Columbia University
Executive Director, Communications
🇺🇸 Manhattanville, NY
🕑 Full-Time
💰 $165K - $195K
💻 Communications
🗓️ August 27th, 2025
Edtech.com's Summary
Columbia Business School is hiring an Executive Director, Communications. This role leads comprehensive communications and media relations strategies that advance the School's strategic priorities and reputation, manages key messaging across audiences, and spearheads the launch of a centralized email marketing platform. The Executive Director collaborates with multiple departments, provides strategic guidance, and oversees departmental resources to ensure consistent and impactful communications.
Highlights
- Lead development and execution of internal communications strategies to engage the CBS community.
- Manage proactive and reactive media relations, positioning faculty and leadership in top-tier media.
- Launch and adopt a unified, School-wide email marketing platform to streamline communications.
- Serve as primary communications liaison to academic centers and programs, supporting initiatives and campaigns.
- Collaborate with communications professionals across CBS to ensure messaging alignment and share best practices.
- Manage a small team, providing mentorship, goal-setting, and performance evaluation.
- Oversee the department budget, aligning resources to strategic priorities.
- Requires a Bachelor's degree in Communications or related field and 8+ years of progressive communications experience.
- Preferred qualifications include a Master's degree, experience in higher education or mission-driven organizations, and established media relationships.
- Salary range is $165,000 to $195,000 based on qualifications and experience.
Executive Director, Communications Full Description
- Job Type: Officer of Administration
- Bargaining Unit:
- Regular/Temporary: Regular
- End Date if Temporary:
- Hours Per Week: 35
- Standard Work Schedule:
- Building:
- Salary Range: $165,000 - $195,000
The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training. The above hiring range represents the University's good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.
Position Summary
Reporting to the Chief Communications Officer, the Executive Director, Communications is responsible for leading and executing comprehensive communications and media relations strategies that advance Columbia Business School’s strategic priorities and strengthen its reputation across both internal and external audiences.
This role manages key messaging to priority audiences, develops proactive and reactive media strategies, and serves as a primary communications liaison to the School’s academic centers and programs. The Executive Director will also lead the launch and adoption of a centralized, School-wide email marketing platform to streamline communications and enhance engagement.
The incumbent will collaborate with and provide strategic guidance to communication professionals across multiple CBS departments through a dotted-line relationship structure, ensuring a cohesive approach to messaging and brand voice. The position also manages departmental resources and works closely with senior leadership, faculty and administrative partners to ensure clear, consistent and impactful communications across the School.
About Columbia Business School
For over a century, Columbia Business School (CBS) has helped develop leaders and builders of enterprises who drive value for their stakeholders and society at large through our MBA, MS, PhD, and Executive Education programs. We are equally committed to cultivating new scholars and teachers and to creating and disseminating pathbreaking knowledge, concepts, and tools that advance the understanding and practice of management through our faculty research and PhD programs. Our vision is simple: to develop ideas and leaders that transform the world, from the very center of business.
Our ever-evolving curriculum, featuring pioneering courses, STEM certification, and immersive experiential learning, prepares students to excel in key areas such as digital transformation, entrepreneurship, innovation, twenty-first-century finance, the intersection of business and society, and climate and sustainability. The CBS administration enables CBS’s educational and scholarly mission through strategic and operational guidance and support, optimizing School resources through well-designed, transparent processes with a culture of respect for all.
Responsibilities
Internal Communications
- Develops and implements an internal communications strategy and execution plan that fosters a well-informed and engaged CBS community.
- Leads the launch, integration, and adoption of a unified email marketing platform, ensuring alignment across departments and consistency in messaging.
- Partners with Human Resources, Student Affairs, and other departments to support employee and student engagement initiatives.
Media Relations & PR
- Collaborates with leadership on the development of both proactive and reactive communications strategies to strengthen CBS’s positioning on strategic priorities and key issues.
- Oversees CBS’s media relations strategy, proactively positioning the School’s faculty, research, and leadership in top-tier media outlets.
- Assembles and leads project teams to execute various initiatives in the service of communications goals.
- Responds to media inquiries and serves as a School spokesperson as needed.
- Coordinates crisis communication response in collaboration with the CCO.
Stakeholder Collaboration
- Serves as the primary communications partner for CBS’s academic centers and programs, providing strategic counsel, content development, and execution support for initiatives, events, and campaigns.
- Work closely with communications professionals embedded in various departments to ensure messaging alignment, share best practices, and coordinate efforts.
Event Promotion
- Collaborates with the events team to develop and execute promotional strategies for high-profile CBS events, conferences, and speaker series.
Team and Budget Management
- Manages a small team of communications professionals, including setting goals, providing mentorship, and evaluating performance.
- Builds and maintains strong dotted-line relationships with communications staff across the School, fostering collaboration, professional development, and alignment with CBS’s overarching communications strategy.
- Oversees and manages the department’s budget, ensuring resources are aligned to strategic priorities and used efficiently.
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Journalism, Public Relations, or related field.
- Minimum of 8+ years of progressive experience in communications, including internal communications and media relations.
- Proven success in launching and managing enterprise-wide communication platforms.
- Exceptional interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills.
- Strong organizational and project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
Preferred Qualifications
- Master’s degree preferred.
- Experience working within higher education, mission-driven organizations, or similar complex institutions.
- Established media relationships and a track record of securing coverage in media outlets.
- Experience guiding dotted-line teams or cross-functional communications professionals towards a unified strategy.
- Familiarity with higher education or mission-driven organizations is strongly preferred.
Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran
Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.
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