Communications/Marketing Specialist

POSITION SUMMARY:

Reporting to the Senior Director of Enrollment Marketing Communications, the Communications & Marketing Specialist manages and distributes collateral that represents Columbia College Chicago to prospective and incoming students and their families. This position manages content distribution of email, web-based, and print materials throughout the admissions funnel from initial inquiry to matriculation. This position consults various constituencies across campus, including academic advisors, faculty, and staff, regarding effective communication and service to prospective and incoming Columbia students and their families.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Serve as the system administrator of the communications module, Slate; collaborate with Operations and Business Process colleagues to ensure optimized use of tools to reach target audiences. Develop reports on effectiveness of student communications. Analyze and summarize those reports. Make recommendations that will aid in data-informed decision making as part of annual communication audits. 
• Oversee and implement a comprehensive marketing and communications plan for use in recruitment and yield of prospective undergraduate students, as well as selected communications with matriculated students. Ensure design and deployment of communications is visually and factually consistent and timely so that it enhances the recruitment experience for prospective students and their families. 
• Collaborate with the Content Marketing Manager and Copywriter to develop seamless communication with admitted students and parents to inspire, maintain, and increase engagement with the college. 
• Collaborate with Enrollment Management Operations to maintain content and functionality of the Columbia Connect portal—the primary transactional interface for incoming students and their families. 
• Responsible for accuracy and timely deployment of communications related to on and off-campus events. Provide staffing support for those events as needed. 
• Identify areas for improved efficiency or effectiveness in the college’s communications to prospective students and their families and make recommendations for improvement. 
• Provide activity reports and updates as directed. 
• Perform other related duties and/or responsibilities as assigned or required.

• Bachelor's degree and at least three years of progressive experience managing email campaigns and web content through a content management system (e.g. Slate or Cascade)—higher education setting preferred. 
• Experience with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript is highly desirable. 
• Ability to build strong working relationships and work collaboratively with staff, faculty, administrators, vendors, and prospective students and their advocates both on and off campus. 
• Exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal, including public speaking. 
• Ability to work independently. 
• Exceptional organizational skills, attention to detail, and the ability to solve problems creatively. 
• Understanding of issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education. 
• Outstanding customer service. 
• A good command of MS Office suite and ability to quickly learn new software and applications

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities required of the employee and is subject to change based on the needs of the department and/or college.

At Columbia, we offer a rewarding work environment for our faculty and staff. We take pride in offering competitive benefits with affordable health, dental and vision coverage; flexible spending accounts; commuter benefit program, life and accidental, death & dismemberment coverage; paid and unpaid leave options; work/life benefits; educational assistance programs; and retirement and financial planning benefits.

We invite you to join our talented faculty and staff and become part of our collective aspiration to ensure Columbia prepares students for success in their creative fields through innovation, engagement and real-world experiences.