Executive Opportunity: Director of Marketing and Communications

The Institute of Culinary Education (ice.edu) is one of the nation’s most well-regarded culinary education providers. We are the largest and leading culinary schools in America’s two largest markets – New York and Los Angeles. Since 2018, ICE has notably grown with the opening of the LA campus (2018), and licensing acquisitions of the former International Culinary Center (2020) and the Natural Gourmet Institute (2019). Now, ICE is looking for a new Director of Marketing.

ICE’s core educational products are its under one-year, accredited diploma programs in Culinary Arts and Pastry & Baking Arts. Over the years, other related programs have been added in Restaurant Management, Hospitality Management, Health-Supportive Culinary Arts, Sommelier Training, Cake Decorating and Bread Baking. In addition, the NYC campus has offered a vast array of recreational cooking and baking courses, as well as cooking parties and events. Compared to many learning institutions, ICE has weathered the pandemic well. With a range of safety measures, both campuses re-opened for hands-on, in-person classes in August 2020, and enrollment has been strong.

For all leading educational institutions, marketing begins with elements outside of the marketing realm. That includes strong student outcomes, reputation, excellent curriculum and faculty, an aspirational environment and the perception of value. ICE offers these attributes. The role marketing plays is to present and promote these attributes via storytelling, digital marketing, a strong web presence, email campaigns, social media, public relations, advertising and related brand building activities. Notably, while ICE is an institution, the atmosphere is not institutional. Walk through our halls and you will see students, staff, chef-instructors, faculty and other customers whose attitudes are serious, dedicated, focused and fun. And from a business perspective, the school is entrepreneurial.

The Director will report to the company President and will be responsible and accountable for the following range of activity:

Team Management – Six team members between NY and LA covering the website, blog, public relations, analytics and industry engagement. Their work flows and output are necessarily intermingled, and interface and teamwork with other school departments is ongoing.

Brand & Positioning Management – Current status is good, but evolution and enhancement are ongoing processes based on both school growth and the external environment.

Lead Generation – Organic and inorganic search that generates leads is vital to each campus’ Admissions department. Implementation of ICE’s strategy and tactics is managed by a new, outside agency.

Strategy Development with School Leadership – ICE’s growing status as category leader presents a range of opportunities for institutional advancement.

New Marketing Initiatives – From creative partnerships to implementation of new software, apps and technology, ICE has an ongoing interest in exploring new marketing tools, channels and options.

Content Development and Management – ICE has a strong track record in content development and utilization, and the school is a content-rich environment. The product and our alumni provide compelling stories to be told. Ensuring that the content program and messaging are optimized is a complex and ongoing process.

Analytics & Budgets – The annual budget is in excess of $2.5 million and requires accurate and actionable reporting.