Associate Director of Digital Marketing

By working at Harvard University, you join a vibrant community that advances Harvard's world-changing mission in meaningful ways, inspires innovation and collaboration, and builds skills and expertise. We are dedicated to creating a diverse and welcoming environment where everyone can thrive.

Why join Harvard Medical School?

Harvard Medical School's mission is to nurture a diverse, inclusive community dedicated to alleviating suffering and improving health and well-being for all through excellence in teaching and learning, discovery and scholarship, and service and leadership.

You’ll be at the heart of biomedical discovery, education, and innovation, working alongside world-renowned faculty and a community dedicated to improving human health. This is more than a job - it’s an opportunity to shape the future of medicine.

About the Office for External Education:

The Office for External Education provides health care professionals, corporations, and lay audiences with broad access to Harvard Medical School’s peerless and constantly expanding body of medical knowledge. Our educational offerings are created in collaboration with members of the school’s almost 12,000-member faculty and reflect firsthand, expert clinical insights based on breakthrough research and best practices. Our portfolio of innovative medical education opportunities is available to learners worldwide and includes live in-person programs, hybrid courses, self-paced online learning, digital products, educational webinars, podcasts, and printed materials.  

Harvard Medical School’s Office for External Education (OEE) seeks a strategic, hands-on Associate Director of Digital Marketing to lead performance marketing for a diverse portfolio of professional, corporate, and continuing education offerings. Reporting to the Senior Director of Marketing, this role owns planning, implementation, monitoring, and optimization of search, display, and social campaigns that drive awareness, leads, and enrollments across postgraduate certificates, digital programs, corporate learning, and continuing education.

As part of a collaborative marketing team, the Associate Director partners with program marketing leads, design, social, web, and admissions/enrollment teams to develop and execute integrated, data-driven media strategies. The ideal candidate has deep experience with paid digital media planning and buying (preferably in an agency setting), is fully versed in Google, LinkedIn, and Meta, and brings strong leadership, organizational, and people-management skills. The role will hire, develop, and manage a Digital Marketing Specialist.

Key Responsibilities:

• Strategy & Planning
  • Lead end-to-end digital media strategy and execution for OEE programs and courses across search, display, and social to meet lead, enrollment, and revenue goals. Within a 150+ offering portfolio, develop both comprehensive program-specific campaigns and broader portfolio-level initiatives.
  • Develop media plans, including channel mix, budgets, flighting, and forecasting across key platforms.
  • Serve as primary internal expert on paid digital media, advising leadership on performance, risks, and opportunities.
• Campaign Set-Up & Execution
  • Oversee campaign set-up: keyword and audience research, targeting and bid strategies, creative specs, and tracking requirements.
  • Create, test, and optimize ad copy and creative concepts in partnership with marketing team members.
  • Maintain standard operating procedures for planning, set-up, QA, optimization, and reporting.
• Optimization & Performance Management
  • Monitor performance and optimize in real time (bids, budgets, audiences, placements, creative) to improve ROI and cost per lead/enrollment.
  • Translate data and user insights into recommendations for targeting, messaging, landing pages, and funnel optimization.
  • Ensure strong budget stewardship, managing media spend to maximize impact within financial parameters.
• Measurement, Analytics & Reporting
  • Implement and manage conversion tracking, pixels, UTMs, and event configurations for accurate attribution.
  • Oversee Google Tag Manager governance, including approving and publishing tags, triggers, and variables.
  • Build dashboards and recurring reports with clear insights into performance, trends, and opportunities.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Align media strategies with integrated marketing plans, program goals, and timelines.
  • Provide landing page recommendations to improve quality scores, conversion rates, and overall effectiveness.
  • Coordinate with admissions and enrollment to incorporate lead flow, lead quality, and downstream metrics into optimizations.
  • Partner with finance to ensure accurate coding, reconciliation, and timely payment of advertising invoices.
• Leadership, Management & Innovation
  • Hire, train, and manage a Digital Marketing Specialist, providing goals, coaching, and feedback.
  • Stay current on platform capabilities, privacy changes, and best practices; pilot and scale new features.
  • Bring forward-thinking ideas on using AI and automation to enhance targeting, creative, optimization, and reporting.

As part of your application, we recommend including a cover letter that will help us better understand your qualifications and background. This can provide valuable insight into your experience and interest in the role.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, business, related field, or equivalent work experience required. 
• 7+ years of hands-on experience in digital marketing with a strong focus on paid search, display, social, or related transferable experience.

Additional Qualifications and Skills:

• Prior agency experience strongly preferred.
• Advanced degree a plus.
• Proven track record in planning and managing multi-channel media campaigns (Google, LinkedIn, Meta, and Bing) to lead/enrollment or revenue goals.
• Strong analytical skills with experience in performance reporting, dashboards, and data-driven optimization (e.g., Google Analytics, Looker Studio, Tableau, or similar tools).
• Deep knowledge of platform features, targeting options, bidding strategies, and optimization techniques across major ad platforms.
• Demonstrated experience managing and mentoring staff or junior team members.
• Excellent collaboration, communication, and project management skills; ability to coordinate across multiple stakeholders and competing priorities.
• Professional certifications in major ad platforms (e.g., Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Meta Blueprint) strongly preferred.
• Proficiency with Google Tag Manager, including experience configuring, testing, and publishing tags for complex multi-campaign environments.
• Demonstrated project management skills using Monday.com or similar project management tools to manage timelines, tasks, and cross-functional workflows.
• Experience in higher education, professional education, or related industries preferred.

• Standard Hours/Schedule: 35 hours per week
• Visa Sponsorship Information: Harvard University is unable to provide visa sponsorship for this position.
• Pre-Employment Screening: Identity, Education
• Staying Informed About Your Application: Due to the high volume of applications, we may not always be able to reach out right away, but you can track your status anytime through the Careers@Harvard portal.

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Work Format Details

This position has been determined by school or unit leaders that the duties and responsibilities can effectively be performed fully remotely at a non-Harvard location. Employees in fully remote positions must work all scheduled hours in a Harvard registered state in compliance with the University’s Policy on Employment Outside of Massachusetts. At the discretion of the department, fully remote employees may occasionally be required on site at a Harvard location. Certain visa types and funding sources may limit work location. Individuals must meet work location sponsorship requirements prior to employment.

Salary Grade and Ranges

This position is salary grade level 058. Please visit  Harvard's Salary Ranges  to view the corresponding salary range and related information. 

Benefits

Harvard offers a comprehensive benefits package that is designed to support a healthy work-life balance and your physical, mental and financial wellbeing. Because here, you are what matters. Our benefits include, but are not limited to: 

• Generous paid time off including parental leave 
• Medical, dental, and vision health insurance coverage starting on day one 
• Retirement plans with university contributions 
• Wellbeing and mental health resources 
• Support for families and caregivers 
• Professional development opportunities including tuition assistance and reimbursement 
• Commuter benefits, discounts and campus perks 

Learn more about these and additional benefits on our Benefits & Wellbeing Page. 

EEO/Non-Discrimination Commitment Statement

Harvard University is committed to equal opportunity and non-discrimination. We seek talent from all parts of society and the world, and we strive to ensure everyone at Harvard thrives. Our differences help our community advance Harvard's academic purposes.

Harvard has an equal employment opportunity policy that outlines our commitment to prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, religion, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law or identified in the university's non-discrimination policy. Harvard's equal employment opportunity policy and non-discrimination policy help all community members participate fully in work and campus life free from harassment and discrimination.