Tandem Friends School, an all-gender, Quaker, 5th-12th grade independent day school in Charlottesville, Virginia, seeks a dynamic and enthusiastic Marketing and Communications Manager. This is an exciting opportunity for a digitally savvy creative person with a passion for education, community engagement and storytelling. The Marketing and Communications Manager will build relationships across the community to identify and showcase compelling storytelling opportunities and reinforce Tandem’s value proposition.

The Opportunity:

A unique school with a unique history, Tandem Friends School of Charlottesville, VA is guided by the Quaker principles that define Friends Schools and has three school mottos: kindness and wisdom, creativity and integrity, and freedom with responsibility. Founded in 1970 as an inclusive option amidst the legacy of segregation academies that proliferated in Virginia at that time, Tandem was the first school in the area founded as both coeducational and racially integrated. Over time, Tandem found Quaker schools to be kindred spirits and joined the Friends Council of Education, becoming a Friends School in 1996.

With approximately 250 students and spanning only grades 5-12, Tandem Friends aims to cultivate a school culture in which adolescents feel invested in their school community, feel seen and appreciated, and feel comfortable being their full selves at school. By encouraging the exploration of new activities and experiences and supporting students’ sense of community responsibility and belonging, the school strives to create challenging and engaging academic and extracurricular experiences that feel purposeful to our students. 

Position Summary

The Marketing and Communications Manager is responsible for the delivery of a comprehensive marketing and communications strategy that effectively tells the Tandem Friends story to current and prospective families, alumni, donors, and the broader community across multiple channels including advertising, print materials, digital newsletter, website, social media and press releases. This role requires a creative and results-oriented individual with strong writing, editing, photography and interpersonal skills, as well as a passion for education and a deep understanding of multiple communications channels including digital and social media. 

The ideal candidate is an excellent writer and editor and possesses a journalistic and marketing eye for both written and photographic/videographic formats. The successful candidate is an innovative and stellar digital marketer who has demonstrated expertise with social media, digital marketing, and web duties as outlined below. The candidate must also be detail-oriented, self-motivated, and able to manage multiple projects under deadlines. The ideal candidate must be able to work both independently and collaborate with a team in a fast-paced environment.  

To be effective, this person will be willing to take the time to understand Tandem’s core values and our community to be in a position to articulate our value proposition and tell our story in an authentic and relatable way to multiple constituencies. The position requires the candidate to be in-person and on-campus and to develop meaningful relationships among all constituencies in order to be the school’s primary storyteller and voice. 

Duties & Responsibilities

Content Creation & Strategy: 

• Develop and maintain a compelling narrative, and a unique and strong voice for all communications based on the brand and messaging platform of the school, maintaining quality, accuracy, authenticity, editorial style and “voice” across all content types.
• Proactively identify and document compelling events, classes, and people in the Tandem Friends environment. Craft mission-aligned stories about Tandem’s people and programs for both internal and external audiences.
• Create written and visual content to the school’s digital communications, including but not limited to the weekly community newsletter, school website, admissions materials, alumni materials, marketing materials, and fundraising materials, and any other printed or digital collateral as needed.  
• Act as a liaison and creative partner in visual and written storytelling to other administrative offices and programs throughout the school, including but not limited to academic divisions, advancement, admissions, alumni, arts, athletics and summer programs.
• Create engaging visual content for all platforms.
• Manage an editorial calendar for storytelling content, ensuring timely, consistent and equitable updates across all platforms.
• Regularly share information and pitch stories to local news outlets.

Marketing and Advertising:

• Create and implement an annual advertising plan for admissions including print, digital and radio advertising and select sponsorship opportunities.
• Update and maintain the school’s website, ensuring content is accurate, current, and aligned with the school’s brand. 
• Expand Tandem’s presence across platforms, leveraging data and analytics to optimize campaigns and audience reach. Plan and execute all advertising campaigns, including web, SEO/SEM, email, social media, and print.
• Generate regular reports on key performance indicators and use the data to make recommendations for improvement.
• Create and implement an annual advertising plan for Tandem’s summer programs including print and digital advertising.

 Social Media Management: 

• Establish and execute a digital marketing strategy to distribute content for the school’s social media channels (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.), website, and email newsletters.
• Oversee the day-to-day management of the school’s social media accounts, including content scheduling, posting, and audience engagement.
• Track and analyze social media performance metrics and adjust strategies as needed to increase engagement, reach, and visibility to meet objectives.
• Respond to comments, messages, and mentions on all platforms in a timely and friendly manner, fostering positive relationships with our school community.
• Monitor social media channels for mentions of the school, events, or key topics to engage with the audience proactively. Monitor platforms for mentions, tags, and relevant conversations where the school can join the dialogue.
• Work closely with School administration to ensure that social media campaigns are aligned with broader institutional marketing initiatives, including enrollment, community engagement, and fundraising.
• Stay up-to-date with the latest social media marketing trends. 

Photography, Videography and Design:

• Regularly shoot, edit, and produce high-quality photo and video content that captures school life for both internal use and marketing purposes; edit and package content for cross-platform use.
• Maintain the school's database of photo and video assets. Manage digital asset organization and archiving system for the school's growing multimedia library. 
• Work with outside photographers and videographers to capture additional photography and videography for annual needs and/or specific projects.
• Create graphics for social media, email and other digital uses using tools such as Canva or Adobe and work collaboratively with an outside graphic designer for more elaborate projects.

Additional Responsibilities: 

• Champion the school brand and identity by ensuring all communications and marketing content maintains a high level of quality and features the school’s style, editorial, graphic, and branding standards.
• Support the mission of Tandem and the work of communications and marketing through regular presence at school events and relationship building throughout the community 
• Support the overall functioning of the school with light duties related to the educational program. All TFS administrators get to know students and may on occasion even be asked to cover a class when needed.
• Participate in employee-focused professional development days and meetings.
• Attend evening/weekend events as required.
• Other projects and duties assigned by the position’s supervisor and/or the Head of School.

How to Apply:

Tandem Friends School aspires to be an equitable and inclusive school community. The school welcomes applications from candidates who will contribute to an atmosphere in which all are valued and supported. People of color and members of other underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply. 

Reporting to a senior leadership team member and in collaboration with colleagues across organization, the Marketing and Communications Manager is a key member of the marketing and administrative team. This is a full time position beginning immediately depending on candidate availability. While the position is intended to be full time, it could be configured based on a candidate’s schedule and/or designed around a subset of position responsibilities. The salary and exact title will be commensurate with experience and the final scope of responsibilities.

We are now accepting applications. Interested applicants should submit a cover letter; resume; a portfolio including at least one written article, samples of videography/photography/graphic design work and links or screen shots of a social media campaign; and a list of three to five professional references, including contact information to commsposition@tandemfs.org. References will not be contacted until after initial interviews with candidates. Review of submitted materials will begin immediately. 

Requirements

Tandem Friends seeks faculty and administrators who bring diverse skills and knowledge, a willingness to learn new things, and an appreciation for collaboration with students. Ideal candidates will possess:

• 5 years relevant experience ideally in a school or non-profit setting.
• Bachelor’s Degree, preferably in Communications, Marketing, Journalism, English, or a similar field.
• Strong, compelling writing skills and excellent editing and proofreading skills. 
• Significant work-related experience and demonstrated success in social media management, preferably in an educational or nonprofit setting.
• Ability to write quickly and in a variety of styles for different audiences/uses.
• Understanding of the importance of brand adherence, visual identity, and editorial standards, and the ability to communicate these to others within the institution.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to engage effectively with individuals of all ages and in all departments of the school.
• Superb attentiveness to detail and accuracy.
• Consistent track record of collaboration and juggling multiple priorities.
• Strong digital photography and videography skills and knowledge of video editing software. 
• Facility with Google Suite required; high proficiency with social media and social media management tools and knowledge of Canva, Adobe InDesign and Photoshop.
• A creative and innovative mindset with the ability to think strategically and execute effectively.

Physical Requirements: 

• Daily desk work, including significant amounts of computer time.
• As part of daily routines, frequent walking inside and outside and managing stairs as part of general job duties moving around a large campus with uneven pavement in all types of weather.
• The employee must be able to work the standard week of Monday through Friday during regular business hours on campus, with additional hours required outside those hours to attend events and meetings.
• Ability to lift 10 pounds. 

About Tandem Friends School

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