Marketing & Enrollment Strategist (Consulting) - Higher Education

Position Overview:

We're looking for a seasoned marketing and enrollment strategist with 7+ years of experience to take on special consulting projects with Noodle's university partners. This role requires expertise across public and private institutions, undergraduate and graduate programs, and online and residential formats. The ideal candidate will diagnose marketing and enrollment challenges, identify root causes, and build clear, prioritized action plans spanning the full funnel—from demand generation to enrollment and beyond.

The ideal candidate is a consultant at heart: comfortable walking into an unfamiliar situation, asking hard questions, forming a point of view, and defending it to a room of senior academic leaders.

Key Responsibilities:

• Serve as a consultative partner to institutions, diagnosing marketing and enrollment challenges and identifying root causes for existing programs as well as new initiatives.
• 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 to secure buy-in from university stakeholders.
• Scope engagements in partnership with account and business development teams, defining objectives, deliverables, effort, and timelines while adjusting scope as the diagnosis evolves.
• Develop clear, sequenced action plans with defined owners, timelines, and success measures—designed for either Noodle implementation or 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 teams—on strategy and deliverables to ensure clean handoff.
• 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 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, recognizing transferable strategies and context-specific nuances.
• 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 unfamiliar situations quickly, separate root causes from symptoms, and form a defensible point of view.
• Teamwork: Strong ability to collaborate across teams and departments.
• Oral Communication: 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: Challenges assumptions and offers fresh perspectives to optimize strategies.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Analytical mindset, translating 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 (up to 20% travel).
• Internet Connectivity: Reliable, high-speed internet connection required for remote work.
• Core Business Hours: Available from 9am-5pm (flexible start/end times based on time zone).