Director, Marketing & Recruitment Strategy

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. About the Role We are seeking a VP-level Creative Director to lead all creative functions in service to our higher education clients. This role will define and elevate creative vision while building a modern, high-performing creative function that delivers both compelling brand storytelling and scalable, high-impact performance marketing creative. This is a uniquely hybrid role that sits at the intersection of brand storytelling and performance marketing. It combines the strengths of a traditional Creative Director—defining vision, crafting compelling ideas, and elevating creative—with the rigor of a performance-oriented creative leader focused on speed, iteration, and measurable outcomes. In practice, this means you will be expected to both sell bold, differentiated creative concepts to university partners and ensure that creative output is optimized for performance, produced at scale, and continuously improving based on data. You will oversee all creative disciplines—including design, art direction, video, creative strategy, and content production—and establish the systems, standards, and workflows that enable both exceptional brand work and efficient, high-throughput execution across channels. Our work spans the full marketing ecosystem, from research, brand strategy, and institutional positioning to integrated campaign development and execution across digital and traditional channels, including advertising, websites, email, social, video, TV/CTV, audio, print, out-of-home, and more. 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