Assistant/Associate Professor of Practice in Strategic Communications (NTT)

Located in Boston’s historic Fenway area, Simmons University has a strong tradition of empowering women and challenging traditional gender roles. Simmons was founded for equality 125 years ago as one of the first higher education institutions dedicated to helping women become leaders. Today, our university continues to grow and evolve and now offers Boston’s only women’s undergraduate program and graduate programs open to all. 

You’re joining our community at an especially exciting time as we continue to innovate for the future. Simmons recently launched a six-school academic structure that leverages our expert faculty and longstanding expertise in professions that make our communities stronger. In addition, we continue to highlight our high-value education proposition that is delivering greater ROI to students and putting them on the fast track to career growth and success. You’ll find that people who work here truly believe in our mission of preparing students to become social justice-oriented leaders who excel in their professions and their communities. This commitment and pride make for a dynamic workplace.

As a university that values diversity, equity, and inclusion, Simmons encourages applications from all under-represented groups. Simmons is committed to creating, developing, promoting, and enhancing inclusive hiring practices–at all levels, for all positions–ensuring diverse talent pools and the delivery of a consistent positive candidate experience. Simmons is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to continuing to develop a more diverse faculty, staff, student body, and curriculum.

ABOUT THE SCHOOL
The Communications Department is housed in The Gwen Ifill School of Media, Humanities and Social Sciences, which was launched in 2018. As a pioneering Black woman journalist, Gwen Ifill broke through barriers of prejudice and stands as a model of professional excellence and a purposeful life. The Ifill School aims to carry on that legacy for the next generations. To that end, we are a community of educators and learners guided by intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and generosity of spirit. We derive strength from our differences and pursue civic engagement through humanistic inquiry that values language, lived experience, artistic expression, and imagination. We give voice to our stories, past and present, individual and global, told and untold, to influence a future whose questions have yet to be asked. Our students view society through the multi-faceted lenses of language, narrative, art, music, film, and contemporary media.

ABOUT COMMUNICATIONS

The Communications Department at Simmons provides intellectually and experientially rigorous paths of study in Journalism, Design, Integrated Media, Public Relations, and Marketing. The Communications curriculum centers on critical inquiry, intersectional frameworks, and audience analysis, exploring how we construct meaning. We foreground the development of visual, written, spoken, and multimodal communications skills alongside attention to cultivating the qualities of responsibility, strategy, and adaptation that will guide students toward civic engagement and growth in the communications professions and future scholarly pursuits.

JOB SUMMARY

The Communications Department in the Gwen Ifill School of Media, Humanities, and Social Sciences at Simmons University invites applications for a full-time, non-tenure stream contract appointment in Communications, to begin in January 2026. We seek a dynamic educator with a strong foundation in the professional practice of strategic communication, public relations, and integrated marketing communications. We are particularly interested in a colleague whose teaching emphasizes advocacy and organizing for social change and who approaches communications through intersectional and/or transnational lenses. Candidates whose background intersects with global, environmental, political, or health communications are strongly encouraged to apply.

The candidate will teach courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels in strategic communication, public relations, and integrated marketing communications, advertising, media writing, and content creation and strategy. There are opportunities to teach in Studio 5, our student-run communications agency that serves as a capstone. Candidates should bring a wide range of communications practice and knowledge, as well as their specific area of expertise in the field. There are opportunities to develop curricula in both undergraduate and graduate programs.

The ideal candidate possesses a deep understanding of applied communications theory and a commitment to social justice, demonstrated through integrative learning that prepares students for both professional and civic pursuits.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Teach seven on-the-ground undergraduate and synchronous online graduate courses each year;

• Participate in course design and the ongoing creation and revision of curricula in consultation with faculty and program leadership;

• Participate in ongoing Department curricular planning and periodic program review;

• Serve the department, school, and university through committee work and student engagement efforts;

• Serve as a major advisor for students, tracking their course plans and progress towards the degree;

• Engagement in the communications profession.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Ph.D. in Communications or related discipline; MA/MFA with relevant industry experience;

• Demonstrated record of excellence in teaching at the university level;

• Commitment to collaboration across the department, school, and university;

• Prior experience and continued engagement in the professional practice of strategic communications

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
We will begin reviewing applications on Aug 15.
 

Required Application Materials

To apply, submit the following materials online at jobs.simmons.edu:

• letter(s) describing your interest in the position and your teaching experience and philosophy;

• research/writing sample;

• CV.

The names of references will be requested for short-listed candidates.
Please address any questions to ifilldean@simmons.edu

Instructions to Applicants: Please upload all applicable application materials (e.g. resume/cv, cover letter, writing sample, teaching philosophy, etc.) in the Application Materials box on page 2 ("My Experience") of this application. Documents can be uploaded individually or as a combined document (e.g. PDF).

Simmons University is committed to inclusive excellence in all aspects of an individual’s community experience. As a university committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, Simmons encourages applications from all under-represented groups. Simmons is committed to creating, developing, promoting, and enhancing inclusive hiring practices–at all levels, for all positions–ensuring diverse talent pools and the delivery of a consistent positive candidate experience. Simmons is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to continuing to develop a more diverse faculty, staff, student body, and curriculum.