Director of Content and Communications

Title: Director of Content and Communications 

Department/Location: Marketing/Communications, St. Louis, MO 

Position Type: Full-time, 12-month 

Summary 

The Director of Content and Communications advances Principia by leading a comprehensive, multi-channel communications and content strategy that tells Principia’s story with clarity, consistency, and purpose. This role plays a key part in raising awareness and improving brand perception—both externally and internally—and strengthens engagement and brand alignment across the institution. It supports enrollment and retention on both campuses, alumni and friends engagement, and fundraising efforts. Reporting to the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer and overseeing a Communications Manager and a Managing Editor, the Director provides strategic communications for Principia as a whole, while partnering closely with the Advancement, College, and School marketing teams.  

The role also collaborates with institution-wide departments and other key stakeholders to craft stories and deliver messaging that elevates Principia’s mission and reputation. Additionally, the Director supports thought leadership efforts by identifying and amplifying voices and ideas that reflect Principia’s values, expertise, and institutional priorities. Success in this role requires expertise in content strategy and development, writing and editing, media and public relations, cross-functional collaboration, leadership, and strategic thinking. 

Who We Are  

At our award-winning Early Childhood through grade 12 Principia School in St. Louis, Missouri, and top-ranked Principia College in Elsah, Illinois, Principia faculty and staff make up a close-knit community of educators, coaches, and professionals taking a distinct approach to education—blending academic excellence with Christian Science-based character education. Principia’s team of over 500 employees supports not only Principia School and Principia College, but also a worldwide network of alumni and friends.  

Principia employees are part of an engaging academic community preparing students to be tomorrow’s leaders, thinkers, and changemakers. We strive to create a collaborative and inclusive environment where everyone feels they belong and are valued. 

Primary Responsibilities  

• Leads Principia’s content and communications strategy across all channels to strengthen brand awareness, engagement, and alignment with institutional priorities
• Collaborates across departments to align communications with strategic goals and provide guidance on best practices
• Manages and mentors the content and communications team—sets priorities, guides editorial standards, reviews all institutional copy, and ensures high-quality, mission-aligned content
• Oversees and, when needed, creates institutional communications pieces—such as annual reports and key storytelling collateral—that advance Principia’s mission and support strategic priorities in advancement, admissions, and brand reputation
• Owns and approves the integrated editorial calendar—plan, review, and approve stories that raise awareness and improve brand perception, directly and indirectly supporting enrollment, retention, alumni engagement, and fundraising
• Supports thought‑leadership initiatives by identifying voices, shaping narratives, and amplifying institutional expertise, and by overseeing the development of presentations and other collateral (e.g., slide decks, briefs, executive talking points, one‑pagers, and media kits) for strategic initiatives such as Principia Forward, ensuring message consistency and brand alignment
• Provides oversight of institutional communications vehicles such as Principia Purpose alumni magazine and Prin InFocus newsletter, ensuring alignment with institutional priorities
• Ensures consistent messaging and brand voice by maintaining guidelines, templates, and tools for all of Principia—including communications tools like social media platforms
• Works with the institutional marketing team to ensure design, multimedia, and digital experiences are aligned with content and brand strategy

• Directs media and public relations efforts, including proactive outreach and issues/crisis communications in coordination with executive leadership
• Supports and collaborates with the School, College, and Advancement Marketing and Communications Directors to support brand-critical initiatives and ensure alignment across institutional priorities
• Fosters a culture of collaboration among Principia’s marketing and communications teams by encouraging regular cross-functional meetings, open idea exchange, and peer review of strategies and creative work to ensure alignment, innovation, and consistency across the institution
• Synthesizes institution‑level performance data—including reports provided by team members—and uses insights to refine strategy and improve content effectiveness
• Stays current on marketing and communications trends, especially in independent schools and higher education, and applies insights to strengthen Principia’s strategies

Core Competencies

• Team player: Ability to collaborate and partner with peers and senior leaders is critical, with an ability to listen, give and receive feedback, and be comfortable exchanging ideas and speaking candidly in a professional and collegial manner 
• Strategic thinker: Ability to consider complex topics from multiple perspectives and offer innovative solutions. 
• Interpersonal Skills: Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively and professionally with candidates and staff at all levels and build strong relationships 
• Leadership: Exhibits confidence in self and others; inspires and motivates others to perform well; effectively influences actions of others; inspires respect and trust; accepts feedback from others; provides vision and inspiration to peers and direct reports; gives appropriate recognition to others; mobilizes others to fulfill the vision; promotes a positive work environment. 
• Results Driven and Productivity: Ability to prioritize and deliver results in a high-volume environment 
• Communication: Communicates well (written and verbal), delivers compelling presentations, has strong listening skills, passion and drive, and both intellectual and emotional intelligence 
• Innovative: Presents a problem-solving mindset that helps our team come up with creative solutions to challenging issues, with a mentality of self-improvement and organizational excellence; meets challenges with resourcefulness; generates suggestions for improving work; develops innovative approaches and ideas 
• Quality: Demonstrates attention to detail, accuracy, and thoroughness 

Minimum Qualifications 

• Student of Christian Science 
• Supportive of Principia’s guiding statements as articulated here https://www.principia.edu/about/guiding-statements
• Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Journalism, Marketing, English, or a related field; Master’s preferred

• Seven+ years of progressively responsible experience in communications and content strategy, including at least three years’ experience successfully managing a team 
• Demonstrated excellence in writing and editing for institutional communications; portfolio of 5–10 representative samples showing consistent voice across web, email, print, and internal channels
• Proven experience establishing and maintaining editorial standards and brand voice across a distributed organization (digital, print, and internal channels), with a track record of ensuring clarity, consistency, and alignment to institutional priorities
• Media and public relations experience, including proactive outreach, drafting statements/talking points, and supporting issues/crisis communications in partnership with executive leadership
• Fluency with Microsoft 365 and Google Suite, and working knowledge of a web CMS (e.g., Drupal), basic production tools (e.g., Acrobat/Canva/Adobe Express), and analytics/reporting to evaluate content performance and inform decisions

The statements above describe the general nature and level of work but are not a complete list of responsibilities and are subject to change at the discretion of Principia.  

Compensation and Benefits 

We offer a competitive starting salary range for this position: $90,500–$102,000 annually, commensurate with experience and qualifications. 

In addition to salary, our comprehensive total rewards package includes: 

• Generous Employee Tuition Discount: Enjoy a 90% discount on tuition (pro-rated for part-time staff) for your eligible children enrolled from Pre-K3 through College (infant and acorn programs excluded).
• Relocation: Principia provides a relocation imbursement of up to 12% of your annual salary, when moving from outside a radius of more than 50 miles.
• Professional Development: Access to learning opportunities, training programs, and career growth support.
• Comprehensive Benefits: Learn more about all our benefits here, including comprehensive health, dental, and vision plans, paid time off, a 403(b) retirement plan with Principia matching, and more.

Equal Opportunity  

Principia, a mission-driven institution, believes every person has the right to an equitable and respectful educational environment and workplace. Principia does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnicity, gender (identity or expression), sexual orientation, family status, disability, age, or military or veteran status.  

In hiring, admissions, and related decisions, Principia—as an institution with a religious mission—gives preference, where appropriate, to Christian Scientists.