Executive Director of Marketing — AI-Driven Enrollment

Catholic University of America; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 160,000 - 165,000; Full time

Job summary

Catholic University of America is seeking an Executive Director of Marketing to build and lead a unified demand generation engine across paid media, social media, and owned media. The role partners with Brand/Creative and Communications to define, measure, and grow the University’s presence in AI-generated answers and search environments.

The position requires 8+ years of progressive marketing leadership, especially in higher education or multi-stakeholder settings, with strong budgets and

Qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive marketing leadership experience with ownership of paid media, social media, and SEO/content strategy.
• Familiarity with AI/generative search visibility concepts or a strong SEO/content foundation.
• Experience building this function elsewhere is a plus, not a requirement.
• Higher education marketing or complex, multi-stakeholder environments preferred.
• Proven ability to lead teams, manage large budgets, and translate data into strategic recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Direct paid media strategy and execution to increase inquiries, applications, and enrollment with budget ownership.
• Lead organic and paid social strategy across platforms to build audience engagement and brand affinity.
• Own SEO strategy and content marketing to grow organic visibility and traffic.
• Manage sponsorships end-to-end from evaluation to activation and measurement.
• Collaborate with Creative, Web, Enrollment, and Communications to align marketing and recruitment goals.
• Develop strategies to improve AI-generated representations of the University and content quality.
• Monitor AI visibility trends and report share-of-voice to leadership.
• Leverage analytics to optimize paid, social, owned, and AI channels.
• Oversee budgets, platforms, and external partnerships.
• Recruit, mentor, and lead a high-performing marketing team.
• Coordinate with Creative Services on video strategy and production planning.

Skills

Paid media

Social media

SEO/content strategy

Team leadership

Budget management

AI visibility

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Catholic University of America is seeking an Executive Director of Marketing to build and lead a unified demand generation engine across paid media, social media, and owned media. The role partners with Brand/Creative and Communications to define, measure, and grow the University’s presence in AI-generated answers and search environments.

The position requires 8+ years of progressive marketing leadership, especially in higher education or multi-stakeholder settings, with strong budgets and