Director of Marketing & Community Engagement

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Position Overview

Grace Community School seeks a strategic, creative, and mission-driven Director of Marketing & Community Engagement to lead the school’s efforts in inquiry generation, storytelling, and brand stewardship. Reporting directly to the Head of School, the Director will oversee all aspects of marketing, communications, and public relations while maintaining a close working relationship with the Admissions and Development teams.

This leader will be responsible for advancing the Grace brand across every channel — digital, print, and experiential — ensuring that all communications reflect the school’s Christ-centered mission, values, and academic excellence. The ideal candidate will blend strong creative instincts with analytical thinking, organizational discipline, and a growth-mindset toward emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence.

Position Purpose

To generate inquiries, tell the Grace story, and protect and enhance the brand by leading a unified marketing and communications strategy that supports enrollment growth and community connection.

This role serves as the school’s chief storyteller and brand steward, aligning internal and external communication with the school’s mission, strategic plan, and core values.

Key Responsibilities

1. Marketing Strategy & Inquiry Generation

Develop and execute an integrated marketing plan that drives awareness, interest, and enrollment inquiries.
Partner with the Director of Admissions to ensure marketing efforts are aligned with enrollment goals.
Use data to inform decisions and support campaign performance.
Oversee digital marketing channels (website, social media, email, search) with an emphasis on storytelling and measurable outcomes.

2. Brand Stewardship & Storytelling

Craft and maintain a consistent brand voice across all communication channels.
Translate the Grace mission into compelling narratives featuring students, current parents, alumni, and donors.
Oversee the creation of visual and written content that reflects the culture, excellence, and distinctives of Grace Community School.
Provide analytics and report on Grace’s brand recognition and positioning among target audiences.
Serve as editor-in-chief for the school’s key communications, including print and video, ensuring alignment with institutional messaging.

3. Leadership & Collaboration

Own the relationship with the school’s outside marketing partner (Tassel).
Lead a small team or partner with internal and external creative professionals to execute campaigns.
Establish and facilitate weekly marketing–admissions meetings to ensure coordination, communication, and shared priorities.
Collaborate with Development, Athletics, and Academic departments to provide communication support for events and initiatives.
Support faculty and staff in effectively communicating with families and the broader community.

4. Communications Systems & Knowledge Management

Develop a unified system for managing the school’s communication calendar, message library, and digital assets.
Identify and document “sources of truth” — mission, vision, philosophy, and strategy — to guide all messaging efforts.

5. Innovation & AI Integration

Leverage AI tools to streamline content creation, enhance efficiency, and ensure message consistency.
Stay current with emerging technologies in marketing, communications, and education.
Analyze market for trends, areas of growth, and opportunities to reach our prospective families, current families, and alumni.
Use AI as a force multiplier — supporting, not replacing, human creativity and relationship-driven communication.

Key Competencies

Area

Description

Strategic Leadership

Understands the interplay between marketing, admissions, and advancement; can build systems that align departments toward shared goals.

Creative Communication

Excellent writer, editor, and storyteller with a sharp eye for design and a clear, engaging voice.

Organizational Discipline

Strong project manager able to handle multiple priorities, deadlines, and deliverables.

Technological Fluency

Comfortable adopting and optimizing digital tools, CRMs, and AI technologies.

Collaborative Spirit

Builds healthy, cross-functional relationships; leads through influence and clarity.

Mission Alignment

Demonstrates a growing, mature faith in Jesus, emotional intelligence, and alignment with Grace’s spiritual and educational mission.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, journalism, or a related field (Master’s preferred).
Minimum of 5–7 years of experience in marketing, communications, or advancement leadership (preferably in education or Christian mission-driven organizations).
Proven ability to develop and execute marketing strategies that produce measurable results.
Comfortable representing the school through group presentations.
A cohesive understanding of brand management and an eye for high-quality design.
Strong writing, editing, and content development skills.
Familiarity with AI tools and their application in communication workflows.
Experience managing teams, vendors, and creative projects.

Reporting Structure

Reports to: Head of School (Jay Ferguson)
Direct Reports: Communications staff, digital marketing partners, and creative vendors
Collaborates Closely With:
- Director of Admissions,
- Director of Development, and
- Academic and Administrative Leadership, all to create and strengthen community brand awareness and engage the local and internal school community with the school’s mission

Success in This Role Will Be Measured By:

Growth in qualified inquiries and enrollment applications, as measured by existing data analytics.
The consistency and clarity of Grace’s brand and messaging across platforms—do our campuses visually represent and communicate the essence of Grace?
Improved collaboration and communication between Marketing, Admissions, and development—do our combined efforts result in increased lead generation and external school partnership and investment?
Creation and adoption of an AI-supported knowledge base for institutional communications- how are we using AI to enhance and leverage our internal and external communications and tell our story more effectively, but not replace human creativity and passion?
Increased engagement from internal and external audiences—are our efforts generating new leads and external investment in our mission?

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