Executive Director for Strategic Communications

Established in 1789, Georgetown is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit university in the United States. Drawing upon the 450-year-old legacy of Jesuit education, the university provides students with a world-class liberal education, educating the whole person through exposure to different faiths, cultures, and beliefs. Students are challenged to engage in the world, especially with the most vulnerable and disadvantaged members of the community. These values are at the core of Georgetown's identity and are shared by members of the community across diverse backgrounds. At the invitation of the Qatar Foundation (QF) and with their sponsorship, Georgetown University established a regional campus of its School of Foreign Service in Education City in Doha, Qatar in 2005. Originally known as the School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Q), the campus conferred a four-year undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service (BSFS) identical to the degree offered at the Georgetown University Main Campus. In 2015, after 10 years of successful partnership, Georgetown and QF renewed their contract, and with increased academic programming from across Georgetown University, the school was renamed Georgetown University Qatar (GU-Q). The BSFS remains the central educational effort of GU-Q, but there has been new programming added to enhance the student experience in the form of certificate programs, professional master's programs, and community education. The GU-Q campus promotes the values of Georgetown University and seeks to build upon its world-class reputation by working with the QF as a partner to achieve its endeavors in the Qatar National Vision 2030. The GU-Q campus continues a long Georgetown tradition of international engagement and scholarship in the Middle East, and GU-Q aims to be recognized as the leading academic institution for international affairs in the Middle East through its unfailing excellence in teaching, research, and community engagement. The Role The Executive Director of Strategic Communications is a senior leadership position at Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q), reporting directly to the GU-Q Dean. This position will be responsible for overseeing the Office of Communications and for developing and implementing a comprehensive external communications strategy that enhances GU-Q's visibility locally, regionally, and internationally, and creating an effective internal communications strategy to facilitate accurate, consistent, and timely communication across all levels of the organization. The executive director will develop an externally facing communication strategy geared toward enhancing GU-Q's reputation, propagating its mission and values, promoting its faculty and programming in media outlets, and engaging with various stakeholders, including students, prospective students and families, faculty, staff, alumni, academic institutions, and the broader community. Key Accountabilities • Develop and execute a comprehensive internal and external communications strategy that aligns with GU-Q's vision, mission, and values. The strategy will drive the expansion of the institution's intellectual footprint–highlighting its achievements, and amplifying its impact and global reach; • Oversee the creation of high-quality content for various platforms, including websites, social media, newsletters, and press releases, while ensuring consistency in messaging and branding across all communication channels; • Establish, cultivate, and maintain effective working relationships with local and international media outlets, journalists, and influencers;