Career Center

The Rivers School is a coeducational, college preparatory day school serving 515 students in grades 6 through 12, located on a beautiful 52- acre campus alongside the sprawling Nonesuch Pond in Weston, 17 miles west of Boston. The School’s motto of Excellence with Humanity is an overt guiding principle for the school which offers a warm, tight-knit community underscored by close student-faculty relationships and strong, rigorous, and challenging academic, arts, and athletic programs.

Rivers seeks a dynamic, experienced Director of Communications & Marketing (DCM) to develop and implement an integrated messaging strategy that will elevate the visibility of the School consistent with its strategic plan, fundraising goals, and enrollment objectives.

The DCM and their team of three will design clear and effective communications that invite all constituents to understand and appreciate the Rivers experience, while ensuring brand identity, messaging coherence, and consistency across all channels. The DCM reports to the Associate Head of School for Development & External Relations and works collaboratively with the Head of School and the Senior Administrative Team.

The ideal candidate will demonstrate enthusiasm for telling the entire Rivers story while being nimble and skilled at building cohesion across media platforms.

Strategic Communications

• Listens attentively to and communicates effectively and authentically with all members of the School community: faculty, staff, students, parents, alumni, trustees, prospective parents, donors, neighbors, etc.
• Collaborates regularly with the Head of School and other senior administrators to advise on strategic matters and to create and edit appropriate communications.
• Designs and implements internal and external communications plans to deepen constituent understanding of and appreciation for the School, its educational philosophy, and strategic objectives.
• Lead all marketing efforts and manage and elevate the school's brand through strategic planning, market insight, and trend analysis, data-driven strategies and feedback from constituencies.
• Utilizes digital, website, and social media analytics.
  
  Print and Digital Communications
• Partners with faculty, students, department heads, the Athletic Director, the Director of Enrollment Management, the Director of The Rivers School Conservatory, the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and others across campus, to create materials that convey the unique strengths of the School to current and prospective families and assists with attracting students who will be well-served by its program.
• Advises and coordinates with the Development & External Relations Team to develop materials that will educate the community about the importance of philanthropy, build relationships with parents and alumni, strengthen engagement, and assist the school in meeting its fundraising goals.
• Prepares, in conjunction with the Head of School and the Associate Head of School for Development & External Relations, crisis communications and public relations materials as needed.
• Demonstrates and maintains a thorough understanding of best practices and emerging trends in the field, especially regarding the use of video and other electronic and social media; develops and implements strategies for integrating these media into the communications and marketing plans.
• Oversees production of and consistency of all-School publications, including the Riparian, the Rivers Magazine, website, parent newsletters, admissions, and development materials.
• Manages and coordinates the selection process for relevant outside vendors and consultants (e.g., website design companies, direct mail vendors, videographers, photographers, etc.).

Communications Team Leader

• Supervises and provides leadership to the Communications Office staff and builds strong relationships with all constituencies.
• Creates and monitors the School communications calendar.
• Develops and manages the departmental budget.
• Attends Administrative Team meetings and Board of Trustee Committee meetings.
• Attends meetings and events, which may be scheduled on evenings and weekends, and maintains a presence in and awareness of the day-to-day life of the School.

Qualifications and Skills Required for Position
? A strong intellect, a vision for effective communications and marketing for an independent school, and 7 years of senior level experience creating and executing communications and marketing strategies.

• Outstanding interpersonal and leadership skills; the ability to work collaboratively and proactively with the School’s diverse and inclusive community to advance the mission of the School.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and mentor a team of direct reports.
• Enthusiasm and energy for telling the entire School story across various platforms.
• A sophisticated understanding of the complexities of an independent school.
• Outstanding written and oral communication skills.
• The ability to effectively complete all required background checks.