Director of Communications & Marketing (Shepherd School of Music)

Please note that this position posting requires a cover letter and a resume. Please attach both required documents under "Supporting Documents" section in the application.

Position Summary
Responsible for overseeing the school’s communications, promotion, marketing and advertising efforts. This senior leadership role will develop the school’s branding and visual identity and communicate the school's mission in compliance with the long term goals and vision of the Dean of the Shepherd School of Music. The Director will oversee all communications and is responsible for ticket sales campaigns, advertising, audience development, forecasts, budget oversight, publications, communications, public relations, and social media.

The role will also oversee the critical implementation of new Tessitura ticketing system software and develop pathways for the creation of new patron loyalty programs. An important aspect of the position will be the generation of stories for broad media distribution in addition to utilizing Rice University marketing channels to develop national and international media awareness to strengthen the recognition of the music school as one of the leading music schools in the world. This position is a key school spokesperson for external communications as directed by the Dean and oversees all forms of media, including but not exclusive to press releases, digital campaigns, print materials, social media, audio and video and more.

The Director of Communications and Marketing will directly report to the Senior Assistant Dean of the Shepherd School of Music and work closely with all directors within the Shepherd School to build a more robust community following, design membership programs and identify areas of student and faculty success. The Director plays an important role on the leadership team and must be sufficiently familiar with the orchestral repertoire and the performing arts industry to be a full partner in the planning process. This position will supervise the Content Developer/Marketing Assistant and the Print and Publications Coordinator.

Essential Functions

• Develops and oversees short and long term marketing/advertising strategies in line with the school’s branding and mission
• Develops and monitors metrics and analytics to measure reach and impact of communications and marketing, build new audiences, draw local Houstonians onto the Rice campus and identify areas of opportunity for audience development
• Brings online new Tessitura ticketing system software and develop pathways for the creation of new patron loyalty programs
• Manages communications and marketing budgets; identifies and tracks advertisement spending including selecting and overseeing marketing vendor relationships
• Establishes crisis management communication protocols as needed and drive preemptive planning for branding and public program content
• Writes, executes and pitches stories to local directories and reporters, including building long term relationships with media outlets
• Participates in school and university-wide initiatives with cross-functional teams to establish Shepherd School as a consistently top-ranked school of music
• Performs all other duties assigned

Additional Functions and Responsibilities

• Supervises the Content Developer/Marketing Assistant to create and steward content such as a “Day in the Life” series of videos, faculty profiles, student spotlight stories, and alumni stories (working with Video/Photography specialists)
• Responsible for overseeing all external communications and printed materials, including all public events
• Responsible for growing international recognition and awareness, including tracking national rankings
• Builds and maintains the school's merchandise and printed materials in compliance with the school’s branding guidelines
• Generates press and media releases for key initiatives and news-worthy events, working closely with Rice Public Affairs
• Promotes specific projects, campaigns and development initiatives, cross-disciplinary programs at Rice and news related to the mission of the school as well as maintain and promotes alumni success stories
• Responsible for growing community awareness and increasing ticket revenue

Position Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree, preferably in Marketing and/or Communications
• 5 years experience in arts and/or cultural marketing

Skills Required

• Must be fluent with Tessitura Ticketing Software
• Familiarity with classical music programmatic repertoire and best practices for building classical music audiences
• Excellent critical thinking, interpersonal, communication, time-management and problem-solving skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; experience and familiarity with the classical music field
• Innovation and creativity to create brand new strategies appropriate to multiple constituencies
• Ability to lead groups and be decisive
• Collaborative skills to accept and incorporate ideas into strategies
• Time management and project organization skills critical in order to meet strict deadlines
• Ability to recognize trends and stay ahead of them
• Proficient with analysis and design software

The Shepherd School of Music
https:// music.rice.edu

Rice University HR / Benefits website
https://knowledgecafe.rice.edu/benefits

Rice University is an Equal Opportunity Employer with commitment to diversity at all levels, and considers for employment qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, genetic information, disability or protected veteran status.

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