Senior Director, Communications, Marketing and Digital Innovation

The University of British Columbia; Vancouver; On-site; CAD 128,000 - 202,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent educational institution in Metro Vancouver seeks a Senior Director of Alumni Communications. This leadership role involves strategic marketing, brand management, and overseeing communications for over 430,000 alumni. The ideal candidate has at least nine years of experience in marketing or communications and a commitment to equity and diversity. The position offers a competitive salary range of $128,914 - $201,130 annually.

Qualifications

• Minimum nine years of related experience or equivalent education and experience.
• Commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion.
• Ability to manage budgets and lead teams effectively.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic transformation of communications and marketing programs.
• Oversee the development of integrated marketing strategies.
• Manage the communications and marketing budget.

Skills

Strategic Marketing

Brand Management

Data Analysis

Leadership

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, or related field

Master’s degree (preferred)

Job description

Overview

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.

JOB SUMMARY

Reporting to the AVP & Executive Director, alumni UBC, with a dotted line to the Managing Director, Communications & Engagement in Development and Alumni Engagement (DAE), the Senior Director leads the strategic transformation of alumni UBC’s communications and marketing programs. This senior leadership role is responsible for elevating the alumni brand, modernizing how we engage with 430,000+ alumni, introducing more personalized and data-informed practices, and building alignment across UBC’s communications ecosystem.

The Senior Director is accountable for identifying critical issues and public relations opportunities that may impact the reputation of alumni UBC and managing any critical incident or issues management related to the alumni audience. In support of these needs, the Senior Director is a member of the alumni UBC leadership team that determines the overall strategy of alumni cultivation, and provides services for the global alumni community.

This role also manages the largest departmental budget within alumni UBC, balancing investment in marketing and communications excellence with support for revenue generation through marketing strategy and execution for venue rentals at the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre and Cecil Green Park House, as well as advertising revenue from newsletters and the UBC Magazine digital platform.

The Senior Director oversees a multidisciplinary team delivering integrated campaigns, content creation, brand stewardship, issues management, and strategic communications planning. This individual plays a key leadership role in shaping how alumni connect with UBC, aligning storytelling and engagement strategies with the university’s strategic priorities, fundraising campaigns, and institutional reputation goals.

Responsibilities

1. Strategic Marketing & Issues Management

• Provide executive counsel on communication matters that impact UBC's and the Alumni Association's positioning and reputation with alumni audiences, representing alumni as both a part of UBC and as a high priority audience for the university's outreach efforts.
• Advise the AVP, alumni UBC, and the Alumni Association Board Chair on issues management relating to alumni audiences.
• Identify and proactively manage reputational risks and opportunities for alumni UBC, including critical incident response.
• Develop and execute integrated marketing strategies for alumni UBC programming, content, and services—across digital, print, social, app, email, podcast, and web platforms—including The University of British Columbia Magazine.
• Support omnichannel marketing campaigns aligned with UBC’s strategic goals and alumni engagement objectives, serving as the marketing voice for alumni within the university’s branding and campaign initiatives.

2. Content & Campaign Innovation

• Oversee the development of UBC Magazine anchor themes and campaign storytelling across semi-annual print issues, website, digital channels, video, podcasts, and social media. Ensure alignment with UBC’s fundraising priorities and mitigate reputational risk.
• Advance a culture of innovation and experimentation by introducing modern, responsive, and conversational ways to engage alumni.
• Collaborate with central university communications to align campaign messaging and amplify alumni voices and UBC’s impact.

3. Brand & Reputation Management

• Lead alumni UBC brand strategy, ensuring consistency and excellence across all alumni-facing channels.
• Partner with UBC Brand & Marketing, Media Relations, and Development to ensure aligned and high-impact storytelling.
• Provide strategic leadership on synchronizing alumni-focused storytelling with UBC’s central communications units, ensuring the alumni magazine and alumni channels serve as “go-to” sources of connection.

4. Institutional Partnerships

• Serve as a key member of the DAE communications lead strategy group, directly influencing branding, messaging, and campaign execution.
• Build and sustain collaborative relationships across DAE, university units, and faculties to synchronize alumni communications and unlock shared value.
• Oversee content repurposing and syndication across UBC channels, including donor relations and annual giving communications.

5. Analytics & Performance

• Develop robust measurement and analytics frameworks to assess campaign, content, and channel performance.
• Use insights to guide strategy iteration and resource allocation.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement and data-informed decision-making within the team.

6. Team Leadership & Development

• Lead and mentor a high-performing communications team, including specialists in editorial, digital, design, and project management.
• Ensure inclusive design and content creation to represent UBC’s diverse alumni community.
• Build capacity in emerging practices such as cross-channel integration, adaptive campaign planning, and storytelling for impact.

7. Financial Oversight & Revenue Enablement

• Manage the communications and marketing budget - the largest within alumni UBC - to maximize engagement and impact.
• Oversee marketing strategies to support alumni UBC revenue-generation efforts, including venue rentals and advertising models for newsletters and alumni platforms.
• Align financial decisions with UBC’s broad-based strategic goals and alumni engagement priorities.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, or related field. Minimum nine years of related experience, or the equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own.
• Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skill related to equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Preferred Qualifications

• Minimum of 10 years of progressive experience in strategic marketing and communications, ideally in a large, complex organization. Master’s preferred.
• Demonstrated success leading digital transformation and introducing new practices in personalization, segmentation, or content strategy.
• Strong track record of developing integrated campaigns that build brand and deepen engagement.
• Proven ability to lead teams, build partnerships across institutions, and manage budgets with an eye toward ROI and strategic impact.
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills, judgment, and creative sensibility.
• Familiarity with higher education or not-for-profit sectors is an asset.

The salary range for this position is $128,914 (minimum) - $161,011 (midpoint) - $201,130 (maximum) based on an annual salary at 1.0FTE.

Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Metis, Inuit, and/or Indigenous person.

To apply, please submit your application to DAE Careers at [e-mail] by 11:59pm on October 8th, 2025.