also closely collaborates with MIC department peers and teammates (including marketing directors, PR and communications experts, web strategists and others), as well as other university stakeholders (including administrators, faculty and staff).

The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker, an inspirational leader and a strong collaborator who can integrate creative solutions into larger marketing strategies. This person must have a deep understanding of brand development, multimedia design, digital and print media, emerging marketing technologies. This person should also be knowledgeable about trends in higher education marketing and be able to incorporate strategic audience insights into creative planning.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Brand Strategy

• Serve as the lead creative strategist on key university initiatives (including visibility and awareness campaigns, audience activations and experiences, etc.)
• Translate marketing & communications objectives into clear creative strategies. This includes contributing to the development of cross-channel campaigns, ensuring that creative concepts are consistent with university messaging, while exploring opportunities for creative activations and audience engagement strategies
• Maintain, enhance and evolve a clear, creative vision for the university’s brand (including brand standards and guidelines) across all platforms, including print, digital (primarily advertising, web and social media), environmental and in consumer activations
• Ensure all creative work supports the university’s mission and strategic objectives
• Drive innovation by proposing new ways to engage key audiences (including prospective students, alumni, donors, internal community members, etc.)
• As an activate participant on the MIC leadership team, contribute to the development of department objectives and ensure creative team goals are aligned with those of the larger MIC team
• Remain current on emerging marketing technologies, multi-media design trends and higher education trends to ensure cutting-edge innovation
   

Creative Team Leadership

• Oversee and guide a team of art directors and designers, photographers, videographers and a copywriter to execute projects on behalf of the university. The projects can include developing promotional materials such as print and digital collateral pieces, online web modules, videos, environmental wall graphics, interactive quizzes for prospective students, billboard and ad designs, etc. This role should provide strategic input on major deliverables while empowering team members to manage and execute day-to-day responsibilities
• Coach, mentor and provide constructive feedback to creative team members
• Streamline team workload in partnership with project management resources, ensuring team is appropriately prioritizing projects while reporting back to CCO
• Maintain and (when needed) improve creative team workflows and processes, in support of the larger MIC team (and university) objectives, and in collaboration with other MIC leaders
• Manage creative team’s annual budget, including budgets for freelance resources and out-of-pocket expenses
• Oversee the hiring, training and ongoing development of the creative team
   

Inter- and Cross-Department Collaboration

• Serve as a creative consultant, advisor and collaborator to MIC teammates and other university department leaders and stakeholders (including academic leaders and senior administrators)
• Work with CCO and other MIC leadership team members to pitch creative concepts and ideas to key university stakeholders
• Collaborate with marketing strategy, PR and communications and web teams on key marketing and communications projects

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing or a related field such as graphic design, advertising, marketing, communications, or a related creative discipline
• Ten years of progressively responsible experience in a creative marketing/design lead position

An equivalent combination of education and experience from which comparable knowledge and skills have been acquired may be substituted.

HOW TO APPLY

All interested candidates must apply online at https://www.stthomas.edu/jobs/. Follow the instructions to complete an online application which includes creating or updating an applicant profile, uploading a resume, and completing a job specific application.

In light of its commitment to create and maintain a safe learning and working environment, employment with the University of St. Thomas requires consent and successful completion of a background screening.

Official job posting is available at www.stthomas.edu/jobs.