Director, Marketing & Recruitment Strategy

Job description

Noodle is higher education’s leading strategy, services, and technology partner. We develop infrastructure, provide life-changing learning experiences, and grow the awareness of and the enrollment in some of the best academic institutions in the world. Our vision is “to empower universities to change the world.” We achieve this vision by offering our university partners various products and services that help them be more resilient, responsive, efficient, and interconnected. **Position Overview:** We're looking for a seasoned marketing and enrollment strategist to take on special consulting projects with Noodle's university partners. This person has worked across institution types and program portfolios — public and private, undergraduate and graduate, online and residential — and knows what actually moves enrollment in each context. You'll work directly with institutions to diagnose what's holding back their marketing and enrollment performance, then build clear, prioritized action plans. The work spans the full funnel, from demand generation through to enrollment and beyond. The ideal candidate is a consultant at heart: comfortable walking into an unfamiliar situation, asking hard questions, forming a point of view, and defending it to a room of senior academic leaders. ### Key Responsibilities: - Serve as a consultative partner to institutions, diagnosing marketing and enrollment challenges and identifying root causes rather than symptoms for existing programs as well as programs or products being launched. - Lead and facilitate workshops and discovery engagements with deans, provosts, program directors, and faculty, ensuring smooth engagement kickoff and strategy alignment. - Prepare and deliver presentations that secure buy-in from university stakeholders. - Scope engagements in partnership with account and business development teams — defining objectives, deliverables, level of effort, and timeline, and adjusting scope as the diagnosis evolves. - Develop clear, sequenced action plans with defined owners, timelines, and success measures — designed for either Noodle implementation or the partner's internal execution. - Apply market and user research and conduct competitive analyses to inform positioning and enrollment strategy, leveraging AI tools where they add speed or depth. - Translate research findings into strategic recommendations that drive marketing and recruiting decisions across the funnel. - Collaborate cross-functionally with internal teams to shape and refine partner strategy. - Brief internal stakeholders — copywriters, designers, implementation — on strategy and deliverables to ensure clean handoff to executing teams. - Analyze and interpret performance data to provide actionable insights and recommend strategic direction across marketing channels, from top-of-funnel demand generation through application and enrollment. - Map the student journey in collaboration with our brand and experience strategists, focusing on key touchpoints throughout the recruitment funnel. ### Qualifications: - 7+ years of experience in digital marketing (agency experience preferred). - Demonstrated experience across a range of institution types and program types — the ability to recognize what transfers between contexts and what doesn't. - Direct experience in higher education or with higher ed clients. - Proven experience leading workshops and presenting to senior stakeholders. - Strong background in market research, competitive analysis, and strategy development. - Deep understanding of the enrollment funnel, from demand generation through matriculation, in online higher education programs. - Experience scoping and structuring consulting engagements, including estimating effort and setting realistic client expectations. - Track record of producing recommendations that clients actually implement. - Ability to build strong relationships and work collaboratively across departments. ### Skills & Competencies: - **Diagnostic Thinking:**Able to assess an unfamiliar situation quickly, separate root causes from symptoms, and form a defensible point of view. - **Teamwork:**Strong ability to collaborate across teams and departments. - **Oral Communication:**A skilled storyteller who can lead internal and external meetings with confidence and clarity. - **Written Communication:**Able to craft compelling business cases, recommendations, and marketing materials. - **Critical Thinking:**Able to challenge assumptions and offer fresh perspectives to optimize strategies. - **Data-Driven Decision Making:**Analytical mindset, able to translate data into insights for strategy adjustments. ### Additional Skills/Traits (optional but valuable): - Familiarity with marketing automation tools and CRM platforms. - Experience with SEO, paid media, and content marketing strategies. - Ability to juggle multiple projects and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment. ### Role Requirements: - **Location:** Must reside in the continental US, within close proximity to a major airport to facilitate travel to partner universities, as the role requires travel up to 20% of the time - **Internet Connectivity:** As this role is primarily remote, a reliable, high-speed internet connection is essential, along with a quiet, organized workspace for participating in camera-on, partner-facing meetings - **Core Business Hours:** Available during core business hours from 9am-5pm. Start and end times may flex slightly based on your time zone Reports to: SVP, Marketing & Enrollment: Strategy & Delivery (Melissa Batalin) Service Lead: Chief Marketing Officer (Rich Kochman) ### Noodle Benefits - Work from our beautiful NYC office OR the comfort of your home office! - Computer and charger on us! - 401(k) with company match, plus equity opportunities - Medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family (including mental health benefits like Headspace and Talkspace) - Employer-paid life and disability insurance - Optional voluntary coverage, including supplemental life, accident, critical illness, and hospital insurance - Health Savings Account (HSA), Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), and commuter benefits - Pre-tax benefit options that help you save on eligible healthcare, dependent care, and commuting expenses - Employee Assistance Program (EAP) - Paid parental leave - Wellness initiatives and resources - Free subscription to the Calm app - Employee discount program - 4 weeks of paid vacation + 10 paid holidays + paid sick leave - Monthly mobile connectivity stipend - Annual education stipend for lifelong learning - Growth opportunities - we pride ourselves on creating environments where employees can be themselves and grow within and around the company