Vice President for Communications

Employer: Amherst College

Location: Amherst, Massachusetts (US)

Salary: $260,000 - $315,000

Date posted: Feb 26, 2026

The full position description can be viewed here.

Amherst College invites applications and nominations for its next Vice President for Communications. Reporting to the President and serving as a member of the President’s senior leadership team, the Vice President for Communications provides leadership and direction in determining how Amherst explains itself to the world and to its own community. In partnership with stakeholders across the College, the Vice President for Communications will bring clarity and focus to the College’s communications by developing and executing an integrated, proactive communications strategy that builds upon Amherst College’s identity, influence, and reputation, and which will advance the institution’s top priorities externally and internally. This is a unique opportunity to promote, protect, and enhance the values and reputation of one of this country’s most highly respected educational institutions, while also advancing Amherst College’s position as the defining voice of liberal arts education.

The Vice President for Communications serves as the College’s chief communications strategist, playing a central role in articulating the College’s academic mission, values, and national standing. This leader closely advises the president and other campus leaders on matters of institutional voice and messaging, provides leadership for reputation management and brand stewardship, and for internal and external communications across the entire College. This role combines high-level strategy with hands-on execution and close collaboration across the campus community.

The Vice President for Communications will lead a centralized communications team of 21 full-time staff and will collaborate with decentralized communicators in divisions across the College in the following areas:

• Strategic Leadership: Developing and executing comprehensive communication and marketing strategies aligned with the College's mission and goals
• Content Strategy: Ensuring a consistent, compelling institutional voice across all platforms and audiences
• Media & Public Relations: Overseeing the College’s external narrative and proactively pitching stories
• Crisis Communications: Leading communications planning and response for crisis and issue management efforts
• Collaboration & Management: Leading the centralized communication team and working cross-functionally with admissions, advancement, and other departments across the College to coordinate a distributed internal communications staff

QUALIFICATIONS

Amherst’s next Vice President for Communications will be an experienced leader with a strategic vision for institutional communications. They will possess exceptional instincts for and a record of creating high-quality integrated communications across broad and varied platforms to articulate Amherst’s distinctive attributes and reach a highly diverse audience of alumni, prospective and current students, faculty, and staff.

At a small and highly selective liberal arts college with a national and international profile, this role requires intellectual range and sound judgment as well as sensitivity to and a deep appreciation for institutional values, academic culture, and the distinctive character of residential liberal arts education.

Additionally, the successful candidate will bring:

• Significant senior-level experience in strategic communications, public affairs, or related fields
• Broad experience with strategic communications planning, media/public relations, crisis communications, and new media technologies
• Strong preference for experience in higher education with openness to candidates from other sectors who demonstrate the ability to understand and navigate academic culture
• Strategic thinking and vision, including the capacity to synthesize complex information, anticipate risks and opportunities, and align decisions with institutional priorities and long-term goals
• Demonstrated success advising senior leaders and operating within complex, multi-stakeholder organizations
• Proven ability to implement strategy with accountability, rigor, and measurable outcomes
• Political acuity in a tightly knit campus community/small, relationship-driven institution and a commitment to inclusive engagement
• Demonstrated ability to lead effectively in a collaborative, decentralized decision-making environment, coordinating stakeholders across the institution
• Experience serving as a spokesperson or managing high-level media engagement
• Demonstrated supervisory experience with a track record of mentoring and leading collaborative teams
• Exceptional writing, editing, and narrative development skills
• Sound judgment and discretion
• Demonstrated commitment to equity and inclusion

A bachelor’s degree is required; an advanced degree is preferred.

The budgeted salary range for the Vice President position is $260,000-$315,000. In addition to annual salary, the College provides employees with generous benefits including retirement, medical coverage, and tuition.

TO APPLY

Amherst College has retained Opus Partners to support this recruitment. Craig Smith, Senior Partner, and Abigail Maynard, Managing Associate, are leading the search. Confidential inquiries and nominations should be submitted by email to Abigail Maynard at abigail.maynard@opuspartners.net.