STARTING PAY RANGE: $19.66-$24.57/hr.

ABOUT THIS JOB:

The Marketing Communications Specialist will promote the KU Memorial Unions to existing and prospective students, visitors, faculty, and staff through strategic use of communications, graphics, and other promotional products. A substantial portion of the duties will be to assist with message preparation, social media, web page content development and maintenance, and some level of event planning (such as grand opening, annual celebrations, corporate activations, etc.). The ideal candidate will be highly creative with strong writing and editing skills, able to work independently, and enjoy working in a fast-paced and quickly changing environment focused on customer service and results. This position requires a high level of discretion, professionalism, and flexibility.

FULL JOB DETAILS:

1. Analytical Skills: Gathers the materials necessary to understand the project and competition in the area such as literature or previous marketing campaigns; analyzes these materials to determine the most effective communications technique. Evaluates success of campaigns when completed. Adept in Google and social analytics to assess marketing strategy results. Evaluate the effectiveness of communications aging, channels, and execution.

2. Supervisory Responsibilities:
Oversees student employees and interns, giving them specific tasks and ensuring they meet learning objectives.

3. Communication: Collaborates with departments to fully understand the variety of communication needs. Composes draft releases for senior management and assists with finalizing external communications. Work with leaders and campus partners to ensure accuracy of messages, appropriate tone, as well as timely and strategic distribution.

4. Job Knowledge: Schedules and develops filming scripts and production. Oversee website, including but not limited to creating new pages, modules, and content. Ensure effective navigation and structure and active links. Write, edit, and update content to engage and inform site visitors. Ensure all content and linked documents meet ADA standards for accessibility. Insert appropriate metadata and tags while Review and evaluate Google Analytics to assess website effectiveness.

5. Cooperation: Provide primary oversight for the Kansas Union social media and email accounts. Respond to messages on behalf of the Memorial Union or delegate responses to the appropriate person or office within the university. Works with Dining, Bookstore and Event Services to provide effective services to client base.

6. Project Management: Presents design ideas and recommendations to senior management. Creates and coordinates multimedia packages. Plan, research, edit and design content for a range of communications vehicles, including press releases, email, newsletters, printed publications, presentations, website content, social media posts, video scripts, etc.

7. Strategic Thinking: Based on assessment, drafts and proposes communications campaigns, which may include social and online media, print media, direct mail, and other multimedia. Track emerging themes or issues and alert the appropriate person. Draft talking points when issues become apparent. Coordinate with other KU leadership and their office staff when emerging issues may impact offices outside Memorial Unions.

REQUIREMENTS:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills that may include public speaking and presentations.
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Excellent time management skills with a proven ability to meet deadlines.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Demonstratable ability to execute web graphics
• Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite or related software.
• Bachelor’s degree in journalism, English, strategic communications, marketing, or relevant field
• Three to five years of related experience writing and editing projects; portfolio of relevant previous projects highly preferred.
• Ability to effectively manage multiple projects and deadlines as outlined in application materials
• Excellent writing skills, including ability to tell compelling narratives and careful attention to grammar, style, and spelling, as demonstrated by prior work or classwork as outlined in application materials
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a variety of situations

• Experience with web content and site development using a content management system and/or HTML and CSS
• Experience with social media messaging
• Experience with customer service
• Experience with graphic design and web graphics
• Experience with video production
• Experience using Adobe Creative Cloud, including InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator