Director​/Marketing​/Innovation & Online

Position Summary

The director of marketing for CMU’s Innovation and Online unit leads integrated and comprehensive marketing efforts to increase market share and drive prospective student engagement, application growth, and enrollment for CMU’s online degree programs. This role is responsible for developing, managing, and executing a strategic, data‑informed marketing strategy in collaboration with university partners; in particular, University Marketing and Communications, with the ultimate goal of achieving enrollment growth targets for online programs.

This individual will work in partnership with University Marketing and Communication on all aspects of the marketing lifecycle, from brand positioning and lead generation to conversion and student retention for CMU Online. The director will lead a team of marketing professionals, manage budgets, and collaborate with internal stakeholders to ensure the marketing strategy aligns with the broader institutional goals, brand standards, and institutional brand positioning.

Position Number: S-3819

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, or a related business field.
• Five years of progressively responsible experience in marketing.
• Demonstrated experience managing and optimizing a budget across multiple teams and goals.
• Demonstrated experience managing vendor relationships and working across multiple channels and audiences.
• Demonstrated understanding of funnel‑based marketing and conversion‑focused content strategy.
• In‑depth knowledge and hands‑on experience with digital marketing platforms, marketing automation (e.g., CRMs like Slate), analytics tools, and web content management systems (CMS).
• Demonstrated collaborative mindset, with a proven ability to be a creative, and analytical thinker who can adapt quickly to evolving market trends.
• Familiarity with email drip campaigns, lead nurturing workflows, and campaign reporting metrics.
• Demonstrated understanding and ability to use market research, competitive analysis, and consumer trends to identify new opportunities.
• Knowledge in managing digital presence, including website content strategy, SEO/SEM, paid and organic search, social media platforms, and email marketing campaigns.
• Demonstrated understanding of integrated marketing strategies and approaches that leverage and maximize paid digital spend.
• Deep understanding of marketing analytics and campaign optimization.
• Ability to perform the essential functions of the position, with or without reasonable accommodation.

• Master’s degree in marketing, business administration, communications, or a related field.
• Seven years of progressive experience in marketing, with at least five years in a leadership role focused on enrollment or digital education marketing.
• Experience in higher education and/or the online learning industry.
• Proven track record of developing and executing successful, data‑driven marketing campaigns that drive enrollment or sales growth.
• Exceptional leadership and team management skills, with the ability to inspire and guide a team of marketing professionals.

• Develops and implements multi‑year strategic marketing plans to increase market share and enrollment in CMU Online programs.
• Collaborates regularly with University Communications to ensure strategic alignment and brand consistency across all marketing activities.
• Guides all digital marketing efforts, including paid search (PPC), search engine optimization (SEO), paid social media campaigns, and email marketing. This includes optimizing campaign performance to maximize ROI.
• Manages media partner relationships and works to ensure strategic alignment persists through each execution.
• Serves as the main point of contact between media vendor(s) and University Communications to avoid advertisement collision, self‑competition, and otherwise mitigate additional factors that could otherwise negatively affect ROI.
• Collaborates with CMU Online stakeholders to integrate marketing efforts that support student success from inquiry to graduation.
• Collaborates with key university partners to define enrollment targets, analyze market trends…