Executive Director of Communications & Marketing

Position Purpose

The Executive Director of Communications & Marketing at Geisel School of Medicine will develop and unify communications strategy; clarify governance as well as lines of decision-making and responsibility; and build a cohesive, high-performing team charged with advancing Geisel’s research reputation, strengthening faculty visibility, supporting enrollment and philanthropy, and elevating the school’s positioning locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.

Description

The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth seeks a strategic, enterprise-minded Executive Director of Communications & Marketing to lead at a transformational time in the school’s evolution. Reporting to the school’s new Dean, who assumes office on Aug. 1, and serving as a member of the senior leadership team, the Executive Director will establish—for the first time—a centralized communications and marketing function that brings together roles currently distributed across three separate units.

This role requires an organizational leader with demonstrated success building systems, structures, and teams, and leading change in complex, matrixed environments — particularly through enterprise-level content strategy as well as major website redesign or digital transformation initiatives.

Required Qualifications - Education and Yrs Exp

Bachelors or equivalent combination of education and experience

Required Qualifications - Skills, Knowledge and Abilities

• 10+ years of progressively senior communications and marketing leadership experience.
• Demonstrated success leading and developing high-performing teams, including managing managers and building organizational capability.
• Demonstrated success developing and executing enterprise-level content strategy.
• Strong understanding of brand strategy, visual identity systems, SEO and AEO, analytics, digital platforms, and marketing technologies.
• Experience advising senior executives and operating effectively in politically complex environments.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, executive presence, and sound judgment.
• Strong emotional intelligence, with the ability to build trust, navigate ambiguity, manage change, and influence stakeholders with diplomacy and credibility.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in communications, marketing, journalism, or related field.
• Experience in academic medicine, higher education, healthcare, or research-intensive environments.
• Proven experience centralizing or reorganizing communications functions in complex, matrixed organizations.
• Knowledge of communications and marketing budget management.
• Experience working across affiliated or co-branded organizations.
• Familiarity with research communications, faculty visibility strategy, and national reputation metrics.
• Proven leadership of major website redesigns or digital transformation initiatives, including CMS governance and UX strategy.