Associate Vice President of Communications
University of Oklahoma
Norman, OK - United States
The University of Oklahoma seeks an Associate Vice President of Communications (AVP), the second-most senior leadership position within the university’s integrated marketing and communications department, to lead a sophisticated and comprehensive media, publications, and digital communications agenda that has a dynamic, refreshed energy.
The University of Oklahoma was created by the Oklahoma Territorial Legislature in 1890 and is recognized as the state’s flagship university. A doctoral degree granting research university serving the educational, cultural, economic, and healthcare needs of the state, region, and nation. OU enrolls almost 27,000 domestic and international students from 120 countries, has more than 2,800 full-time faculty, and offers 170 degree options at more than 21 colleges.
This is a wonderful time to join an organization in growth-mode as Vice President Jennifer Hollingshead assesses the university’s current and future needs. The associate vice president will work closely with the vice president to ensure that all plans for the division are aligned with the university’s strategic plan and that an organizational strategy is set to build a team of talented individuals that will meet the current and future workforce needs.
The AVP will also work closely with university partners such as advancement, athletics, and enrollment management to mitigate risk and provide counsel related to communication strategy within their agendas. The AVP must have demonstrable experience addressing crises and reputational risk management experience. The AVP must be a savvy communicator both personally and in promoting the university, its executives, and scholars on the national and international stage as thought leaders in higher education, as well as other industries as appropriate.
The AVP will be a collaborative, visionary leader and unafraid to fail in the name of bold new ideas. This inaugural leader will support the vice president in creating a consolidated division of creative communications professionals all eager to serve the university with energy, high-quality, and being customer centric. The AVP and their team will address instances of reputation management – both positive and of concern – by proactively and reactively telling the OU story via multiple media channels, ensuring that those messages reach the broadest and most diverse audiences with unique messaging per audience segment. To this end, the AVP will understand higher education consumer marketing and the motivational factors among unique consumers and influencers of higher education. This will extend to a deep understanding of the higher education landscape—both local and global scale.
The AVP will be expected to collaborate, advise, and input across skills sets. They will be sought after for their counsel and will help strategize with the colleges, schools, and units in supporting their unique messaging and marketing needs. The ideal candidate is an excellent writer and can also motivate and elevate a high standard of excellence across all university communications. Above all, a collaborative spirit, humility, nimbleness, and resourcefulness will be essential for success.
A minimum of 10 years professional experience and a bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, or a similar field is required.
All applications, nominations, and inquiries are invited. Applications should include, as separate documents, a resume and a letter of interest addressing the themes in the profile, available below.
WittKieffer is assisting the University of Oklahoma in this search.
Application materials should be submitted using WittKieffer’s candidate portal, via the buttons below.
Nominations and inquiries can be directed to: