DEERFIELD ASSOCIATES has been retained by St. Mark’s School, located in Southborough, Massachusetts, to conduct a national search for a Director of Communications & Marketing. This is an exciting time at St. Mark’s, as the school engages in a Strategic Planning Process in the months ahead. We seek to distinguish the school with a program that is uniquely capable of preparing our students for their futures. A Communication & Marketing team that is capable of crisply sharing the story and the brand of the school will be an essential part of this work. This opportunity is available with a flexible start date after July 1, 2025.
Director of Communications & Marketing
Reporting to the Head of School and a member of the School’s Senior Administrative Team, the Director of Communications & Marketing leads the school’s efforts in sharing its story with authenticity and impact, helping to prepare our students for their future. This includes supervising a creative team that advances the school’s enrollment, philanthropic, and reputation-building goals through integrated communication and marketing efforts, built on a deep understanding of the distinctive value offered by a St. Mark’s education. We seek a strategically oriented Director of Communications and Marketing with strong leadership skill sets who will enhance the regional, national, and international profile of the School by working with campus partners to identify and communicate effectively with existing and new internal and external audiences.
St. Mark’s School Background
St. Mark’s School is a coeducational, Episcopal, preparatory school, situated on 210 acres in Southborough, Massachusetts, 25 miles from Boston. Founded in 1865 by Joseph Burnett, St. Mark’s is one of the oldest private boarding schools in New England and is a member of the Independent School League in competitive athletics. The school’s 65 teachers lead 375 boarding and day students through a rigorous curriculum and a full program of co-curricular activities. Class size averages 12, with a student-faculty ratio of 6:1. Each department offers honors and advanced courses. Dr. Ivory D. Hills was appointed in 2024 as the new head of school. To learn more, please visit. www.stmarksschool.org
Primary Duties and Responsibilities Strategic Communications & Brand Stewardship
- Develop and implement a comprehensive communications and marketing strategy aligned with institutional priorities.
- Serve as brand steward, ensuring consistency of messaging, tone, and visual identity across all communications.
- Oversee crisis communications and reputation management with clarity and strategic foresight and serve as the primary media contact and manage relationships with external media outlets.
- Contribute to the creative work of the team via one or more of the following: writing, web design, photography, videography, etc.
- Manage departmental budget, allocating resources effectively to maximize value and ROI.
- Secure media coverage and manage public relations strategy to enhance the school’s visibility.
Marketing, Audience Engagement and Media Relations
- Lead marketing initiatives designed to support enrollment management, philanthropy, and overall brand awareness through coordinated digital, print, and advertising campaigns.
- Direct content creation across platforms, including newsletters, magazines, website content, and social media.
- Utilize data analytics to refine marketing strategies, track engagement, and report measurable outcomes.
Collaborative Leadership and Aligned Institutional Awareness
- Act as a strategic advisor and thought partner to the Head of School and leadership team, collaborating closely with Admission, Advancement, Academic, Dean of Faculty, and Student Life offices to ensure alignment and synergy in communications and marketing efforts.
- Supervise the Communications team, fostering a high-performing organization, supporting strategy-driven creativity, and stimulating coherent and enthusiastic team- member growth.
- Possess a strong understanding of independent school operations and the boarding school environment, ensuring communications reflect the lived experience of students, faculty, and staff, fostering community engagement and pride.
- Embrace the rhythms of school life, demonstrating a visible, authentic presence within the school community, including some nights and weekends.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, journalism, or a related field (master’s
degree preferred). - Minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible experience in strategic communications and marketing.
- Exceptional writing, editing, and storytelling skills.
- Strong digital fluency with experience managing websites, CRM systems, and digital marketing tools.
Job Specifications
- Deep appreciation for the mission of independent education and a particular affinity for the boarding school model with an innate belief in the promise of every student.
- A collaborative spirit and proven ability to lead and inspire teams.
- Demonstrated capacity to think strategically and experience managing complex systems.
- Ability to cultivate targeted and appropriate innovation with success in planning and implementing new initiatives that persist.
- Demonstrated commitment to inclusion and viewpoint diversity.
- Ability to manage highly confidential information.
- Experience and ability to use data and information effectively in planning and decision- making.
- Ability to coordinate multiple projects synchronously and complete projects in a timely manner.
- Leadership ability to manage ambiguity and interpersonal conflict.
- Ability to instill trust in colleagues.
- Propensity to take on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm.
Disclaimer
The above job description is intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees assigned to this position. The job description is not intended to be construed as a comprehensive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of individuals in this role. It is expected that the role and responsibilities will develop over time commensurate with performance.
The School’s Leadership
Head of School Dr. Ivory D. Hills
Dr. Ivory D. Hills began his tenure as St. Mark’s head of school on July 1, 2024. His appointment by the St. Mark’s Board of Trustees was announced on July 31, 2023, following an extensive nationwide search.
From 2011 to 2024, Dr. Hills served in various roles at Deerfield Academy—most recently dean of faculty and assistant head of school for strategy and planning—where he excelled as both a dedicated classroom teacher and an influential academic leader. In his role as dean of faculty and assistant head of school for strategy and planning, Dr. Hills oversaw a 140-member faculty and provided comprehensive support for academic, artistic, athletic, co-curricular, college advising, health and wellness, and residential programs. He fostered a culture of positivity among the faculty, emphasizing student-centered growth, and managed workload assignments, housing placements, leave replacements, and professional development requests. Additionally, he collaborated closely with the school’s advancement office to support faculty and curriculum- centered fundraising initiatives.
Dr. Hills is a distinguished scientist, holding a B.S. in chemistry from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from MIT. Before his tenure at Deerfield, he served as a senior research chemist at Merck Research Laboratories, leading medicinal chemistry teams involved in drug development for Alzheimer’s disease, migraine, schizophrenia, and colorectal cancer.
St. Mark’s School educates young people for lives of leadership and service.
Mission Statement
St. Mark’s School educates young people for lives of leadership and service. Founded in 1865 as an intentionally small residential community, the school challenges its students to develop their particular analytic and creative capabilities by both inspiring their academic and spiritual curiosity and kindling their passion for discovery. We value cooperation over self-interest, and we encourage all members of our community to explore their place in the larger world beyond our campus.
Diversity Statement
St. Mark’s School seeks to reflect the increasingly diverse world in which our students presently live and will live in the future. We intend to provide our students with a superior education in a community of students, parents, faculty, and staff that represents a variety of racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds. We strive to ensure respect for all regardless of sex, gender, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation, ability, family structure or economic background.
In support of our objective, St. Mark’s School:
- will continue to give special importance to the inclusion within our student body, our faculty, and our staff of persons from all groups within our society – particularly those that have experienced prejudice and disadvantage.
- will provide all members of the school with a range of appropriate opportunities to develop skills for living in a diverse community and integrate diversity initiatives throughout the school program.
- will empower all members of the St. Mark’s community to share their differences as well as their common experiences to enhance their education.
St. Mark’s promotes awareness around cultural difference and provides affinity opportunities for students whose social or identity needs are not reflected in the dominant culture at St. Mark’s through Community and Equity Affairs.
Sustainability Statement
In valuing cooperation over self-interest and recognizing our role as global citizens, St. Mark’s School actively fosters environmental stewardship and sustainable development in its education, planning and practices.
Our Episcopal Identity
At St. Mark’s, we have values that we trace directly to our Episcopal identity:
- We value life in common, believing it is strengthened by honest and respectful dialogue across lines of disagreement and difference.
- We value time for spiritual reflection and the intentional teaching of wisdom, compassion, and humility.
- We value human reason used critically in the pursuit of knowledge.
We also have community-wide practices that relate directly to these values:
- All-School Chapel twice a week, interfaith/ecumenical in style
- Required academic study of Religion/Philosophy/Ethics, two semesters
- Regular, all-School engagement in Community and Equity programming
Financial Overview
As a result of disciplined fiscal management, prudent endowment oversight, and a successful capital campaign which concluded in 2022, today St. Marks School is on sound financial footing. The endowment stands at approximately $165M, and the school consistently balances its budget. St. Mark’s School major revenue source is tuition, and approximately 65% of the annual operating budget $30M comes from that source. The school awards financial aid to 121 out of 377 (32%) its students. St. Mark’s School endowment per student (net of debt) are low relative to its peer schools. The school’s annual fund for 2023-24 amounted to $2.65M, and capital gifts of approximately $5M were received.
St. Mark’s School continues to maintain its status as one of the nation’s most competitive schools. The combination of disciplined spending, capable endowment management, strong annual fund support, will position the school well. Increasing the endowment is seen as a high priority if the school is to remain in the position of strength it currently holds. The most recently completed accreditation affirmed the school’s many strengths and identified several initiatives and areas that the school needed to allocate additional resources as it seeks to retain its status as one of the nation’s top independent boarding schools. The Director of Communications and Marketing position will be a key leader in positioning the school to be the educator of choice in preparing students for their future.
St. Mark’s School Benefits
The Director of Communications and Marketing position at St. Mark’s School offers an exciting and supportive work environment, a competitive salary and benefit package which includes medical and dental plans, a pension plan, tuition remission, and four weeks of paid vacation.
Equal Opportunity Employer
St. Mark’s School provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability or genetics, and any other characteristic or status protected by law. For the candidate of choice, a thorough background check including a criminal background check is required as a condition of employment.
Contact Information
To explore this career opportunity on a confidential basis, please send your resume, a letter of interest articulating your interest, skill sets and work experiences for this opportunity, a writing sample and a list of five (5) references (which will only be contacted if mutual interest is determined) to:
Doug Cooney, Executive Search Consultant, DEERFIELD ASSOCIATES Executive Search, Inc.
572 Washington Street, Suite 15, Wellesley, MA 02482 Telephone: 781-237-2800.
Email: jobs@deerfieldassociates.com
