Associate Vice President, Graduate and Professional Studies Posted: February 10, 2025 Position Code: 500

Position Description:

The Associate Vice President is responsible for leading and executing multi-channel marketing strategies to enhance awareness and drive enrollment in support of Merrimack College’s graduate and professional and continuing studies programs (GPCS) including PR, Brand, multi-channel programmatic marketing, enrollment nurturing communications/outreach and event promotion. Reporting to the VP of Business Development, the Associate Vice President will oversee marketing strategies and plans including executing and optimizing marketing campaigns, developing messaging and collateral, and creating new approaches to generate prospective students and to drive yield campaigns for applicant conversions in alignment with enrollment targets. This individual will collaborate with leadership across Merrimack’s academic areas and work closely with the Graduate enrollment teams on enrollment funnel strategies to align messages with audience needs and ensure consistency in the College’s brand and message. As a key leader on the Marketing team, this individual will also own data reporting on marketing and funnel for performance optimization and for sharing data with key stakeholders in support of communicating “how’s it going” to the organization.

Current Scope:

Graduate Degrees, integrated bachelor/masters programming (e.g. 3+2 programs), Bachelor Degree Completion, Certificates

Position Responsibilities:

GPCS Brand: Driving graduate brand definition and meaning, determining marketing mix between graduate brand and programmatic, developing and overseeing graduate branding campaigns, assessing performance. GPCS PR: Developing and executing PR strategy for GPCS including budgeting, campaign planning (both content and channel) and performance assessment in partnership with MC communications team. Programmatic Marketing:  Inquiry generation channel management (e.g. paid, affiliate, social, streaming): Set strategy across channels, develop and manage budgets across channels and programs, develop and manage content/campaigns, optimize performance, performance reporting. Content: Develop content plan and ongoing project prioritization and management of projects for on-time, on-budget delivery. Efforts include setting and manage content budgets, leading and manage design processes, review and approval of all content including but not limited to web content (e.g. program pages and stand-alone landing pages) one-pagers and flyers and social campaigns SEO: Develop and execute SEO strategy for graduate. Yield Campaign Management: Support GCPS Admissions by developing and executing yield campaigns via email, text and other mechanisms including but not limited to enrollment nurturing outreach by channel stage, event promotions, scholarship/special campaign promotions etc. to the application funnel. Event Marketing: Develop and execute outreach across multiple channels and provide reporting and operational improvement for event promotion and performance. Provide flawless set up and execution of event communications (e.g. web links). 5th year and Alumni GCPS Marketing: Develop and manage a multi-channel internal Double Warrior and Alumni marketing program including but not limited to RISE TVs, CORQ, posters, mailers, newsletters, web promotion/landing pages, and other communications approaches. Partner with undergraduate advising to promote and develop best practices. Marketing/Funnel Performance Data Reporting, Data Analysis: Develop and manage weekly and monthly reporting and provide insights as well as optimization plans based on data. Develop benchmarks and understanding of how programs are performing vs. benchmarks and history and progress toward goals. Always able to answer the question of “how’s it going” against the next enrollment start. Vendor Management: Management of external partner marketing activities including overseeing and approving all content, driving integrated management of partner-driven and internally-driven program marketing initiatives and drive unified campaigns and content. Department Management: Develop and manage marketing budget, foster collaboration and strong communication between department and key stakeholders internal and external. Market and Subject Matter Expertise: Stays current with industry best practices, emerging marketing technologies, and trends to reach targeted audiences. Has a deep understanding of the competitive offerings in all segments and how Merrimack’s programs stack up to key competitors.

Position Qualifications:

Bachelor’s and Graduate degree in marketing or communications field. 7-10 years of experience in marketing management, performance marketing, marketing strategy and/or marketing communications Experience working in a marketing agency and in higher education required; experience working at an OPM or fee-for-service higher education services company preferred Experience marketing online graduate higher education programs Demonstrated success in developing and executing lead generation marketing plans that leverage a range of media and variety of channels; SEO management experience Prior experience in supervising, leading and inspiring a marketing team; Extensive knowledge and proven experience with marketing technologies such as CRM and automation systems; Extensive knowledge of graduate higher education market landscape Curious to learn and keep abreast of competitors and market trends Ability to solve problems independently, seeks opportunities to take on responsibility, embraces challenges and effectively acts on ongoing and new initiatives;

 

Application Materials Should Include:

Resume Cover letter stating motivation and interest in the position, citing experience relevant to the qualifications and including experience with, and commitment to, our Catholic Augustinian mission and our values.

This position is subject to the successful completion of a criminal background check.

Vaccinations and Remote Work

This is an on-campus position as employees are essential in order to provide a fully on-campus, residential college experience for our students and the community.

The COVID-19 vaccine and booster for which an individual may be eligible are highly recommended for students, faculty and staff. Merrimack College does not require proof of COVID vaccination for enrollment, employment or to be a guest on our campus.

Statement on Our Mission

Merrimack College seeks candidates who understand, respect and can contribute to Merrimack’s Catholic and Augustinian mission and values.

About Merrimack College

The only Catholic, Augustinian institution of higher education in New England, Merrimack College is a private, independent, coeducational institution with more than 4,000 undergraduate and 1,700 graduate students from 43 states and 42 countries. The College features more than 160 career-focused undergraduate, professional and graduate programs, all taught by exceptional faculty who are passionate about their subject and student success. The College has five schools: arts and sciences, engineering and computational sciences, nursing and health sciences, education and social policy and the Girard school of business. The College’s suburban 220-acre campus is just north of Boston in North Andover, Massachusetts. Merrimack is a Master’s Colleges and Universities/Larger Programs (M1) institution in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Merrimack is one of the fastest growing educational institutions in the country and has steadily climbed up in the U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of Best Colleges, ranking 37th in the Regional Universities North category in 2025. Merrimack is a NCAA Division I athletic institution.

Merrimack College is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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