Director of Marketing & Communications

Company Description

La Scuola International School is the only Reggio Emilia inspired, International Baccalaureate (Early, Primary and Middle Years) and Italian Language Immersion school in the world. Teachers are researchers and are supported with robust Professional Development opportunities throughout the year. 

Learning is a part of everything that we do, not just what happens in the classroom. While our school experience is rooted in highly regarded curricula, the magic of La Scuola is more than what we teach. It is how we teach and learn, which is truly a way of living, thinking, and interacting with the world. To learn more, please visit us at www.lascuolasf.org. 

Founded: 2002

Number of students: 435

Locations: San Francisco and Silicon Valley

La Scuola International School is an independent non-profit school accredited by NAIS, CAIS, WASC and CIS and is one of two Italian schools recognized by the Italian government in the United States.

Job Description

La Scuola is seeking a Director of Marketing who will report to the Head of School, while working with members of the Leadership Team to design, direct and implement marketing and communications programs that support strategic goals. The Director of Marketing will drive efforts to build awareness of the school among prospective families to meet enrollment goals; ensure that brand guidelines and consistent messaging is used across all internal and external platforms; develop strategies to increase retention and parent satisfaction; and support cultivation and communication with donors and external networks. 

Key Responsibilities

• Rapidly acclimate to La Scuola’s community by learning the history, culture, and constituencies of the school;
• Develop and audit marketing and communications strategies and implementation;
• Collaborate closely with department heads in articulating their purpose and ongoing work; 
• Ensure brand and messaging quality and consistency across the organization;
• In collaboration with the Director of Admissions, develop and implement a strategic marketing plan to promote the school to prospective families and to support successful enrollment and re-enrollment of existing families;
• In collaboration with the Director of Advancement, design strategies and implement plans to increase visibility and clear branding of the school to drive increased philanthropy;
• Create and execute a public relations plan to support the school in local media and with potential partner organizations, especially in the Italian American community; 
• Plan and manage the department budget in order to maximize the effectiveness of all communications. This includes bidding out production of materials when appropriate to outside vendors and conducting analysis to change spend as needed; 
• Engage actively in professional development in order to remain current in best practices related to independent school communications, emerging social media, and effective marketing and advertising strategies;
• Support the school’s annual gala with marketing collateral, additional website pages, video, and any other special projects, as requested;
• Generate analytical reports regarding marketing campaigns to make ROI-based decisions on budget;  
• Manage production of new school videos that support strategic goals, and ensure they mirror brand values and messaging;
• Manage creation of digital and print collateral for the school (brochures, flyers), as well as support in creation and execution of interactive events and content for use by the school;
• Manage school branded merchandise production, inventory, and fulfillment;
• Report on strategic initiatives and results to the Board of Directors in collaboration with Head of School;
• Review current brand and messaging guidelines, and re-vamp/refresh as appropriate; 
• Review, revise, and update as necessary the school’s crisis communication plan;
• Manage all aspects of the school’s print and electronic communications, ensuring adherence to the school’s brand and design guidelines. Oversee the work of graphic designers and print vendors in production of printed materials and web visuals;
• Oversee website including, but not limited to: strategic development, creation of content,  updating sections and pages with relevant content regularly including event updates, management of SEO strategy and third party referral sites (Niche, Great Schools, Private School Review, Winnie, etc); 
• Oversee Communications Manager to create social media editorial calendar, including content creation, photo, video, blog posts, content derived from classrooms and blog for SEO;
• Collaborate with the Parents Association and Admissions office to coordinate communications and events for  prospective families and for orientation/onboarding of new families; 
• Create a donor communications vehicle (quarterly or bi-annual); 
• Collaborate with Advancement Director, Business Office, and CFO in production of the annual report; 
• Create annual La Rivista magazine, a retrospective of the past school year’s highlights;
• Work with the parent-led yearbook committee to ensure branding messaging and guidelines are followed;
• Any other projects, as needed.

Qualifications

Preferred Experience, Qualifications, and Attributes

• A BA/BS degree from an accredited college or university in a field related to marketing and communications;
• Five to seven years of leadership experience in marketing and communications, preferably in an independent school or other non-profit organization;
• Deep knowledge of marketing/communications with experience in brand, strategy and campaign design, managing to KPIs and using data to adapt and deliver results; 
• Highly organized, detail-oriented;
• Excellent communication and editing skills;
• Demonstrated success in managing multiple projects with shifting priorities and competing deadlines with a strong adherence to budgets and KPIs;
• Ability to create print materials using Photoshop, InDesign, or other software a plus;
• Highly competent in the use of Microsoft Office and Google Suite products;
• Fluent in all digital marketing mediums and content creation including Social Media;
• Comfort feeling uncomfortable, high degree of accountability; 
• Joyful attitude, likes change and a dynamic environment;
• Eager to learn new things and excited by new challenges;
• Strong work ethic, adaptability and solid team player.

Additional Information

Salary Range:  $100,000 - $120,000 annual salary, commensurate with experience and credentials.

Benefits & Compensation

Full time positions receive generous compensation and benefits package, including medical, vision and dental coverage. The school also offers an Employer-Matched Retirement Account (up to 5%), Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), Health Savings Account (HSA), Commuter Benefits, Group Life Insurance, Long-Term Disability Insurance, Employee Assistance Program, World Travel Assistance. Benefits may be available for employees who work between 20-29 hours per week with employees being responsible for 50% of the monthly premiums.

Other benefits include Personal Time Off, Paid Federal Holidays and School Closures, daily warm lunch while on site, Employee Referral Bonuses, Outstanding Professional Development and Mentorship throughout the year, Free Employee Childcare for students enrolled at La Scuola during Professional Development Days.

Additional Information

Candidates must be authorized to work in the U.S.  Prior to beginning work and as a condition of employment in order to comply with the law, all employees must provide documentation to prove eligibility to work in the United States.

Final candidates will need to pass both Criminal Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation Fingerprint Clearance and a physical exam, and provide a recent copy of a negative TB test and other immunization records.

How to Apply

Refer to the Employment Opportunities within and apply online. Please include a cover letter sharing your background and interest and your résumé (translated into English) as a first step. Applicants should be prepared to share three professional references and a teaching demonstration. 

As part of the interview process, you can expect to meet with our Human Resources team and Head of School as well as the Leadership Team.