Director of Communications Strategy & Operations

Duke University; Durham (NC); On-site; USD 80,000 - 159,000; Full time

Job summary

Duke University in Durham, NC is seeking a Director of Communications Strategy & Operations to lead the department's project management and strategic initiatives across marketing, editorial, and web teams. The role reports to the AVP and oversees two project managers, shaping plans, governance, and performance metrics to ensure on-time, on-budget delivery of high-visibility programs.

The ideal candidate has a bachelor's degree in marketing or related field and 7–10+ years of experience in

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, design, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
• 7–10+ years of experience in marketing, communications, brand strategy, or creative operations.
• Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional teams and managing complex, high-visibility projects.
• Strong understanding of brand governance, digital strategy, and integrated marketing and communications.
• Proven ability to translate strategy into execution while maintaining attention to detail and brand integrity.
• Excellent leadership, collaboration, and communication skills, with the ability to influence across a decentralized organization.

Responsibilities

• Lead the department's project management function and supervise, coach, and develop two project management/operations professionals; set clear expectations, allocate work, review performance, and build consistent practices across the team.
• Establish and maintain department-wide project and portfolio management standards, including intake, scoping, prioritization, work plans, roles, milestones, decision points, approvals, documentation, and closeout.
• Oversee the effective use and continuous improvement of Wrike and related operational tools, dashboards, templates, and reporting practices; ensure accurate, timely visibility into project health, workload, risks, and dependencies.
• Develop and refine standard event operating procedures, governance structures, service expectations, and internal communication practices that strengthen accountability and collaboration.
• Manage selected vendors, agencies, freelancers, and project budgets in collaboration with functional leaders, ensuring work is delivered on time, within scope, on budget, and at the expected level of quality.
• Serve as an operational partner and project manager to the AVP, providing concise portfolio updates, decision briefs, risk assessments, and recommendations; represent the operations and strategy function in meetings as assigned.

Skills

Cross-functional leadership

Project management

Brand governance

Strategic communications

Digital strategy

Executive collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in marketing/communications/design

Tools

Wrike

Job description

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Director of Communications Strategy & Operations

Work Arrangement: On-Site

Requisition Number: 276412

Regular or Temporary: Regular

Location: Durham, NC, US, 27710

Date: Oct 22, 2026

Ready to lead strategy, operations, and projects that drive organizational success?

Be You.

The Director of Operations and Strategy is a manager within Duke University's Office of Communications, Marketing, and Public Affairs. Reporting to the Assistant Vice President for Operations and Strategy and Chief of Staff, the Director serves as the AVP's principal operational deputy and helps translate institutional and departmental priorities into coordinated plans, accountable workstreams, and measurable results, events, and engagement.

The Director leads the department's project management function and directly supervises two project management professionals. The role establishes the standards, systems, meeting rhythms, and portfolio practices that keep complex work moving across marketing, strategic communications, editorial, multimedia, web, design, and other partner teams. The Director is responsible for visibility across the portfolio, early identification of risks and resource conflicts, timely escalation of decisions, and consistent follow-through.

The Director also serves as a supportive lead for high-visibility strategic initiatives, major institutional campaigns, and special events. This includes managing large, cross-functional projects that advance Duke's work in research, climate, community impact, reputation, enrollment, advancement, and other institutional priorities. In addition, the Director supports brand governance, integrated marketing and communications planning, performance reporting, and continuous improvement across Duke's decentralized communications ecosystem.

Work Arrangement – On-Site

DEPARTMENTAL PREFRENCES

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, design, or a related field; Advanced degree preferred.
• 7–10+ years of experience in marketing, communications, brand strategy, or creative operations, preferably within higher education or a complex organization.
• Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional teams and managing complex, high-visibility projects.
• Strong understanding of brand governance, digital strategy, and integrated marketing and communications.
• Proven ability to translate strategy into execution while maintaining attention to detail and brand integrity.
• Excellent leadership, collaboration, and communication skills, with the ability to influence across a decentralized organization.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education - Completion of a bachelor's degree program in Journalism, Communications, English or a related discipline.

Experience - Requires at least 7 years’ experience in writing, public relations, communications or related discipline.

Be Bold.

Department Operations Project & Event Management and Team Leadership (30%)

• Lead the department's project management function and supervise, coach, and develop two project management/operations professionals; set clear expectations, allocate work, review performance, and build consistent practices across the team.
• Establish and maintain department-wide project and portfolio management standards, including intake, scoping, prioritization, work plans, roles, milestones, decision points, approvals, documentation, and closeout.
• Oversee the effective use and continuous improvement of Wrike and related operational tools, dashboards, templates, and reporting practices; ensure accurate, timely visibility into project health, workload, risks, and dependencies.
• Develop and refine standard event operating procedures, governance structures, service expectations, and internal communication practices that strengthen accountability and collaboration.
• Manage selected vendors, agencies, freelancers, and project budgets in collaboration with functional leaders, ensuring work is delivered on time, within scope, on budget, and at the expected level of quality.
• Serve as an operational partner and project manager to the AVP, providing concise portfolio updates, decision briefs, risk assessments, and recommendations; represent the operations and strategy function in meetings as assigned.

Strategic Initiatives and Institutional Campaigns (25%)

• Serve as the lead operational strategist and program manager for complex, high-visibility initiatives, events, and campaigns involving multiple communications disciplines, university units, and senior stakeholders.
• Manage major campaign portfolios related to research, climate, community impact, reputation, enrollment, advancement, academic affairs, and other institutional priorities assigned by the AVP.
• Translate strategic goals into integrated project plans that define audiences, outcomes, workstreams, deliverables, timelines, dependencies, governance, resources, budgets, risks, and measures of success.
• Coordinate work across strategic communications, issues management, marketing, editorial, web, social media, multimedia, design, and distributed campus communicators to ensure cohesive execution across channels.
• Lead kickoffs, working groups, executive reviews, and milestone meetings; maintain shared understanding of objectives and ensure partners receive the information and decisions needed to advance the work.
• Track campaign progress from discovery and planning through launch and evaluation; address roadblocks, manage changes in scope, and conduct post-project reviews that convert lessons learned into stronger future practices.
• Build productive relationships with campus partners and communicate with diplomacy, discretion, and sound judgment in a decentralized and highly visible environment.

Special Events and Executive Support (20%)

• Serve as a supportive operational and creative lead for major university events, including commencement activities, leadership convenings, institutional summits, retreats, and communicator programs.
• Develop integrated event work plans covering communications, creative assets, speakers, production partners, run-of-show requirements, approvals, staffing, contingencies, and post-event follow-up.
• Coordinate with event operations, audiovisual teams, designers, photographers, videographers, speakers, vendors, and campus partners to ensure an aligned and professional audience experience.
• Support the AVP with time-sensitive strategic assignments, leadership briefings, presentations, planning materials, and cross-campus coordination.
• Step into priority projects or emerging needs when additional senior-level structure, judgment, or follow-through is required.

Brand Governance and Creative Quality and Alignment (15%)

• Support university-wide brand governance by helping partners understand and consistently apply Duke's visual identity, voice, messaging, trademark, and accessibility standards.
• Serve as a trusted operational and strategic partner to the AVP on brand questions, creative reviews, and requests that require coordination across departments or escalation to university leadership.
• Review selected high-visibility creative and campaign materials for alignment with institutional strategy and brand standards, coordinating feedback with marketing, design, editorial, web, and multimedia leaders.
• Help maintain and improve brand guidance, review processes, consultation models, training resources, and escalation pathways for distributed communicators.
• Support web governance and digital accessibility practices by helping establish clear standards, ownership, review points, and improvement processes across priority web properties and digital experiences.
• Identify recurring brand and creative challenges and recommend scalable tools, templates, education, or governance solutions that improve consistency without creating unnecessary barriers.

Integrated Communications and Marketing Strategy Measurement and Reporting (10%)

• Partner with the AVP and functional leaders to operationalize integrated marketing and communications creative content strategies aligned with Duke's institutional priorities and audience needs.
• Contribute strategic and operational expertise to communications and marketing plans, including objective setting, audience strategy, channel coordination, implementation planning, resource requirements, and success measures.
• Help to establish practical measurement and reporting frameworks for priority initiatives, defining key performance indicators, reporting cadences, data owners, and methods for evaluating progress and impact.
• Work with marketing, analytics, digital, editorial, and communications partners to review performance, identify opportunities for optimization, and strengthen accountability for outcomes.
• Support annual and quarterly planning, goal tracking, and reporting for the office, including preparation of leadership presentations and materials for institutional stakeholders.
• Apply sound judgment when handling confidential, sensitive, or emerging matters, and support rapid coordination when priorities or external conditions change.

Choose Duke.

Anticipated Pay Range: Duke University provides an annual base salary range for this position as USD $79,724.00 to USD $159,445.00. Duke University considers factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position; candidate's work experience, education/training, and key skills; internal peer equity; as well as market and organizational considerations when extending an offer.

Your total compensation goesbeyond the dollars on your paycheck. Duke provides comprehensive and competitive medical and dental care programs, generous retirement benefits, and a wide array of family-friendly and cultural programs to eligible team members. Learn more at: https://hr.duke.edu/benefits/

Equal Opportunity Employer: Duke is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual's age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy and pregnancy- related conditions), sexual orientation, or military status.

Duke aspires to create a community built oncollaboration, innovation, creativity, and belonging. Our collective success depends on the robust exchange of ideas—an exchange that is best when the rich diversity of our perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences flourishes. To achieve this exchange, it is essential that all members of the community feel secure and welcome, that the contributions of all individuals are respected, and that all voices are heard. All members of our community have a responsibility to uphold these values.

Essential Physical Job Functions: Certain jobs at Duke University and Duke University Health System may include essential job functions that require specific physical and/or mental abilities. Additional information and reasonable accommodation(s) can be requested with Duke Access and Accommodations Services (email: [e-mail]; phone: [phone]).

Nearest Major Market: Durham
Nearest Secondary Market: Raleigh

Read more about Duke’s commitment to affirmative action and nondiscrimination at hr.duke.edu/eeo.