Marketing & Communications Manager

Marketing & Communications Manager Position Statement

Reports To: Director of Enrollment & Marketing Communications 

FLSA Status:  Non-Exempt

Department:  Advancement

Division: Marketing Communications

Contract: 12 Months

Learn More About The Alexander Dawson School

Shared Values & Competencies of Dawson Employees

Position Summary
The Marketing & Communications Manager leads the planning, coordination, and day-to-day execution of Dawson’s marketing and communications initiatives. This role ensures that the School’s story is communicated clearly, consistently, and effectively across internal and external channels. Working closely with the Director of Enrollment & Marketing Communications, the Manager translates institutional priorities and strategic messaging into structured communications plans, editorial calendars, and coordinated campaigns. The role is responsible for managing the production of major communications initiatives, guiding the development of content and publications, and ensuring that communications workflows support both quality and sustainability. Through thoughtful planning, editorial leadership, and collaboration across departments, the Marketing & Communications Manager helps ensure that Dawson’s communications strengthen enrollment efforts, support community engagement, and reflect the School’s Mission and Core Values. 

This role is accountable for delivering:

• A workable annual communications plan and editorial calendar

• Strong coordination of school-wide communications

• More reliable execution across website, social, email, and publications

• Strong first drafts and production systems for institutional communications

• Better workflow management, reduced last-minute scrambling, and clearer task distribution

Essential Functions
The essential duties and responsibilities of this position include, but are not limited to:

Professional Work Habits & Mission Alignment 

• Professional Standards & Conduct: Consistently upholds professional standards of personal presentation, punctuality, attendance, and engagement at meetings, duty coverage, safety protocols, decision-making, and maintains required credentials.

• Commitment to Dawson Culture: Demonstrates a comprehensive understanding and support of Dawson's mission, vision, core values, and diversity statement; actively participates in school-wide events.

• Confidentiality & Ethical Practice: Honors confidentiality of school, student, and family information and demonstrates ethical decision-making in all professional contexts. Talks to people and not about people.

• Working Agreements: Upholds Dawson working agreements, including assuming positive intentions in all interactions, placing student safety above all else, respecting the opinions and ideas of all team members, sharing new ideas, holding self and others accountable for the impact of words and actions, mindfully sharing the air, and proactively seeking solutions before problems escalate.

Knowledge & Expertise

• Communications Planning & Workflow Management

  • Lead the annual communications planning process for campaigns, content priorities, and key deliverables

  • Maintain and enforce an institution-wide communications calendar

  • Build workflows, intake systems, and briefing processes for communications requests

  • Anticipate seasonal demand and allocate production capacity accordingly

  • Help create a more sustainable rhythm for school-wide communications

• Brand Stewardship & Message Development

  • Translate Dawson’s strategic priorities into clear communications plans and content direction.

  • Develop first drafts, messaging frameworks, and content angles for campaigns and major initiatives.

  • Help maintain brand consistency across channels in partnership with the Director.

  • Bring major messaging and high-impact communications to the Director for final review and approval

  • Support the continued development of stronger messaging standards across the School

• Internal Communications Coordination

  • Coordinate school-wide communications, including the weekly bulletin and broad constituent messaging.

  • Establish standards for tone, clarity, and frequency across divisional and program communications.

  • Sequence and organize communications so messages are better aligned and less duplicative.

  • Partner with school leaders to improve coherence across internal communications.

  • Draft or shape broad communications, while recognizing that certain high-stakes pieces may still require heavier Director involvement during the transition period.

• Editorial Direction & Publications Management

  • Serve as the operational lead for major publications and recurring communications pieces - coordinating their planning, drafting, editing, and assembly

  • Edit publications for clarity, voice, and structure.

  • Assign pieces, collect assets, manage timelines, and oversee production workflows.

    • Note: The Director of Enrollment & Marketing Communications serves as editorial steward for the School’s major publications, ensuring alignment with Dawson’s voice, standards, and institutional messaging.
      
      

• Website & Channel Oversight

  • Lead website content planning and content priorities

  • Prioritize and direct website updates in Finalsite

  • Oversee social media strategy, with execution delegated where appropriate

  • Coordinate email, web, and digital content production in line with the larger communications plan

  • Identify content gaps and opportunities to strengthen Dawson’s story across channels

  • Lead the planning and development of podcast content aligned with Dawson’s storytelling priorities

  • Oversee the development of blog content for approval
    
    

• Team, Vendor & Production Management

  • Assign production tasks and provide day-to-day feedback

  • Manage external vendors such as designers, photographers, printers, and freelancers

  • Recommend where outside support is needed for design or specialized production work

  • Help ensure public-facing work reaches an appropriate quality standard before release
    
    

• Measurement & Improvement

  • Track a focused set of communications and engagement indicators

  • Review performance and workflow effectiveness quarterly

  • Recommend process improvements, delegation changes, or support needs based on results and capacity

Professional Growth & Self-Awareness

• Self-Reflection & Growth Mindset: Demonstrates deep self-awareness, consistently seeks feedback, identifies areas for improvement, and implements meaningful changes to practice.

• Professional Learning & Adaptation: Creates personal development plans, actively seeks learning opportunities, and demonstrates flexibility in adapting to Dawson's culture and practices.

• Effective Communication & Listening: Demonstrates excellent listening skills, remains alert to diverse perspectives, and communicates effectively with various stakeholders throughout change processes.

Care for Others & Community Investment 

• Family Communication & Partnership: Establishes reliable, clear communication systems with families, regularly shares student progress, and responds appropriately to concerns with supervisor consultation.

• Team Collaboration & Engagement: Actively participates in team meetings and collaborative efforts, contributes positively to department teams, and seeks appropriate guidance from colleagues.

• Learns From Others: Consistently consults with mentors, supervisors, and colleagues for guidance on student interventions, parent communication, and community challenges.

• Identity Awareness: Demonstrates a commitment to ongoing cultural competence and a deep understanding of how identity and lived experiences shape relationships and interactions.

Qualifications, Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree (B.A.) from a four-year college or university

• Three (3) years of program coordination/administrative management experience

• Computer Skills – To perform this job successfully, an individual should have advanced skills in Google Docs, Forms, and Sheets, as well as Microsoft Word and Excel for Apple or comparable software

• Language Ability – Ability to write routine reports and correspondence. Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers or employees, or an organization

• Reasoning Ability – Ability to solve practical problems. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form

Work Environment

• The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

Physical Demands

• The physical demands described here are representative of those required to perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand and walk; use hands to handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.