Director of hr Jobs in Lugano

About the job

The Opportunity

Franklin Switzerland is seeking an accomplished, hands-on marketing and communications leader for an exceptional opportunity to define and drive Franklin's brand and growth at a pivotal moment. Reporting directly to the President, the Director will work in close partnership with the Vice President of Enrollment Management and the Director of Advancement and Alumni to build an integrated marketing function and advance Franklin’s Strategic Plan.

This is both a strategic and a building role. The successful candidate will own the full marketing funnel, from brand awareness through consideration and decision to enrollment, and onward to alumni and donor engagement, and will lead by example, building and developing a lean internal team while shaping and managing the external agencies and specialist vendors that extend its reach.

About Franklin Switzerland

Franklin Switzerland, founded in 1969, is one of the first institutions to bring liberal arts education to Europe and to be recognized by both and Swiss accreditation agencies. A leader in international education, Franklin provides an experiential and multinational learning environment through small classes, strong student and faculty relationships, a residential campus, and hands-on Academic Travel experiences.

With roughly 300 students from more than 60 countries, set in the safe and striking landscape of Lugano, Franklin is distinctive: an intimate residential community, a uniquely dual –Swiss accreditation, and an Academic Travel program that turns the world into a classroom. Franklin promotes intellectual curiosity and critical thinking, strives for academic excellence, and fosters interdisciplinary opportunities for its students, faculty, and staff. Franklin acknowledges the accomplishments and global impact of our community through a culture of trust that respects diversity, equity, inclusion, and continuous improvement.

The Full-Funnel Mandate

Franklin is looking for a leader who is genuinely fluent across the whole funnel, from brand to conversion, and who can hold two equally important pillars in balance rather than favoring one over the other:

? Brand marketing — defining, documenting, and protecting a distinctive Franklin voice, and building awareness, reputation, and trust among prospective students, families, alumni, and partners. Success is measured in awareness, sentiment, content engagement, and share of voice.

? Performance marketing — building the demand-generation infrastructure — CRM and marketing automation, paid acquisition, lead nurturing, and conversion-optimized web experiences — that turns awareness into inquiries, applications, enrolled students, and engaged donors. Success is measured in cost per inquiry, application conversion, yield, and return on ad spend.

The ideal candidate has run integrated campaigns where brand storytelling feeds the acquisition funnel and performance data informs the editorial calendar. A university education is a high-consideration, long-decision-cycle choice: families spend many months in research before they apply. Strong brand pre-sells Franklin so that paid acquisition works harder, while disciplined performance marketing ensures that interest converts. The Director is expected to protect both sets of metrics with equal rigor.

Key Responsibilities

Strategy & Leadership

? Lead and implement an integrated, full-funnel marketing and communications strategy spanning brand and performance in service of student recruitment, institutional reputation, and alumni and donor engagement.

? Build, lead, develop, and inspire the marketing team, establishing an operating model that blends focused internal staff with well-managed external agencies and specialist vendors.

Brand & Communications

? Champion Franklin Switzerland as the primary brand ambassador; define, document, and protect a clear and distinctive brand voice and positioning, applied consistently across every audience and channel.

? Provide editorial direction and oversee the design, production, and distribution of all marketing and communications materials, working in close collaboration with relevant colleagues, and ensure the highest level of professionalism in all written communication that represents Franklin’s voice.

? Stimulate and coordinate media interest in Franklin through press releases, media responses, and targeted media contacts, and provide expertise and advice to campus leadership on internal and external public-relations matters.

? Ensure stories featuring students, alumni, faculty, and staff are routinely shared internally and externally, and establish and maintain an up-to-date campus events calendar that uses the webs j4id10264885a j4it0728a j4iy26a