Description

The Chief Marketing Officer/Vice President for Marketing and Brand Strategy is a senior council/cabinet-level position reporting directly to the President. The CMO serves as the institution’s senior-most leader responsible for market positioning, demand generation, and brand-driven growth. This cabinet-level role drives the development and execution of an integrated marketing strategy that advances enrollment, strengthens institutional reputation, and supports long-term strategic growth across the Columbia College system.
 
The CMO collaborates closely with other senior council/cabinet members to ensure consistency in institutional messaging across all audiences and channels.[1] The position is responsible for the integrated marketing function and provides strategic marketing counsel to the President and cabinet.
 
The CMO supervises marketing staff, manages agency and vendor relationships, and oversees the marketing budget. The position has institution-wide scope and is expected to function as a senior leader across enrollment, advancement, academic, and executive communications contexts.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Brand Leadership

• Hold institutional accountability for the Columbia College brand, including brand architecture, visual identity, and market positioning across all audiences and channels.
• Develop and execute a comprehensive marketing and brand strategy aligned with institutional priorities, in coordination with the Chief Strategic Communication Officer to ensure consistency between market positioning and institutional voice.
• Own and maintain brand standards, identity systems, and guidelines that inform the work of marketing, communications, and institutional partners across all functions.
• Track brand health, market perception, and competitive positioning through research and analysis, sharing findings with the CSCO and cabinet to inform both marketing strategy and institutional communications.
• Advise the President and cabinet on the brand and market implications of strategic decisions, including new program development, naming opportunities, and institutional partnerships.
• Define brand voice and content standards that inform marketing materials and paid channels; partner with the CSCO to ensure those standards are applied consistently across institutional communications.
• Represent Columbia College in external marketing, business, and community contexts as appropriate, in coordination with the CSCO on matters involving institutional communications or public affairs.

Strategic Growth & Market Expansion

• Partner with the President, Provost, and cabinet to inform program development, pricing strategies, and new market opportunities based on market demand and competitive analysis.
• Provide market-informed guidance on strategic partnerships, new academic offerings, and geographic or modality expansion opportunities.

   
Enrollment Marketing

• Hold primary accountability for enrollment marketing strategy across undergraduate, graduate, adult, and online pipelines, partnering with Enrollment Management on goals, audience targeting, and campaign priorities.
• Own the institution’s value proposition for prospective students, including audience segmentation, messaging frameworks, and the paid and digital campaign portfolio that supports recruitment goals.
• Collaborate with the CSCO to ensure enrollment marketing content and prospective student communications reflect a consistent institutional voice and brand standards.
• Use campaign data and market analytics to evaluate performance, inform resource allocation, and report enrollment marketing outcomes to the President and cabinet.
    

Digital Strategy and Marketing Technology

• Lead the institution’s evolution toward an AI-enabled marketing ecosystem, including predictive analytics, personalization, and generative search optimization (AEO/GEO), ensuring Columbia College remains competitive in a rapidly shifting digital landscape
• Hold accountability for the institution’s digital marketing strategy, including paid advertising, SEO/SEM, social media marketing, and the website as a marketing and conversion platform, coordinating with the CSCO on content and editorial standards.
• Own the selection, implementation, and optimization of marketing technology platforms, including the CMS, analytics tools, and personalization systems. In select functional areas (e.g., Enrollment Management, Advancement, Athletics, etc.), CRM and related platform administration and data governance remain with the respective functional VP; the CMO owns the marketing strategy, campaign logic, audience segmentation, and messaging executed within those systems.
• Collaborate with the Enrollment Management, Advancement, and Athletics leadership to ensure marketing campaign data flows effectively across platforms, supporting both marketing performance reporting and operational needs within each function’s CRM.
• Own content strategy and production for paid and owned marketing channels, including digital advertising, landing pages, and campaign assets; editorial content, publications, and institutional communications remain the responsibility of the CSCO.

Market Research and Competitive Intelligence

• Own the institution’s market research function, generating and applying insights on audience behavior, competitor positioning, regional trends, and program demand.
• Translate market intelligence into strategic recommendations for the President and cabinet, and share relevant findings with the CSCO to inform public-facing communications and institutional messaging.
• Use audience data and market evidence to ground institutional storytelling decisions, in partnership with the CSCO and cabinet colleagues.

Advancement and Campaign Marketing Support

• Hold accountability for advancement marketing strategy, including campaign marketing for major gift initiatives, Giving Day, and fundraising priorities, in partnership with advancement leadership.
• Provide marketing support for new facilities and naming opportunity concepts.
• Support donor communications, alumni engagement, and community partnership outreach with cohesive, on-brand messaging.

Team Leadership and Resource Management

• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing marketing team, building a culture of creativity, accountability, data fluency, and continuous improvement.
• Establish clear performance metrics, professional development pathways, and succession planning across the marketing function.
• Develop, manage, and strategically allocate the marketing budget to maximize visibility, enrollment impact, and return on investment.
• Oversee relationships with external agency partners, vendors, and creative consultants.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, public relations, or a related field; graduate degree in the preceding or adjacent fields preferred.
• Seven or more years of progressive leadership experience in marketing, with at least three years in a senior or executive marketing role preferred.
• Demonstrated success in brand strategy, enrollment marketing, and integrated digital marketing.
• Proven ability to lead and develop high-performing teams in a complex, mission-driven environment.
• Strong expertise in digital marketing, marketing analytics, CRM integration, and marketing technology platforms.
• Excellent communication skills across verbal, written, and presentation contexts.
• Collaborative leadership style with the ability to work across a cabinet and diverse institutional stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in higher education marketing, with familiarity with the modern learner landscape and enrollment trends.
• Demonstrated success leading marketing during institutional change, transformation, or growth periods.
• Experience with AI-assisted marketing tools and emerging generative search optimization strategies.
• Familiarity with small private college contexts and the competitive dynamics of regional higher education markets.
• Experience supporting or collaborating on fundraising and advancement campaigns.