Communications Director

College of Architecture and Design

Regular Full-time, Market Range 11

The University of Tennessee College of Architecture and Design (CoAD) invites applications for the position of Communications Director. This position reports to the dean and serves as the college's chief communications/marketing officer, providing strategic direction to strengthen the college's reputation and promoting the activities of the college to internal and external constituents. This position develops and executes strategies to elevate CoAD as a premier leader in design education through brand/message management, social media, and marketing activities.

The director is responsible for leading CoAD's communication strategy from conception through implementation and critical assessment. This includes developing, writing, designing, and editing communication materials including website and other online resources, effective presence on multiple social media platforms, video and photographic storytelling, internally and externally facing communication campaigns, as well as special projects within the communication function of the college that include promoting events, celebrating student and faculty successes, and highlighting organizational milestones.

The director develops and maintains the college media resources with a creative and visual emphasis. These include web-based resources, print media, photography, video and audio media, and materials to be deployed in social media platforms. Effective organization and management of databases that hold these resources is equally important.

This position has direct supervisory oversight of at least one staff position, while working directly with school directors, associate deans, and others in various college units. The director is responsible for promoting and advancing the college's image and reputation within the community, the state, the nation, and the world.

The College of Architecture and Design is committed to excellence in design education, creative activity, research, and outreach missions. The College is comprised of the Schools of Architecture, Design, Interior Architecture, and Landscape Architecture. These four schools contribute to an engaged community of 745 undergraduate and graduate students, 47 full time faculty, 15 part time faculty, and 20 members of the administrative staff. The College of Architecture and Design is one of 11 academic colleges at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, a Research-1, land-grant university that houses 900+ programs of study. Through this job search, the college aims to further establish a professional, well-functioning, and strategic administrative team; one whose members are given professional development and career support while they are encouraged to take ownership of their responsibilities. College leadership is interested in building an environment around the college's goal of making design education for our students as vivid as possible.

Known as 'The Maker City,' Knoxville is the third largest city in the state with a metropolitan statistical area population of over 850,000 people. The region is a hub for research and design with a focus on environmental research, urban studies, and advanced technologies such as additive manufacturing technology and advanced fiber composites. East Tennessee benefits from collaborative synergies with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Innovative companies are headquartered in the area including Branch Technology (architectural scale additive manufacturing).

Downtown Knoxville boasts an effervescent nightlife with theater, film, art, music, and well-recognized events and festivals like Big Ears, a vibrant live music scene across all genres, excellent restaurants, minority-heritage celebration events, farmers' markets, and community gardens. Unique and walkable residential and business districts include Knoxville's historic Market Square and Old City, North and South Waterfronts, and the Urban Wilderness recreational area. Knoxville and the surrounding region also benefit from the energy and advocacy of civic, business, maker, cultural, religious, neighborhood, minority communities, and organizations invested in local quality of life.

Within a fifteen-minute commute of campus, Knoxville offers a diverse range of housing from downtown lofts to homes in historic tree-lined neighborhoods. The city and county offer strong public and private K-12 educational options including public international baccalaureate, art and science magnet programs, as well as private, religious, and Montessori schools. Knoxville's neighborhoods benefit from easy access to parks and multi-use trail systems. The nearby Great Smoky Mountains National Park and TVA reservoir-lakes provide stellar outdoor recreation including biking, water sports, climbing, and hiking.