Posting Details
Position Information
Position Title
Director, Content Marketing & Strategy
Position Type
Regular
Job Number
SA93024
Full or Part Time
full-time 40 hours weekly
Fair Labor Standard Act Classification
Exempt
Anticipated Pay Range
$140,000-$160,000
Pay Range Information
Chapman University is required to provide a reasonable estimate of
the compensation range for this position. This range takes into
account a variety of factors that are considered in making
compensation decisions, including experience, skills, knowledge,
abilities, education, licensure and certifications, and other
business and organizational needs. Salary offers are determined
based on the final candidate’s qualifications and experience, as
well as internal equity and other internal factors. The anticipated
pay range is not a promise of a particular wage.
Position Summary Information
Job Description Summary
The Director, Content Marketing & Strategy, leads Chapman
University’s organic search and content ecosystem, ensuring the
university’s digital presence is discoverable, authoritative, and
aligned with brand and enrollment priorities. This role sets the
strategic direction for SEO and AI visibility performance and
editorial content across chapman.edu. The Director partners closely
with web, brand, strategic & editorial comms, enrollment
marketing, and agency stakeholders to ensure content strategy is
embedded into broader marketing, communications, and engagement
initiatives, including publications.
This position is in person in Orange, CA and the candidate will be
expected to be in the office 5 days a week.
Responsibilities
Content Strategy & Leadership
- Develop and maintain a university-wide content strategy that
balances brand storytelling with SEO performance, ensuring content
serves search and AI visibility.
Lead the editorial vision and information architecture of
Chapman’s centralized storytelling platform connecting audiences
with the people, experiences, and outcomes that make the university
distinctive.
Own the ongoing content management of the storytelling platform
including story sourcing, publishing cadence, tagging/taxonomy for
discoverability, and platform performance against reach and
engagement goals.
Oversee a content calendar and workflow that balances always-on
organic content needs with news updates and other campaign-driven
content.
Establish editorial standards, style guidelines, and a content
governance model spanning web copy, blog/news content, program
pages, landing pages, and Chapman’s storytelling hub.
Write and edit compelling articles and feature stories that
strengthen Chapman University’s brand and support strategic
storytelling initiatives.
Ensure all content reflects brand voice, accessibility
standards, and institutional accuracy.
SEO Strategy & Organic Growth
- Own SEO strategy, including technical SEO, on-page
optimization, keyword architecture, and organic search performance
across chapman.edu properties.
- Conduct ongoing technical audits (crawlability, site speed,
structured data, mobile performance, etc.) in partnership with web,
IS&T, and vendors.
- Conduct content gap analysis and competitive research to
identify underserved topics, ranking opportunities, and areas where
competitor institutions are outperforming Chapman in search and AI
visibility.
- Build and maintain keyword and topic-cluster strategies aligned
to institutional priorities and enrollment funnels, structuring
content to establish topical authority across priority program and
subject areas.
- Monitor rankings, organic traffic, and conversion performance;
report on KPIs and translate findings into actionable
roadmaps.
- Stay ahead of search algorithm changes (including AI-driven
search/ LLM discovery shifts) and adjust strategy and university
education around these shifts proactively.
Cross-Functional Collaboration & Governance
- Serve as SMC’s subject-matter authority on SEO and content,
ensuring organic strategy is represented in enrollment marketing
initiatives rather than treated as an afterthought.
- Partner with the web, brand, and digital strategy teams to
ensure site architecture, campaign landing pages, and paid/organic
efforts are integrated rather than siloed.
- Advise academic units on content and SEO best practices for
admissions and program pages.
- Represent SEO /content considerations in brand governance
conversations, protecting consistency and search equity during
redesigns, rebrands, or campaign launches.
Team Leadership & People Management
- Manage, coach, and develop setting clear goals, workflows, and
growth opportunities.
- Establish processes for content production, SEO execution, and
quality assurance.
- Model SMC’s standards for cross-functional collaboration,
mentoring the marketing coordinator on stakeholder management and
prioritization.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in a related field (marketing,
communications, design, or equivalent experience).
- 5–7+ years of progressive experience in SEO and/or content
strategy, ideally with 2+ years in a people-management role.
- Demonstrated experience managing enterprise-scale websites and
organic search programs (higher ed, complex multi-brand, or
similarly matrixed organizations preferred).
- Strong command of SEO tools (e.g., Google Search Console,
SEMrush/Ahrefs, Moz, Screaming Frog, GA4) and CMS platforms.
- Excellent editorial judgment and writing/editing ability, with
experience setting style and governance standards.
- Strong interpersonal skills to work with a diverse group of
individuals at all university levels.
- Demonstrated project management experience — managing
timelines, stakeholders, and competing priorities.
- Strong ability to document technical processes and development
notes for others to easily get up to speed.
- Proven ability to influence cross-functional and agency
partners without direct authority.
- Excellent communication skills; comfortable working with both
technical (dev/IT) and non-technical (department)
stakeholders.
Desired Qualifications
- Experience with CRM /marketing automation integration (e.g.,
Slate, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, FormStack etc.).
- Experience in Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Google Data
Studio and UTM tracking.
- Experience in web accessibility standards/guidelines.
- Experience in higher education marketing.
- Entrepreneurial, self-starter with tact and diplomacy
skills.
- Experience in an editorial environment.
Special Instructions to Applicants
At Chapman University, we believe collaboration thrives through
in-person engagement. This position is fully on campus, and
employees work alongside colleagues, faculty, students, and staff
each day to support our vibrant university community.
Chapman University is an equal opportunity employer that provides
equal employment opportunities to all individuals, regardless of
their protected characteristics. All qualified applicants and
employees are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration
for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex,
sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national
origin, ancestry, citizenship status, physical disability, mental
disability, medical condition, military and veteran status, marital
status, pregnancy, genetic information or any other characteristic
protected by state or federal law.
Applicants for Staff and Administrator positions must be currently
authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis.
The offer of employment is contingent upon satisfactory completion
and outcomes of a criminal background screening and returning to
the Office of Human Resources a signed original acceptance of the
Chapman University Agreement to Arbitrate.
Minimum Number of References
3
Maximum Number of References
5
Pre-screening Questions
Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).
Applicant Documents
Required Documents
- Resume
- Cover Letter
- 3 References Listed on One Page
Optional Documents
- Work Samples
