Great Oaks Legacy Charter School (GOLCS) in Newark is seeking a Managing Director of Marketing, Communications, & External Affairs to drive GOLCS brand stewardship and management in support of network-wide staff and student recruitment imperatives as well as media and advocacy goals. In collaboration with the Chief Strategy Officer, the Managing Director of Marketing, Communications, & External Affairs will create the Marketing and Communications strategy including content creation, digital platforms, and social media with collaborative support from associated GOLCS network staff. The Network Director of Marketing, Communications, and External Affairs will report directly to the Chief Strategy Officer.
The successful candidate will have the vision to bring to life the stories of our students, families, teachers, and staff. This individual will be laser-focused on elevating our brand recognition as a top-performing charter school in the Greater Newark, and larger NJ community, and bring together our school community to amplify our brand. This role is based in Newark, New Jersey and will require travel to our schools in the great Newark area. Cadence and frequency of travel to schools is determined by your leadership team. Due to the nature of the department’s work, this position may require time outside of general working hours, including, but not limited to, media coverage, social media management, and/or communications distribution.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Communications Strategy
- Create and execute the GOLCS marketing and communications strategy for student recruitment, staff recruitment, internal communications, and public relations efforts in collaboration with the Chief Strategy Officer and network leadership
- Curate, maintain, and implement the annual marketing and communications calendar with associated goals to drive success.
- Lead and support cross functional project leadership and management across departments; operate as central intake for all Marketing requests.
- Provide expertise on marketing and communications strategies, messaging, and branding, including thought partnership with leadership in annual planning, campaign ideation and marketing asset needs.
- Lead the support of press inquiries with writing, data collection, media prep and coordination of logistics.
Content Creation
- Oversee media strategy from campuses and network events to support the development and amplification of stories about the GOLCS school community.
- Ensure the creation of brand-aligned materials for social media campaigns, staff and student recruitment, and network-related projects.
- Design and write internal and external email newsletters and measure the effectiveness of messaging.
- Produce and edit video and photo content (and/or manage outside vendors)
Digital Management
- Oversee paid digital marketing strategies, plans and execution.
- Manage GOLCS website and social media through planning, creating, posting, and measuring engaging content daily on our platforms (IG, FB, LinkedIn, and YouTube), as well as interactions with user comments.
- Devise and execute social media campaigns that expand the GOLCS audience and deepen engagement with the school community and supporters.
- Act a strategic advisor regarding the management of individual campus social media accounts.
- Manage vendors and contractors to deliver against SOWs, including briefings, status reviews, tracking, and feedback.
Brand Stewardship
- Define and articulate GOLCS’s brand as a high-performing charter management organization and network of schools.
- Manage organization of centralized repository for marketing assets and materials, and deliver trainings for network and campus staff to ensure brand-alignment.
- Manage GOLCS logos, colors, templates, and fonts for use in internal and external communication.
- Develop and maintain annual planning for External Affairs and the customization of a data dashboard for progress-monitoring, sharing performance analyses routinely with organizational leadership.
Strategic Engagement
- Strengthen relationships with and communicate our brand and key messages effectively and consistently to key stakeholders across GOLCS, our existing and potential partners, recruits and potential teacher candidates, elected officials, community leaders, district educator partners, other influencers, and the general public
- Embrace and implement GOLCS’s commitment to DEI, ensuring that our external strategy and functions are informed by and support the success of our multi-year plan to strengthen diversity, equity and inclusion.
- Support GOLCS leaders and team members with communication and tools to serve as effective messengers and ambassadors for our organization.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's Degree required, Master’s Degree preferred in functional expertise area(s)
- Minimum 7 years of experience, with 3+ years of senior experience managing multiple complex projects simultaneously in internal/external agency or client service environment
- Functional Expertise Areas:
- Demonstrated experience with creative design, including software such as Canva
- Demonstrated experience with media production, including video and photo editing
- Expertise in social media account management, strategy and marketing, including Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube
- Experience with analytics programs and digital newsletters, including WordPress, Google Analytics, and MailChimp
- Excellent creative writing skills for marketing materials and communications, including pitch decks, social media posts, and internal emails.
- High sense of urgency; demonstrated ability to successfully handle multiple projects concurrently
The Managing Director of Marketing, Communications, External Affairs must:
- Be flexible and ready to roll up their sleeves to complete the hard work at hand.
- Strongly believe every student has the ability to succeed and remain data driven to inform actionable steps.
- Be relentlessly committed to the mission of preparing every student for college and post-secondary success.
- Possess strong entrepreneurial and team skills.
- Possess the strong ability to be self-reflective, willing to learn and receive/give constructive feedback.
- Have superb organizational, time-management, and self-management skills and be able to handle multiple responsibilities effectively; have strong planning and execution skills; be a goal-oriented and effective problem-solver.
Staff and Reporting Relationships
The Managing Director of Marketing, Communications, & External Affairs will report to the GOLCS Chief Strategy Officer, and will participate in campus and network activities. This role will supervise the GOLCS Manager of External Affairs.
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
Great Oaks Legacy Charter School offers competitive salaries commensurate with experience and a comprehensive benefits package, including:
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance plans w/ comprehensive network coverage.
- Tax exempt student loan and tuition reimbursement per year.*
- Reimbursement for external professional development aligned to your role.
- Wellness reimbursement benefit including gym memberships, spa services, and more.*
- Online counseling services - for staff and their dependents - via top-rated therapy app.*
- Pre-tax state pension plan benefit w/ addl. options available via voluntary retirement plans.
- Pre-tax dependent care, health, and transit flexible spending plans available.
- Convenient health screening and telemedicine support via VitalCheck Wellness platform.
ABOUT GREAT OAKS LEGACY CHARTER SCHOOL
Great Oaks Legacy Charter School (GOLCS) is a free, open-enrollment public charter school system in Newark, New Jersey, educating students from Pre-K to 12th grade. Our mission is to prepare every student for college success. GOLCS currently educates more than 2,100 students across seven campuses in the greater Newark area.
We provide all children with the support they need - inclusive of resources that acknowledge and address systemic inequities - to be empowered to thrive. We bridge the educational opportunity gap by supporting rigorous academics with daily individualized tutoring within a community committed to supporting equity and diversity.
These three principles guide our work, every day, in support of our students and mission:
- Creating a community that is built upon genuine and meaningful relationships;
- Being surgical in our approach to differentiation of instruction and support of all students and team members;
Setting and exceeding high expectations for academic growth and character development for all students, in preparation for success in college and beyond.
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, & ACCESSIBILITY
GOLCS is committed to building a talented team that reflects the diverse backgrounds and experiences of our students. Furthermore, we believe that racial justice and equity is critical to our mission of preparing students for success in college and beyond. We strive to be an organization that is diverse, equitable, inclusive, and elevates our student voices in preparing them for life and college.
GREAT OAKS LEGACY CHARTER SCHOOL VACCINATION POLICY
Great Oaks Legacy Charter School is committed to ensuring healthy and safe working and learning environments, and maintaining our educational commitment to GOLCS students and families - with minimal disruption to instruction. With this in mind, as of October 2021, Great Oaks Legacy requires vaccination against COVID-19 for all employees. Candidates who would like to apply for a reasonable accommodation from this policy based on a qualifying disability or sincerely held religious belief should reach out to HR@greatoakslegacy.org for more information.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYMENT
Great Oaks Legacy provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.