Vice President for Marketing and Communications

Executive Summary

Florida State University (FSU) seeks an accomplished, forward-looking leader to serve as its inaugural Vice President for Marketing and Communications (VPMC), a newly established, cabinet-level role reporting directly to the President. This appointment reflects the University’s continued evolution as a leading public research institution and underscores a strategic commitment to strengthening enterprise-level marketing, communications, brand stewardship, and reputation management.

The Vice President for Marketing and Communications will serve as FSU’s senior leader for institutional narrative, positioning, and engagement, bringing cohesion, clarity, and strategic direction to a broad and distributed marketing and communications enterprise. As a trusted advisor to the President and senior leadership, the VPMC will help shape how the University articulates its mission, priorities, and impact to internal and external audiences at the local, state, national, and global levels. This role offers a rare opportunity to influence the University’s trajectory at a moment of momentum, ambition, and growing visibility.

Florida State University is one of the nation’s preeminent public research universities, with rising academic and research distinction, strong enrollment demand, and an increasingly prominent role in advancing discovery, health, innovation, and public service. Located in the state capital, the University occupies a unique position at the intersection of higher education, public policy, and civic leadership. Recent developments, including significant research growth, expanding health initiatives, rising national rankings, and the quiet phase of a major comprehensive campaign, underscore Florida State’s aspiration to more clearly and confidently convey its distinctive strengths and contributions.

The VPMC will be charged with advancing a cohesive, integrated, and future-focused marketing and communications strategy that aligns the University’s many voices around shared priorities and a compelling institutional narrative. Success will require a leader who can unify people and messaging across a complex, decentralized environment; guide strategic change with credibility and care; and elevate the role of marketing and communications as essential partners in achieving institutional goals. The Vice President will foster collaboration across colleges, divisions, and campuses while establishing shared frameworks, standards, and expectations that enhance consistency, effectiveness, and impact.

Florida State University seeks a leader who brings deep respect for the University’s educational mission and public responsibilities, along with the political and cultural fluency required to operate effectively within a large public institution. The successful candidate will be a gifted strategist, a confident and empathetic leader of people, and a disciplined decision-maker who values listening, data, and thoughtful execution. The VPMC must command trust through judgment and influence, balancing bold vision with stewardship, and innovation with institutional context.

This role presents a compelling opportunity for a senior marketing and communications executive to help define how Florida State University is understood and experienced by its community, its partners, and the broader public during a defining period in the University’s history.

Florida State University Marketing and Communications

Florida State University operates with a hybrid communications and marketing model that combines centralized coordination at the institution level with decentralized offices within colleges, centers, and specialized units.

The University Communications and Marketing Offices serve as the primary hub for official news, media relations, crisis and emergency communication, executive messaging, brand standards, core web properties, and governance of primary social media channels—ensuring consistency, reliability, and alignment with university priorities. This centralized infrastructure is supported by Information Technology Services, which is consolidating IT staff, standardizing security, and establishing campus-wide communication standards for voice, video, and digital platforms.

In contrast, decentralized communications and marketing offices allow individual units to manage their own campaigns, messaging, and brand engagement while leveraging centrally supported tools for branded, datadriven email and SMS outreach. Shared analytics platforms empower distributed teams to innovate and act on data independently, creating a model that balances strong institutional coherence with flexibility, specialization, and speed in execution.

The VPMC will coordinate with more than 80 university communications liaisons and several hundred marketing and communications professionals throughout the institution.

Opportunities and Expectations for Leadership

The Vice President for Marketing and Communications will assume leadership at a moment of considerable opportunity for Florida State University. The institution’s scale, momentum, and ambition create a compelling context for a senior leader who can elevate marketing and communications as strategic, enterprise-wide functions that advance institutional priorities and strengthen the University’s reputation.

Build and Drive an Enterprise-Wide Marketing and Communications Strategy

• The Vice President for Marketing and Communications will develop and lead a comprehensive, audience-centric marketing and communications strategy aligned with Florida State University’s mission, strategic priorities, and presidential vision. This strategy will translate institutional goals into a cohesive, enterprise-wide narrative that connects academic excellence, research growth, student success, health initiatives, and community impact. The VPMC will utilize a data-driven approach to establish clarity around priority per audiences, objectives, and outcomes to guide decision-making, resource allocation, and the sequencing of high-impact initiatives, while serving as a strategic advisor to the President and senior leadership on issues of reputation, positioning, and communications risk and opportunity.

Advance a Proactive, Brand-Forward Reputation Strategy

• The VPMC will lead a proactive and disciplined approach to reputation management that strengthens Florida State’s visibility, differentiation, and long-term brand equity. This includes elevating under-told stories—such as research breakthroughs, faculty excellence, health and innovation initiatives, and societal impact—to audiences that matter most at the state, national, and global levels. The VPMC will ensure that marketing and communications reinforce a clear and authentic brand position, balancing immediate institutional priorities with sustained reputation-building, and will define and track key brand and reputation metrics to inform strategy and measure impact.

Align and Strengthen the Central Marketing and Communications Organization

• A critical responsibility of the VPMC will be to design and lead a modern, integrated marketing and communications organization aligned with institutional strategy. This includes clarifying roles, decision rights, workflows, and accountability; establishing governance, standards, and shared tools; and strengthening the central team’s ability to support alignment across a decentralized campus. The VPMC will cultivate a strong service orientation and a culture of excellence within the central organization, while investing in professional development, coaching, and strategic hiring to ensure capabilities in storytelling, digital engagement, analytics, issues management, and executive communications.

Lead a Cohesive Brand Platform and University-Wide Storytelling Framework

• The VPMC will oversee a data-driven evaluation and refinement of Florida State’s enterprise brand framework, ensuring that positioning, value proposition, and messaging architecture provide a clear and differentiating foundation for all communications and marketing efforts. The VPMC will develop a unifying institutional narrative that is authentic to Florida State and adaptable across audiences and disciplines and will equip communicators across campus with shared messaging frameworks, brand guidance, and story tools. In doing so, the VPMC will establish repeatable processes for identifying, prioritizing, and distributing high-value stories across paid, earned, owned, and shared channels.

Modernize Digital, Social, and Marketing Infrastructure

• The VPMC will lead the continued evolution of Florida State’s digital and marketing ecosystem, including web strategy, social media, marketing technology, analytics platforms, and content management tools. This work will strengthen audience segmentation, personalization, and lifecycle communications—from prospective students to alumni and donors—while reducing fragmentation and inefficiency. The VPMC will ensure digital accessibility, usability, search optimization, and readiness for emerging technologies, including AI-enabled discovery and engagement, and will bring coherence and discipline to paid media, email, and mass communications.

Elevate Internal Communications as a Strategic Capability

• The VPMC will develop and lead an internal communications strategy that supports transparency, alignment, and engagement among faculty, staff, and students. Internal communications will be positioned as a strategic function that helps the campus community understand institutional priorities, navigate change, and feel connected to Florida State’s mission and direction. The VPMC will ensure messaging is timely, coordinated, and tailored to different internal audiences, using channels and formats aligned with evolving expectations and behaviors.

Strengthen Partnerships Across the University and Beyond

• The VPMC will build strong, trust-based partnerships with communicators and marketers across colleges, divisions, athletics, advancement, research, and health initiatives. This includes establishing effective structures for collaboration and co-creation, aligning central and embedded communicators through clear guidance and two-way communication, and supporting advancement leadership during the comprehensive campaign. The VPMC will also represent Florida State effectively with external partners, agencies, media, and stakeholders, navigating the public and political context with discretion, credibility, and sound judgment.

Professional Qualifications and Personal Qualities

Reporting to the President, the Vice President for Marketing and Communications (VPMC) is a cabinet-level leader who serves as Florida State University’s senior strategist and steward for the institutional brand, reputation, and enterprise marketing and communications. The VPMC provides strategic counsel to the President and senior leadership on brand positioning, messaging, and reputational risk and opportunity, and leads a university-wide marketing and communications enterprise comprising approximately 50 professionals. This role requires sound judgment, credibility, and a collaborative leadership approach to align and guide a broad, decentralized network of communicators and marketers in support of the University’s strategic priorities.

Required Qualifications

• A Master’s degree with a minimum of eight (8) years of progressively responsible experience in marketing, communications, brand management, or a related field; or a Bachelor’s degree with a minimum of ten (10) years of progressively responsible experience.
• Demonstrated success leading complex, enterprise-level marketing and communications initiatives, preferably within large, matrixed organizations.
• Proven ability to lead integrated marketing and communications strategies across multiple channels, including brand, media relations, executive communications, digital platforms, and analytics.
• Experience providing strategic counsel to senior leadership on institutional narrative, reputation, and communications risk and opportunity, including during high-impact or high-visibility situations.
• Demonstrated leadership experience in organizational design, team development, performance management, and fostering a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement.
• Experience managing budgets, stewarding resources, and overseeing relationships with external partners, agencies, and vendors.
• Exceptional written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex institutional priorities into clear, compelling messaging for diverse audiences.

Preferred Qualifications

• Significant experience within higher education, the public sector, or similarly complex mission-driven organizations, with an understanding of shared governance, public accountability, and political context.
• Demonstrated success leading marketing and communications within decentralized or distributed environments, aligning multiple stakeholders without relying on direct authority.
• Experience stewarding or evolving an enterprise brand, including positioning, visual identity, messaging frameworks, and storytelling systems.
• Proven results using data, analytics, and audience research to inform strategy, prioritize initiatives, and measure impact.
• Experience overseeing digital strategy and innovation, including web platforms, social media, multimedia storytelling, and technology-enabled communications.

Personal Qualities

• Unifying leader: Brings people together across colleges, divisions, and disciplines, aligning diverse perspectives around shared goals, standards, and institutional purpose.
• Strategic and forward-thinking: Anticipates challenges and opportunities, connects vision to execution, and balances immediate priorities with long-term brand and reputation stewardship.
• Credible institutional steward: Demonstrates deep respect for Florida State University’s mission, culture, and public responsibilities, earning trust through judgment and consistency rather than mandate.
• Confident decision-maker: Willing to make clear, sometimes difficult decisions; communicates rationale transparently; and moves the organization forward with purpose and accountability.
• Resourceful builder: Thinks expansively about capacity and resources, leveraging partnerships, tools, talent, and external expertise to maximize institutional impact.
• Data-informed leader: Values evidence and insight, establishing goals and measures that guide prioritization, learning, and continuous improvement.
• Engaged listener: Approaches leadership with curiosity and humility, listening carefully before acting and integrating diverse perspectives into decision-making.
• Calm, trusted presence: Communicates with clarity, composure, and authenticity, inspiring confidence among senior leaders, campus partners, and external stakeholders.

About Florida State University

As one of the nation's elite research universities and one of the largest of the 12 institutions of higher learning in the State University System of Florida, FSU offers a distinctive academic environment built on its cherished values and unique heritage. With over 46,000 students, over 16,000 employees, and an operating budget of $2.32 billion, FSU provides a welcoming campus environment on the oldest continuous site of higher education in Florida, with a prime location in the heart of the state capital. U.S. News and World Report ranks Florida State University as #21 among all public universities in the nation. Underlying the educational experience at FSU is the development of new generations of citizen leaders, grounded in the concepts inscribed on the University’s seal: Vires, Artes, Mores — Strength, Skill, and Character.

Additional information about FSU, its history and programs can be found at http://www.fsu.edu