Executive Director, Brand Strategy, Storytelling & Communications, Athletics

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The University of Miami, Department of Marketing and Communications, has an exciting opportunity for a full time Executive Director, Brand Strategy, Storytelling & Communications, Athletics to work in Coral Gables, FL.

The Executive Director leads brand strategy, storytelling and communications on behalf of the CMO, serving as the day-to-day owner of how athletics — across all varsity sports, not a single program — shows up publicly and connects to the university's overarching brand and objectives across media, social, in-game experiences, trade press and brand storytelling. This role exists to give the CMO a strategic partner who can run the brand/storytelling/comms pillar with full ownership, freeing the CMO to focus on cross-functional priorities (partnerships, executive reporting) while trusting this leader to execute and elevate the function.

This is fundamentally a marketing leader role with real comms fluency, not a pure communications/PR hire — the person needs to think like a marketer first (brand, creative, storytelling) while being credible and capable in the media/comms space.

This is a leadership role, not a coordination role: the Executive Director sets direction for creative and brand strategy, not just manages output.

Key Responsibilities:

Leadership & Oversight

• Directly lead and develop the Athletics PR, media relations and communications team, with full responsibility for the day-to-day communications function across all varsity sports
• Own and lead the cross-functional sync across Athletics marketing functions, partnering closely with social, digital, ticket sales and marketing, NIL, and sponsorships/partnerships to ensure brand, storytelling and communications priorities are aligned; these are close working relationships, not direct reporting lines
• Serve as the connective leader across comms and brand — ensuring one coherent strategy rather than siloed execution
• All duties performed in compliance with NCAA, conference, and University policies, rules, and regulations

Communications

• Own the communications function end to end, across all varsity sports — messaging, media relations, and public-facing narrative
• Serve as a key point of contact for trade publications and sports media, with the relationships and credibility to represent the program well
• Build and maintain fluency in the sports media landscape — understanding how coverage, narrative, and reputation move in the college sports space specifically
• Coordinate with external units and partners to support major initiatives and events, beyond just partnerships storytelling

Brand Strategy, Storytelling & Experience

• Set the overarching brand and storytelling strategy across all varsity sports, ensuring a consistent, compelling expression of Miami Athletics across every audience touchpoint
• Champion a social-first storytelling strategy, partnering closely with the social and content teams to ensure stories, creative concepts and campaigns are conceived for how audiences consume and engage with sports content today, rather than simply adapting traditional communications for social channels
• Provide brand and storytelling leadership for the in-game fan experience and activations across all varsity sports, partnering with the appropriate Athletics teams to ensure game presentation, promotions, sponsorship activations and other fan-facing experiences consistently bring the Miami Athletics brand to life
• Partner with NIL, sponsorships/partnerships, and ticket sales and marketing to identify opportunities where brand, content and storytelling can strengthen fan engagement and elevate partner value without compromising the integrity of the brand
• Act as the brand steward across marketing outputs and fan experiences, ensuring creative consistency, tone and quality across channels

Strategic Partnership with the CMO

• Translate CMO priorities into executable strategy across communications, social, storytelling, brand and fan experience
• Provide the CMO with visibility into media landscape shifts, reputational risk, and comms performance
• Represent the brand/storytelling/comms pillar in cross-functional planning with NIL, sponsorships/partnerships, ticket sales and marketing, social, digital and campaigns so those areas stay coordinated with brand and communications strategy
• Maintain direct and frequent collaboration with the Chief Revenue Officer to ensure alignment across shared Athletics priorities.

Ideal Background

• Primarily a marketing background — brand, creative, and storytelling instincts come first — with real, demonstrated comms/PR fluency layered on top
• Experience in college athletics or a comparable high-visibility sports/entertainment environment
• Strong understanding of the sports media ecosystem — beat reporters, trade publications, how stories move and how programs are covered
• Strategic leadership experience — has run a team and set direction, not only executed within someone else's plan
• Strong creative instincts and standards; able to identify and correct storytelling that undersells partners or the brand (e.g., recognizing the difference between a transactional logo placement and real brand storytelling)

What Success Looks Like

• The CMO has a trusted leader running brand/storytelling/comms day-to-day, with strategic updates rather than operational firefighting
• Brand, communications, storytelling and creative operate as one coordinated, social-first strategy, in close partnership with NIL, sponsorships/partnerships, ticket sales and marketing, and the teams responsible for in-game fan experience
• Media and trade relationships are proactively managed, not reactive

Core Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree
• Minimum 5 years of relevant work experience

Any relevant education, certifications and/or work experience may be considered.

The University of Miami is recognized as one of the nation’s premier research institutions and academic health systems and is among the largest employers in South Florida.

With more than 20,000 faculty and staff, the University is committed to excellence and guided by a mission to positively impact the lives of students, patients, and communities locally and globally.

We are dedicated to fostering a culture where every individual feels valued and empowered to contribute meaningfully. United by shared values, the University community works together to build an environment defined by purpose, collaboration, and service.

The University of Miami is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applicants and employees are protected from discrimination based on certain categories protected by Federal law. Click here for additional information.

Job Status:

Full time

Employee Type:

Staff