Primary Role

Reporting to the Executive Director of Strategic Communication, the Director of Digital Communication oversees web and video content production and assists with other digital communications tasks that promote Juniata College and its brand to prospective students and families, alumni, friends of the College, influential constituencies, and the broader public.

The Director of Digital Communication will contribute to vision and strategy development for communications and marketing endeavors generally while shaping specifically the electronic presence of Juniata College. The Director supervises the work of the front-end web team professionals and their student employees as well as multidisciplinary, freelance student teams that develop and maintain fluencies in emerging media including video, animation, audio and social media.

The Director manages the Digital Media Studio, including staffing, budget oversight, hardware/software acquisition and maintenance, and resource allocation.

Typical Duties and Responsibilities

  • Oversee Juniata College’s web assets, ensuring they provide up-to-date, accurate content; are designed so that information is presented in an audience-first manner; and have a healthy site-wide architecture.
  • Build content for Juniata’s brand communications including, but not limited to, videography for the purpose of promoting the College.
  • Provide strategic input for paid, earned, shared, and owned media campaigns and assist with the production of collateral necessary to execute digital marketing campaigns across networks. 
  • Provide leadership to the team of web designers and developers and contribute to the strategic communications team’s promotion of Juniata College, as well as to the Digital Media Studio and its team of student employees and interns. 
  • Build and nurture a broadly talented pool of freelance student artists, technicians, and media producers and web communications interns and student employees.
  • Provide strong support of budgetary control by executing tactics to reduce or control dependence on print or traditional media. 

Supervision Required/Given

This position is supervised by the Executive Director of Strategic Communications under general guidelines and must be able to work cooperatively and collaboratively with others. This position is responsible for the supervision of two professional web development and design staff as well as 6-15 part time and/or freelance student employees and/or interns.

Position Qualifications

  • Knowledge and abilities normally acquired through a bachelor's degree in a digital-
    media­related discipline or equivalent combination of education and work experience.

  • Demonstrated ability to plan, schedule, supervise multiple complex productions, meet overlapping deadlines, effectively motivate, and manage student production workers.

  • Knowledge of and fluency in relevant software as appropriate.

  • Familiarity with narrative and illustrative conventions and recent trends and innovations in temporal media; familiarity with contemporary advertising and marketing techniques, especially those utilizing comprehensive approaches to new and social media.

  • Excellent communications skills and the ability to work closely with various members of the college community in concept and project development to meet their needs.

  • Very strong photographic and videographic skills.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Master’s degree.

  • Three to five years supervisory experience.