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Arizona State University

Executive Director, Marketing and Strategic Partnerships

🇺🇸 Tempe, AZ 🕑 Full-Time 💰 $160K - $200K 💻 Marketing 🗓️ February 11th, 2026
Clari Rive

Edtech.com's Summary

Arizona State University is hiring an Executive Director, Marketing and Strategic Partnerships. This role directs strategic marketing, communications, and partnership initiatives at the Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation, leading efforts to grow enrollment and revenue through integrated, multi-channel campaigns and institutional relations. The Executive Director collaborates closely with college leadership and university teams to advance the college's impact nationally and manages a diverse team to execute growth strategies and maintain brand standards.

Highlights
  • Develop and execute comprehensive growth plans for degree and non-degree offerings.
  • Lead multi-channel marketing, communications, recruitment, and media strategies.
  • Manage institutional partnerships and student recruitment efforts.
  • Provide strategic leadership to in-house creative and specialist teams.
  • Oversee budget, resource allocation, vendor relations, and project prioritization.
  • Utilize market research and performance data to inform and optimize marketing strategies.
  • Require experience with content management systems (such as Drupal), social media, paid and earned media, digital and print advertising, and email communications.
  • Minimum qualifications include a bachelor's degree with nine years of relevant experience, including five years in managerial roles.
  • Preferred experience in higher education marketing, strategic communication, leadership, and performance reporting.
  • Salary range: $160,000 - $200,000 annually, depending on experience.

Executive Director, Marketing and Strategic Partnerships Full Description

Job Profile:

External Relations and Advancement Manager 4

Job Family:

External Relations and Advancement

Time Type:

Full time

Max Pay - Depends on experience:

$200,000.00 USD Annual

Apply before 11:59 PM Arizona time the day before the posted End Date.

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree and nine (9) years of experience appropriate to the area of assignment/field including five (5) years managerial experience; OR, Any equivalent combination of experience and/or training from which comparable knowledge, skills and abilities have been achieved.

Job Profile Summary:
Directs strategic planning of communications and provides approval and guidance for communications in support of department-wide communication goals.

Job Description:

Salary Range: $160,000 - $200,000 per year; DOE

The nation's most innovative university seeks an experienced and visionary marketing and communications leader to serve as the Executive Director, Marketing and Strategic Partnerships at the Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation. This position will oversee integrated planning and strategy to support the college during a pivotal moment in its evolution. The Executive Director functions as a "growth officer" for the college, bringing degree and non-degree concepts to market to drive both impact and growth of enrollment and revenue. 


The Executive Director serves as the chief strategist for marketing, communications, and partnership solutions, and is responsible for leading the development and execution of short- and long-term strategic marketing and communications plans that advance the college's goals. The Executive Director will provide strategic and creative direction and vision to in-house subject matter expert teams; foster deep partnerships with college leadership; and ensure coordinated, consistent and best-in-class execution to elevate the reputation of the college at a national scale.


Reporting to the Dean, the Executive Director oversees activities including student recruitment, product marketing, paid media strategies, owned and earned media strategies, internal and external communications and institutional partnerships. The leader serves as the chief architect for how the college tells its story, reaches new audiences, grows its programs and builds relationships with districts and organizations that turn to ASU for innovative education workforce solutions.


The Executive Director will be an orchestrator, working across the university to advance the growth of a portfolio of degree and non-degree revenue-generating marketing, institutional partnerships and university-wide education initiatives. The role requires a strategic leader who can build systems, develop people and align complex campaigns and initiatives with measurable outcomes. 
 

Essential Duties:

  • Responsible for crafting a comprehensive growth plan across degree and non-degree offerings and securing necessary approvals. Provides comprehensive strategic leadership for the development and execution of short- and long-term marketing, communications, partnerships and products that advance the Teacher's College. 
  • Directs and guides subject matter expert teams in directing and executing integrated multi-channel marketing, communications and recruitment plans, ensuring work is strategically aligned and delivers measurable outcomes related to all advertising, recruiting, outreach, earned media, alumni engagement, and industry relations to reach enrollment and revenue goals. 
  • Leads team to develop and execute multi-channel campaigns across digital and traditional platforms, including social media, paid media, publications, video, collateral, events and presentations, ensuring content is compelling, brand-aligned and audience-focused.
  • Elevates the college's profile by coordinating thought leadership initiatives, securing high-visibility opportunities for faculty, and managing rankings strategies to advance the College's standing as a hub for teaching and learning innovation.
  • Advances the college's brand, shaping and articulating its transformational vision of education, ensuring consistency of message, clarity of purpose and effective execution.
  • Establishes and maintains strong, collaborative relationships with the Dean and college leadership to ensure strategies reflect college priorities. As part of the college's executive team, serve as a thought partner to the Dean, translating leadership vision into inspired action.
  • Guides the use of formal and informal market research, data analysis and performance metrics to inform planning, strengthen strategies and optimize outcomes.
  • Produces and presents a variety of reports to senior leadership, including creative plans, progress reports and concept proposals. Routinely tracks progress of implementation and progress towards goals.
  • Ensures adherence to ASU's brand standards and maintain high levels of quality, accuracy and consistency across all communications.
  • Oversees vendor and partner relationships, ensuring optimal use of resources and alignment with project needs.
  • Designs organizational structures, systems, workflows and shared service models that support integrated marketing, communications and partnerships across college units. Oversees project prioritization, resource allocation and budget management to ensure goals are met and projects are delivered on time and on budget. 
  • Fosters a team culture of high performance and continuous improvement, collaboration and innovation. Provide mentoring to a diverse team of creatives, strategists, and partnership managers.
  • Leads with transparency, ensuring clear bi-directional communication with unit leadership and subject matter experts to foster alignment and trust across the college.
  • Acts as the primary liaison to the University's central teams including Enterprise Brand Strategy and Management, Enterprise Partners Outreach Hub, Media Relations and Strategic Communications, Learning Enterprise and EdPlus, leveraging central resources to amplify the College's reach while maintaining unit-level autonomy and agility.

Desired Qualifications:

  • Previous director-level experience working as a marketing director and strategist for large, complex organizations, preferably in higher education.
  • Demonstrated knowledge of strategic communication and marketing principles, with the ability to translate strategy into actionable plans.
  • Demonstrated ability to provide inspirational leadership and facilitate teams to create a shared vision to deliver long-term goals and immediate business objectives.
  • Strong service orientation, a disciplined work ethic and the ability to instill a high standard of excellence in the overall team. Ability to effectively work with and service requests of people holding positions of Dean and above.
  • Proven strategic planning, creative direction, critical thinking and decision-making skills and a track record of innovation.
  • Experience overseeing performance reporting and optimizing campaigns for measurable outcomes.
  • Excellent communication skills, with the ability to convey complex ideas clearly and persuasively to diverse audiences.
  • Experience with student recruitment, particularly within higher education contexts. 
  • Experience with product or partnership marketing, particularly within higher education contexts.
  • Highly organized and detail-oriented, with the ability to set priorities, manage multiple high-priority projects simultaneously and drive efficiency in a fast-paced environment.
  • Familiarity with project management tools, defined processes and workflow optimization.
  • Ability to remain flexible and responsive to new ideas, projects and directions while ensuring alignment with strategic goals.
  • Strong client relationship skills and the ability to self-direct while also fostering collaboration within and across teams.
  • Hands-on familiarity with core marketing tools and channels, including content management systems (such as Drupal), social media, print and digital mediums, advertising and email communications.
  • Evidence of a "hands-on", "roll-up-the-sleeves" mentality and "does what it takes" attitude to drive success.
  • Previous experience supervising full-time employees and contracted agency resources.
  • Previous experience working with established brands and effectively working within established brand standards.
  • Experience designing or managing cross-functional workflows, shared services, or matrixed teams in a complex organizational environment.

Working Environment:

  • Activities are performed in an environmentally controlled office setting subject to extended periods of sitting, keyboarding and manipulating a computer mouse.
  • Frequently required to stand for varying lengths of time and walk moderate distances to perform work.
  • Frequent bending, reaching, lifting, pushing and pulling up to 25 pounds.
  • Regular activities require ability to quickly change priorities which may include and/or are subject to resolution of conflicts.
  • Evidence of effective communication.
  • MLFC supports flexible work options for certain positions, such as alternate work schedules and hybrid remote, subject to approvals per ASU policy.

Department Statement:

ASU's Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation creates knowledge, mobilizes people, and takes action to improve education. Nationally recognized as a leader in teacher preparation, leadership development and scholarly research, Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation prepares over 8,000 educators annually.  MLFC faculty create knowledge by drawing from a wide range of academic disciplines to gain insight into important questions about the process of learning, the practice of teaching and the effects of education policy.  MLFC mobilizes people through bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs, through non-degree professional development programs and through socially embedded, multilateral community engagement.  MLFC takes action by bringing people and ideas together to increase the capabilities of individual educators and the performance of education systems.


Aligned with ASU's charter, MLFC is committed to advancing inclusive excellence in our curricula, programming and institutional relationships.

Driving Requirement:

Driving is not required for this position.

Location:

Campus: Tempe

Funding:

No Federal Funding

Instructions to Apply:

Current employees, student workers seeking staff opportunities, and students applying for student worker positions must apply directly through the Workday Jobs Hub.

Please use the link below to log in using single sign-on.

https://www.myworkday.com/asu/d/inst/1$9925/9925$18260.htmld

To be considered, your application must include all of the following attachments:

  • Cover letter

  • Resume or CV

Multiple documents may be uploaded in the attachments section. Alternatively, applicants may combine all required materials into a single PDF for submission. Please ensure uploaded documents are clearly labeled and include your name.

Please ensure your resume includes all employment information in month and year format, for example 6/04 to 8/14, along with job title, job duties, and employer name for each position. Your resume should clearly demonstrate how your experience and background meet the minimum and desired qualifications for this position. Incomplete applications or missing required materials may not be considered.

Important: Do not withdraw your application to make edits. Once an application is withdrawn, it cannot be edited, reactivated, or replaced with a new submission. If you have questions or need assistance, please contact HR Talent Acquisition before the posting close date to request edits.

Graduate Assistant, Intern and part-time positions are counted as half time for experience equivalency, meaning one year equals six months of experience.

Only electronic applications will be accepted for this position. By submitting an application, you confirm that the information provided is accurate and complete.

ASU Statement:

Arizona State University is a new model for American higher education, an unprecedented combination of academic excellence, entrepreneurial energy and broad access. This New American University is a single, unified institution comprising four differentiated campuses positively impacting the economic, social, cultural and environmental health of the communities it serves. Its research is inspired by real world application blurring the boundaries that traditionally separate academic disciplines. ASU serves more than 100,000 students in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona, the nation's fifth largest city. ASU champions inclusive excellence, and welcomes students from all fifty states and more than one hundred nations across the globe.

ASU is a tobacco-free university. For details visit https://wellness.asu.edu/explore-wellness/body/alcohol-and-drugs/tobacco

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other basis protected by law.

Notice of Availability of the ASU Annual Security and Fire Safety Report:

In compliance with federal law, ASU prepares an annual report on campus security and fire safety programs and resources. ASU's Annual Security and Fire Safety Report is available online at https://www.asu.edu/police/PDFs/ASU-Clery-Report.pdf. You may request a hard copy of the report by contacting the ASU Police Department at 480-965-3456.

Relocation Assistance - For information about schools, housing child resources, neighborhoods, hospitals, community events, and taxes, visit https://cfo.asu.edu/az-resources.

Employment Verification Statement:

ASU conducts pre-employment screening which may include verification of work history, academic credentials, licenses, and certifications.

Background Check Statement:

ASU conducts pre-employment screening for all positions which includes a criminal background check, verification of work history, academic credentials, licenses, and certifications. Employment is contingent upon successful passing of the background check.

Fingerprint Check Statement:

A fingerprint check is not required for this position.