Senior Vice President, University Relations And Public Affairs And Chief Communications And Marketing Officer

Senior Vice President, University Relations And Public Affairs

New York University seeks an experienced and dynamic communications and public affairs strategist to serve as the Senior Vice President for University Relations and Public Affairs and Chief Communications and Marketing Officer. This leader will have demonstrable success operationalizing strategy and building consensus across large, complex teams. As a key member of the President's leadership team, this role presents a robust opportunity to contribute to the trajectory of one of the most prominent, respected, and ambitious research universities in the world.

About New York University

In 1831, NYU's founders set out to create a new kind of university, one that matched New York City's growing demands and demographics; a university that was different by design and open to all. NYU has soared since then — in reputation, academic breadth and depth, accessibility, and cosmopolitanism. No other university engages the world like NYU does, with our own campuses, faculty members, students, and staff generating knowledge and discoveries in intellectual hubs around the globe.

Today, that trailblazing spirit makes NYU one of the most prominent and respected research universities in the world. Anchored in New York City and with degree-granting campuses in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai as well as 13 study away sites throughout the world, NYU is a leader in global education, with more international students and more students studying abroad than any other US university.

NYU is adventurous and ambitious. It rewards entrepreneurship, inspires philanthropy, and is determined to continue its remarkable upward trajectory. At the heart of the University are its dedicated staff and its more than 5,000 full-time faculty (roughly half tenured/tenure-track and half contract), whose research and teaching have placed them at the forefront of their disciplines. Among the faculty at NYU are Nobel laureates and Abel laureates; Guggenheim Fellows and MacArthur Fellows; Academy Award, Tony Award, and Emmy Award winners; Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators; members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Science, National Academy of Engineering and the Turing Award; and winners of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Humanities Medal, the National Medal of Science, and the National Medal of Technology.

The research enterprise at NYU has achieved new heights, more than doubling in the past decade to $1.27 billion in annual R&D expenditures in FY 2022. As per the National Science Foundation's Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) report, NYU's research expenditures rank it as the top research university in New York City, the seventh among private universities nationally, and among the top 15 institutions nationally. NYU climbed eight positions in the overall HERD ranking, making it the fastest-growing research university among its peers.

For 16 straight years, NYU has been a dream school, receiving over 120,000 student applications this year and a 9% acceptance rate at the undergraduate level in 2024. At the same time, NYU is dedicated to increasing access across socioeconomic status, meeting the full financial need of all undergraduate students on the New York campus. In October 2023, President Mills announced the NYU Promise: starting in fall 2024, all undergraduates who start as full-time first-year students in New York will not have to pay tuition if they have a family income under $100,000. NYU students come from nearly every state and 133 countries, and the University draws upon the varied backgrounds of its faculty, staff, and students, ensuring its scholarship and teaching benefit from a wide range of perspectives.

Now among the largest private universities in the US, NYU provides a rigorous education to more than 60,000 students. It counts among its faculty recipients of the highest scholarly honors and is a top producer of patents and revenue from licensing among US universities. NYU has a vast network of alumni who have gone on to succeed across professions, from the sciences to the arts and government, throughout the world.

Leadership

Linda G. Mills became the 17th president of New York University on July 1, 2023. President Mills assumed the role after serving as NYU's Vice Chancellor and Senior Vice Provost for Global Programs and University Life for 11 years. In the summer of 2024, Georgina Dopico was named NYU's provost after serving as interim provost beginning in August 2022. Provost Dopico joined the NYU faculty in 2000 and has served as Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, FAS Dean for Humanities, Director of Global Curriculum for CAS, Chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, and Director of Medieval and Renaissance Studies.

Strategic Pathways

Drawing from President Mills' listening tour and conversations with more than 2,500 NYU community members, the Offices of the President and Provost have developed a set of "strategic pathways" to serve as a touchstone for leaders at all levels across the institution. These pathways are complementary and aspirational — intended as starting points to help align the work of NYU's expansive global community around a number of important directions — and are neither exhaustive nor exclusive.

Interdisciplinary Impact: Lead the world in interdisciplinary collaboration for innovation and impact.

NYU is distinguished by interdisciplinary, multi-school, and multi-location research and educational programs that take full advantage of our unique scale, breadth, and global network to generate high-impact research on critical issues facing the world and offers novel opportunities to students.

Science and Technology: Position NYU as the #1 place to be for discovery, innovation, and entrepreneurship with a global perspective.

NYU leverages key strengths in science and technology, entrepreneurship, and our global position and convening power, among others, to create a distinctive and world-class ecosystem that is a magnet for talent and makes us a preferred partner for academic institutions, industry, and government. Our ability to draw upon deep assets across the university, including those in the arts and humanities, social sciences, health, business, law, and policy, multiplies our real-world impact and helps make NYU a champion of progress on a number of key global challenges.

Global: Lead the world in global education and research.

NYU is the world's leading university in global education and research, featuring a vibrant network of academic locations around the world; strong support for globally-oriented research and creative work; a large and thriving population of international students, faculty, and staff; and global study experiences that define an NYU undergraduate education, giving students a unique edge relative to their peers.

Flourishing: Build and sustain a welcoming and supportive community in which students, faculty, and staff can flourish and timely graduation is a top priority.

NYU is a vibrant and diverse, welcoming and accessible global community in which students, faculty, and staff feel supported, connected, and inspired to do their best work. We are diligent and persistent in reducing and eliminating barriers to success, whether measured in terms of timely progress to graduation for students, efficient and effective provision of research and teaching support for faculty, or robust opportunities for professional development and growth for staff.

Enabling Pathways: Complementary to the strategic efforts are Enabling Pathways that provide an Organizational Culture that empowers all to reach their highest potential; New Resources that help fund strategic priorities; and Storytelling that captures NYU's singular impact and experience.

NYU's leaders, both centrally and in the schools, will share a sense of common purpose and dual responsibility, mutual trust and accountability, and confidence in what we can do together. We will work together to use our management bodies, systems, budgets, and policies effectively, with clear expectations and aligned incentives. Our "bench" of rising leaders will be diverse and full of capable, well-informed people prepared to thrive and perform in any number of roles across NYU.

NYU's leaders, both centrally and in the schools, will share a sense of common purpose and dual responsibility, mutual trust and accountability, and confidence in what we can do together. We will work together to use our management bodies, systems, budgets, and policies effectively, with clear expectations and aligned incentives. Our "bench" of rising leaders will be diverse and full of capable, well-informed people prepared to thrive and perform in any number of roles across NYU.

NYU will be known globally for its transformative impact on students and the world, with a compelling story, told in innovative ways, that unites and motivates our community and serves to attract the most talented and pioneering students, faculty, and staff.

Qualifications

The Opportunity

The Senior Vice President for University Relations and Public Affairs and Chief Communications and Marketing Officer (SVP) will serve as the senior leader for NYU's engagement and communication strategies to support mission and impact-oriented storytelling amongst its expansive ecosystem of internal and external stakeholders. This strategic thinker will shape, advance, and amplify the University's mission, reputation, and strategic priorities in a rapidly changing information landscape. The SVP will oversee cross-functional teams of communications, marketing, and public affairs professionals while fostering collaboration, innovation, and a culture of excellence. This leader will bridge existing