Senior Associate Vice President for Strategic Marketing and Communications

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) welcomes applications and nominations for the position of Senior Associate Vice President for Strategic Marketing & Communications (SAVP). The university's next leader of marketing and communications will join Cal Poly Pomona at an exciting time, as a new president - Vanya Quiñones - takes office and brings new energy and vision to an already dynamic campus. The SAVP also has the opportunity to draw on the recent external assessment of marketing and communications resources and services in coming up to speed on current state and developing their vision for CPP's priorities going forward.

Position Summary

The SAVP serves as the university's chief communications leader and brand strategist with responsibility for overall communications, marketing and branding activity for Cal Poly Pomona across all media platforms. The SAVP ensures a clear, consistent and coordinated brand narrative that advances Cal Poly Pomona's mission of student success and polytechnic excellence to the campus community and external audiences. The SAVP leads the development and implementation of Cal Poly Pomona's brand vision, marketing strategy and public relations campaigns to attract students, engage alumni and donors, recruit high quality faculty and staff, and demonstrate Cal Poly Pomona's impact in the region, state and nationally. The SAVP serves as the university spokesperson.

In addition to leading the University's central team of marketing and communications professionals, the SAVP provides strategic direction and coordinates marketing and communications produced by other academic and administrative units across the university as well as by three auxiliary organizations: Cal Poly Pomona Enterprises , which manages housing, dining, transportation and parking, and real estate; Associated Students, Incorporated , which houses student government, recreation and fitness, the Bronco Student Center, and other student-facing services; and the Cal Poly Pomona Philanthropic Foundation .

As a senior staff leader of one of the 22 campuses of the California State University System, the SAVP and their team coordinate periodically with counterparts in the CSU Office of the Chancellor . The Office of the Chancellor provides support services to the campus while also serving as the campuses' representative to the California legislature and to the California State University's Board of Trustees.

As it awaits its new president, Cal Poly Pomona has continued to focus on strategic directions captured in a transitional extension of its prior plan. The 2025 strategic plan published for the Cal State system, CSU Forward , also serves as a framework for planning and priorities at each campus. It enables the campuses a degree of latitude in allocating resources to the overall university goals of access, excellence, and innovation - all in service of student success. An important part of the SAVP's leadership is to communicate how CPP aligns with and advances the overall mission of the Cal State system.

Opportunities and Priorities

Strategic Brand Leadership : Define and evolve the university's brand identity and messaging architecture. Develop and execute comprehensive marketing campaigns aligned with the university's mission and strategic goals. This includes overseeing brand consistency across all visual, digital, and print platforms.

Stakeholder Collaboration : Partner with communicators distributed across and embedded in the Colleges, Enrollment Management, Outreach, Recruitment and Educational Partnerships, University Advancement and Student Affairs to align brand strategy with recruitment goals and fundraising initiatives and key communications deliverables. Develop effective and credible working relationships with senior leaders and campus communicators.

Drive Reputation, Market Position, and Awareness : Lead institutional reputation strategy for industry and higher-ed leaders, prospective students and external stakeholders through integrated marketing communications campaigns that position CPP as a regional, state and national leader in polytechnic excellence through coordinated and ongoing integrated marketing/communications campaigns inclusive of all owned, earned, and paid efforts.

Crisis Communications and Issues Management : Serve as the official university spokesperson and primary advisor to senior leadership on public affairs. Advises the President and Cabinet on reputational risk and opportunity. Oversee proactive and reactive media relations to enhance the university's regional and national earned media coverage. Oversee and enhance crisis communications protocols.

Internal and Executive Communications and Change Management : Lead internal and executive communications strategies and drives organizational transformation to unify and elevate marketing and communications practices across a decentralized academic environment.

Content & Digital Strategy : Manage the production of high-impact, brand-aligned multimedia content, including university magazines, social media accounts, and the official website.

Team & Budget Leadership : Supervise a diverse team of communications marketing professionals while managing departmental budgets and external vendor relationships. Lead a service-oriented team environment that fosters collaboration, operational excellence, teamwork, flexibility and creativity.

Integrated Marketing Operations : Lead the content strategy and production through cross-functional teams in digital strategy, creative services, and editorial production.

Performance Analytics : Implement a data-informed culture by tracking performance outcomes, brand awareness metrics and marketing ROI to inform planning.

Competencies and Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in marketing, communications public relations or related field or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• Minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible related experience in complex marketing and communications environments.
• Demonstrated experience in crisis management and service as institutional spokesperson.
• Strong record of effectively leading diverse, creative and professional teams.
• Demonstrated commitment to and understanding of diverse academic and socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Advanced proficiency in strategic storytelling across print, digital and social platforms.
• The ability to lead through influence as well as through positional authority in a complex, multi-constituent environment.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's Degree or MBA with a concentration in marketing or related discipline.
• Management level experience in higher education.
• Familiarity with higher education CRM systems, web content management systems and data analytics tools for measuring campaign effectiveness.
• Contextual understanding of legislative affairs and public policy and the significance of communicating the university's value to the state and government officials.
• Commitment to student success, equity and inclusive excellence.
• Proven success in partnering with university advancement or development teams to support major capital campaigns.

To Apply

Cal Poly Pomona has retained Opus Partners to support this recruitment. Craig Smith , Managing Partner, and Abigail Maynard , Managing Associate, are leading the search. Confidential inquiries and nominations should be sent to Abigail Maynard at [email protected] . Applicants must submit an application with Opus and the CPP careers site for full consideration.

The salary for this position will be $219,000 to $230,004. More information is available at: https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/careers/benefits/Documents/employee-benefits-summary.pdf If you need medical or disability related accommodations with the pre-employment processes (applications, interviews, etc.), please contact the ADA Coordinator by email at [email protected] .