Executive Director of Communications and Marketing

Metropolitan Community College comprises five campuses on the Missouri side of the Greater Kansas City area 47 major buildings and about 550 acres in all: MCC-Blue River, located in Independence, Missouri; MCC-Longview located in Lee's Summit, Missouri, MCC-Maple Woods located in the Northland of Kansas City, Missouri; MCC-Online and MCC-Penn Valley, located in Midtown Kansas City, Missouri.

MCC is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In addition, several programs have specific accreditations as well.

***MCC does not provide employer-paid sponsorships.

Job Summary

Incumbent works in an administrative management role at district level for the Communications and Marketing function and provides key information, direction and recommendation for decision-making. This position is responsible for all aspects of internal and communications, identity management, marketing, and primary spokesperson for Metropolitan Community College District.

Please Note: We are currently reviewing the first round of applicants for this position. Additional applications are still being accepted; however, the role may be filled before later submissions are reviewed. Only candidates who meet the minimum qualifications will move forward in the process. If you are interested and qualified, we encourage you to apply promptly.

Essential Functions

• Supervise staff to include prioritizing and assigning work, conducting performance evaluations, ensuring staff are trained, ensuring that employees follow policies and procedures, maintaining a healthy and safe working environment and making hiring, termination and disciplinary recommendations
• Develop and implement plans and strategies to accomplish goals for an assigned function or department; work may involve planning, coordinating, administering and evaluating programs, projects, processes, procedures, systems, standards and/or service offerings; ensuring compliance with Federal, State, and Local laws, regulations, codes, and/or standards; working to integrate and coordinate service areas and/or collaborating with the Board of Directors and Committees to facilitate the development of strategic plans and make recommendations
• Develop and administer department and other assigned budgets, approve expenditures, reviews financial statements; manage financial operations
• Develop and recommend revisions to District policies, procedures, guidelines, or standards; direct and review a variety of reports, reconciliations, grants, work papers, promotional efforts, communications, schedules, tables and/or statements to and from internal departments, financial institutions, governmental entities and external agencies
• Seek and manage collaborative efforts with business and industry, community agencies, donors and alumni, educational institutions, internal departments and/or other interested parties to solicit funds; facilitate grant and other departmental operations
• Collect and analyze a variety of complex data and information
• Perform statistical analysis and summarize findings in applicable reports or other communication mediums
• Serve as a liaison with other departments and students within the College in order to provide information on available resources, programs, and/or services
• Serve as Metropolitan Community College (MCC) District's primary point of contact for public information and liaison to the external media, working closely with representatives of the press, radio and television for the dissemination of information regarding MCC news and activities and to generate interest in the college activities and services, ensure regular contact with local, state, regional and national media and appropriate response to media inquiries.
• Create, implement and measure the success of a comprehensive, integrated strategic marketing, communications and public relations plan and program that will enhance the District's image, brand and position within the marketplace and with the general public and ensure that the image and position is communicated across all constituencies, both internal and external; maintain and enforce the college's identity standards and overall branding
• Provide editorial leadership, administration, direction, design, production and distribution of all internal and external District marketing, communications and public relations activities and materials, including print materials, media relations, videos, online design, web strategy, social media, advertising, recruiting and related materials
• Strategically direct all informational and news content, coordinate and arrange news conferences, manage distribution of a wide array of targeted broadcast emails to external constituents and ensure news content on the external (public) website is timely, relevant, up-to- date, and links to the strategic direction and integrated communication and marketing plan.
• Strategically direct and oversee internal communications to include the MCC Update e- newsletter and MCC Employee news website
• Strategically direct and manage all media content and inquiries to inform communications strategies and to keep MCC executive leadership and the Chancellor informed in a timely manner
• Strategically direct high-profile events, communications and marketing strategies with external entities, including dignitaries and public contacts, affiliation associations and act as a liaison to the Chancellor's office for public events and community affairs
• Serve as the external communication's primary point of contact for the District's emergency response and notification procedures; contact affected local/state/national media in the event of campus closures and emergencies and coordinate with College Police and District Executive Leadership during emergency response where appropriate
• Strategically direct and coordinate high profile video projects for District events and initiatives with the College videographer and photographer
• Strategically direct the creation and distribution of content for District level social media
• Direct the District's Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts and provide regular updates
• Provide leadership and consultation to campus employees who contribute to campus social media accounts for an overall social media strategy
• Direct all marketing and communications to assure quality standards are met in the production of college materials and assist in the development, implementation and ongoing assessment of the college's integrated communication and marketing plan; review all internal and external public information, publications and marketing pieces for quality assurance, accuracy, and compliance with administrative and board policies as well as any legal statutes
• Direct demographic and other marketing studies to identify trends to maximize effectiveness of marketing and strategic enrollment efforts; research targeted markets and evaluate marketing strategies to identify potential students, alumni and donors and identify strategies related to key marketing and communication opportunities for the District
• Direct and coordinate the planning and purchase of District-wide print advertising, including ads, brochures, billboards, flyers, posters, banners, etc., that align with the integrated marketing plan with the approval of appropriate unit officer
• Responsible for the development and management of an annual marketing and communication budget that relates to the integrated marketing and communication plan and department goals, to include overseeing the development of marketing-related bids, production of materials and projects with vendors and freelance agents
• Work collaboratively with the College campuses and units to support marketing and communication efforts and facilitate a consistent brand message, to include communications support for student success initiatives and student communication
• Provide leadership and direction to various departments to aid and support internal communication and marketing efforts
• Consult with leadership and serves as a representative to district-wide committees, when expertise in communications and marketing is needed
• Perform other duties as assigned

Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Physical Requirements

Minimum Qualifications:

• Master's degree in a related field to assigned area (Marketing, Communications, Public Relations)
• Four (4) years of academic, career or technical management experience

Preferred Qualifications:

• Doctorate Degree preferred
• Experience in Higher Education setting preferred

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Knowledge of leadership and managerial principles
• Knowledge of budgeting principles and practices
• Knowledge of advanced theories and principles related to area of assignment
• Knowledge of strategy development principles and procedures
• Knowledge of applicable Local, State and Federal laws, codes, rules, regulations, guidelines, and standards
• Knowledge of policy and procedure development and administration principles and practices
• Knowledge of conflict mediation principles and practices
• Knowledge of public relations principles
• Knowledge of project management principles
• Knowledge of strategic management principles and practices
• Knowledge of program management and development principles
• Knowledge of higher education principles and practices
• Skilled in directing and providing leadership to subordinate staff
• Skilled in planning, implementing, improving, and evaluating programs, policies, and procedures
• Skilled in developing, administering, and managing budgets
• Skilled in analyzing and developing policies and procedures
• Skilled in planning, analyzing, and evaluating programs and services, operational needs, and fiscal constraints
• Skilled in interpreting and applying applicable laws, codes, rules, regulations, guidelines, and standards
• Skilled in allocating resources effectively and efficiently
• Skilled in managing complex projects with college-wide impact
• Skilled in evaluating research to identify potential solutions, resolve problems, or provide information
• Skilled in working with diverse academic, cultural and ethnic backgrounds of community college students and staff
• Skilled in using a computer and related software applications
• Skilled in utilizing communication and interpersonal skills as applied to interaction with coworkers, supervisor, the general public, and others sufficient to exchange or convey information

Physical Requirements

Positions in this class typically require grasping, hearing, keyboarding, reaching, repetitive motion, standing, talking, visual acuity, and walking. The work is sedentary work which requires exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently or constantly.

Supplemental Information

EEO Statement: Metropolitan Community College is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer that prohibits discrimination or harassment of any person on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, birth ancestry, national origin, or disability. EOE/ M/ F/ Vets/ Disabled

Accommodations: MCC is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, MCC will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided with reasonable accommodations in all aspects of employment, including the application process. To request an accommodation and/or a copy of the Americans with Disabilities Act applicant procedures, please contact the Office of Human Resources.

Organization

Long before Kansas City looked the way it does today, a group of people believed the region needed a place where anyone could get an education that led somewhere. That belief became Kansas City Polytechnic Institute in 1915, and a few years later, the Junior College of Kansas City, one of the first schools in the country to award an associate degree. Over a century later, that same idea still drives the institution known today as Metropolitan Community College.

MCC is the oldest public institution of higher learning in Kansas City, Missouri, and that history isn't just a footnote. It's the foundation for a mission that hasn't changed: open doors, build skills, and help people move forward, whether that means a first degree, a career change, or a new trade learned close to home. Today, MCC offers 125 associate degree and certificate programs across five campuses on the Missouri side of the Kansas City area: Blue River, Longview, Maple Woods, Penn Valley, and MCC-Online, spanning 47 buildings and roughly 550 acres.

But campuses and buildings only tell part of the story. What makes MCC matter is the people inside them, faculty who show up for students navigating school alongside jobs and families, staff who help someone find their footing, and colleagues who understand that this work changes the trajectory of a life. MCC is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, and several of its programs carry additional specialized accreditation, a reflection of a place that takes its responsibility to students seriously without losing sight of why the work exists in the first place.

For more than a hundred years, MCC has been part of how Kansas City grows and moves forward. The next chapter is being written now, by the people who choose to build their careers here. There's a place in that story for you.