Director of Marketing and Communications — Franklin University Switzerland
NewCHF 75'500 - 133'000
Franklin University Switzerland · Sorengo (TI)
- Location
- Sorengo
- Contract
- full-time
- Posted
- Yesterday
SalaryCHF 75'500 - 133'000
Role overview
About the job The Opportunity Franklin Switzerland is seeking an accomplished, hands-on marketing and communications leader for an exceptional opportunity to define and drive Franklin's brand and growth at a pivotal moment.
Reporting directly to the President, the Director will work in close partnership with the Vice President of Enrollment Management and the Director of Advancement and Alumni to build an integrated marketing function and advance Franklin’s Strategic Plan.
This is both a strategic and a building role.
- About the job The Opportunity Franklin Switzerland is seeking an accomplished, hands-on marketing and communications leader for an exceptional opportunity to define and drive Franklin's brand and growth at a pivotal moment.
- Reporting directly to the President, the Director will work in close partnership with the Vice President of Enrollment Management and the Director of Advancement and Alumni to build an integrated marketing function and advance Franklin’s Strategic Plan.
- Strategy & Leadership
- Lead and implement an integrated, full-funnel marketing and communications strategy spanning brand and performance in service of student recruitment, institutional reputation, and alumni and donor engagement.
- Experience — a minimum of 10 years of progressive professional experience in marketing, communications, or advertising, including at least three to five years in a leadership or team-management capacity.
- Full-funnel track record — demonstrated experience designing and running integrated campaigns that span brand building and performance / demand generation, with evidence of moving audiences from awareness through to conversion.
Main responsibilities
- Strategy & Leadership
- Lead and implement an integrated, full-funnel marketing and communications strategy spanning brand and performance in service of student recruitment, institutional reputation, and alumni and donor engagement.
- Build, lead, develop, and inspire the marketing team, establishing an operating model that blends focused internal staff with well-managed external agencies and specialist vendors. Brand & Communications
- Champion Franklin Switzerland as the primary brand ambassador; define, document, and protect a clear and distinctive brand voice and positioning, applied consistently across every audience and channel.
- Provide editorial direction and oversee the design, production, and distribution of all marketing and communications materials, working in close collaboration with relevant colleagues, and ensure the highest level of professionalism in all written communication that represents Franklin’s voice.
- Stimulate and coordinate media interest in Franklin through press releases, media responses, and targeted media contacts, and provide expertise and advice to campus leadership on internal and external public-relations matters.
- Ensure stories featuring students, alumni, faculty, and staff are routinely shared internally and externally, and establish and maintain an up-to-date campus events calendar that uses the website homepage and social media to promote Franklin’s vibrant campus life. Performance & Growth
- Build and own Franklin’s performance-marketing infrastructure: the CRM and marketing-automation platform, paid acquisition, lead nurturing, conversion-optimized landing pages, and the prospective-student journey from first touch to enrolled student.
- Oversee Franklin’s digital marketing efforts, including website strategy and design, brand alignment, maintenance, accessibility, search engine optimization, and overall efficacy.
- Partner closely with Enrollment Management to optimize the recruitment funnel, and with Advancement and Alumni to deepen alumni engagement and donor relationships, creating loyalty, advocacy, and lifelong connection to Franklin.
Key requirements
- Experience — a minimum of 10 years of progressive professional experience in marketing, communications, or advertising, including at least three to five years in a leadership or team-management capacity.
- Full-funnel track record — demonstrated experience designing and running integrated campaigns that span brand building and performance / demand generation, with evidence of moving audiences from awareness through to conversion.
- Modern marketing stack — hands-on fluency with CRM and marketing-automation tools (e.g., HubSpot or equivalent), paid media, Google Analytics, SEO, content-management systems, and conversion optimization.
- Knowledge of Slate and Drupal helpful.
- Agency and vendor leadership — proven experience building and managing external agencies and specialist vendors while operating effectively with a lean internal team.
- Languages — excellent written and oral communication skills in English (C1 required) and Italian (C1 preferred).
Application process
- Performance marketing — building the demand-generation infrastructure — CRM and marketing automation, paid acquisition, lead nurturing, and conversion-optimized web experiences — that turns awareness into inquiries, applications, enrolled students, and engaged donors.
- Success is measured in cost per inquiry, application conversion, yield, and return on ad spend.
- The ideal candidate has run integrated campaigns where brand storytelling feeds the acquisition funnel and performance data informs the editorial calendar.
- A university education is a high-consideration, long-decision-cycle choice: families spend many months in research before they apply.
- Strong brand pre-sells Franklin so that paid acquisition works harder, while disciplined performance marketing ensures that interest converts.
- The Director is expected to protect both sets of metrics with equal rigor.
- Digital fundamentals — demonstrated experience with social media, web accessibility best practices, web content management, and web application testing.
- Higher education — A background in higher education marketing is a strong advantage — particularly experience promoting high-consideration offerings where thoughtful, long-cycle decision-making is the norm.
Contacts
- For further information, please see our website: https://www.fus.edu How to Apply For consideration by the search committee, candidates are asked to submit the following documents in PDF format at [email protected]: A current CV detailing relevant experience and publications;
- A letter of interest that addresses the key areas of this job description;
- information for three references, two of which must be former direct supervisors.
Additional details
- Responsibilities Strategy & Leadership
- Build, lead, develop, and inspire the marketing team, establishing an operating model that blends focused internal staff with well-managed external agencies and specialist vendors. Brand & Communications
- Ensure stories featuring students, alumni, faculty, and staff are routinely shared internally and externally, and establish and maintain an up-to-date campus events calendar that uses the website homepage and social media to promote Franklin’s vibrant campus life. Performance & Growth
- Oversee market research, working with outside vendors as needed. Operations & Stewardship
- Actively participate in campus life to maintain a deep awareness of the Franklin story as it continues to evolve, and represent Franklin through participation in regular meetings of system-wide communicators.
- Familiarity with both the Swiss and U.S. media environments, including experience developing media relationships and navigating communications strategies across both markets (preferred). Key Competencies for Franklin Leaders Leading and inspiring Fostering uniqueness
- For further information, please see our website: https://www.fus.edu How to Apply For consideration by the search committee, candidates are asked to submit the following documents in PDF format at [email protected]: A current CV detailing relevant experience and publications;
- Contact information for three references, two of which must be former direct supervisors.
Notes and original content
- Build, lead, develop, and inspire the marketing team, establishing an operating model that blends focused internal staff with well-managed external agencies and specialist vendors.
- Brand & Communications
- Ensure stories featuring students, alumni, faculty, and staff are routinely shared internally and externally, and establish and maintain an up-to-date campus events calendar that uses the website homepage and social media to promote Franklin’s vibrant campus life.
- Performance & Growth
- Oversee market research, working with outside vendors as needed.
- Operations & Stewardship
- Experience and
- Qualifications
- Familiarity with both the Swiss and U.S. media environments, including experience developing media relationships and navigating communications strategies across both markets (preferred).
- Key Competencies for Franklin Leaders
