Chief Communications Officer

This position has been deemed critical by the School of Humanities and Sciences Dean’s Office and is exempt from the hiring freeze.

This is a hybrid position with 3-4 days per week onsite. May require working flexible hours, including occasional work on evenings and weekends.

The budgeted salary range for this position is $251,322 – $276,576 per annum.

The School of Humanities and Sciences is Stanford's largest school and home to the majority of Stanford undergraduates, to a significant number of graduate students, and to foundational research across the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. With 24 departments and 25 interdisciplinary programs, H&S fuels world‑class teaching, learning, and research on questions ranging from artificial intelligence and democracy to climate, public health, philosophy, and the arts.

Led by Dean Debra Satz, the school is dedicated to ensuring that every Stanford student, regardless of major, engages meaningfully with the humanities, arts, and sciences, and that the school's research and ideas reach and inform audiences far beyond campus.

For more information on the school, .

The School of Humanities and Sciences seeks an experienced, dynamic communicator, skilled manager, and team-builder to serve as our Chief Communications Officer. Reporting to the Associate Dean for External Relations, who also serves as Stanford’s Associate Vice President for Development in the Office of Development, with a dotted line to the Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences, the person in this role will manage a nimble team of communications professionals and oversee all communications strategies and activities, including executive and internal communications;

media relations and issues management; marketing communications; digital strategy and social media; news, storytelling, and content creation; and brand management.

In addition to working closely with the H&S Dean and the Associate Dean for External Relations, this position will collaborate with the school’s senior associate deans, department chairs, faculty, and staff, as well as colleagues from University Communications and other key partners across campus, to coordinate strategies and activities and to leverage resources to maximize communications impact for the school.

While the current team consists of two professional communicators, we anticipate making resources available to grow and build the team over time to carry out the communications activities of the school.

The successful candidate will be a strategic thinker and a talented writer and editor who will bring to the position a collaborative leadership style, a sophisticated understanding of communications and messaging across a wide range of disciplines and audiences, and demonstrated experience working within a large, complex organization.

• Develop and implement a strategic communications plan that addresses all stakeholders and continues to build the school's reputation and visibility on a global level through messaging for multiple audiences, promotion of research activities via media outreach and external engagement, a best-in-class digital presence, a robust internal communications and employee engagement program, and oversight of the school brand.
• Provide strategic communications advice to school leadership, faculty, and staff, including working with the Dean to help create and disseminate executive communications, such as speeches, talking points, and messaging.
• Serve as the school's primary spokesperson and direct crisis communications for emergency matters and issues with reputational impact across the school's 24 departments and…