Sr. Director, Executive Vice President Communications

Job Description:

Pay Grade: 33E

Context of the Job:

The Senior Director for EVP Communications, reporting to the Associate Vice President for Strategic Communication & Marketing, serves as the university’s chief communicator for the Office of the Executive Vice President for Finance & Administration and its respective departments. This role is responsible for developing communications plans, messaging sequences, and content to support communication needs within and across the Finance and Administration units. This position is located at the University of Delaware’s main campus in Newark, Delaware, and is expected to be in the office 5 days per week and on site for issues, crises or special events as directed.

Major Responsibilities:

• Serves as the primary communicator for the Office of the EVP and its aligned departments, supporting writing and editing of high-level messages for university events, policy, and internal communications. enterprise projects, and various speaking engagements for high-impact internal and external audiences.
• Serve as a strategic team member on a wide variety of communications projects and serve as a writing and messaging expert on specific initiatives.
• Translates complex academic, financial, and/or policy issues into accessible, compelling language.
• Works with other senior staff to ensure alignment of Presidential and EVP messaging into campus communications and marketing strategies, tactics and deliverables.
• Advises senior administration on internal communications strategies to ensure timely, coordinated delivery of significant campus messages.
• Handles sensitive and confidential information with discretion, managing rapid turnaround requests in an executive environment.
• Balances competing priorities while maintaining quality and accuracy.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Journalism, Communication, English or other related field and ten years progressively responsible job-related experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Demonstrated experience writing and advising senior executives or public figures.
• Experience in higher education, corporate communications or similarly complex mission-driven organizations.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, problem-solving skills, business acumen, sound judgement under pressure and ability to balance competing demands in a dynamic environment.
• High standards for quality, accuracy and voice consistency, with the ability to synthesize complex ideas into clear, compelling narratives and authentic tone.
• Must be a confident, strategic thinker with strong editorial instincts who can quickly grasp complex issues.
• Ability to evaluate and edit the content, structure and format of a range of written materials.
• Ability to work cooperatively with others, including senior administrators, faculty members and communicators across campus.
• Ability to research topics of interest while handling multiple projects simultaneously as well as stay within strict timelines.