Director of University Communication

Position Overview:

The director of university communication in the Office of Marketing and Communication helps lead and support issues management and strategic-level communication and oversees the work of select college-level communication and marketing liaisons that are housed in the Office of Marketing Communication. The role supports the senior director of university communication on strategic communications and leads, guides and support the college liaisons, providing direction, insight and education for content creation and marketing/communication best practices to ensure cohesive, proactive, unified strategy and messaging. The role reports directly to the Senior Director of University Communication.

The director is prolific and highly collaborative, working closely with the Office of Marketing Communication’s various teams in a fast-paced, high-performing environment. In this role, the director leads the creation of clear, concise and creative communications for internal communication vehicles, external media, social media, and other outlets. The director also guides and supports the college communication specialists, providing direction, insight and education for content creation including multimedia, social media, writing and editing, external media pitching, news releases and marketing materials.

Integral to this work is the director’s deep understanding of the Marquette brand platform, communication vehicles and key messages, particularly as representative of the university’s mission and strategic priorities. The director relies upon this knowledge to steward the brand voice in communications across platforms – both in their own work as well as counseling others to ensure consistency and alignment of university messaging. In addition, this position defines communications needs and opportunities and collaborates with OMC teams to define creative strategy for a given project or campaign. In this capacity, the director must be able to work autonomously from concept through completion as an individual contributor, as part of a project team and as a team lead. This includes providing counsel to senior leaders, including the Office of the President.

Beyond their own communications work, the director manages contributions from both internal and/or external partners as needed, including editing and creative direction for such projects.

The director directs the creation and distribution of proactive communications across multiple channels, ensuring it is aligned with university messaging, engaging for targeted audiences and consistent with university style.

The director also takes a lead role in communication for issues management, crisis communication, media relations and executive-level communication.

Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Working collaboratively with the senior director of university communication, identify opportunities to advance the university’s reputation and successfully manage high-profile communications and issues.
2. Support the senior director of university communication and at times help lead on issues management and crisis communication, including writing talking points and media statements and helping direct the university’s strategic response.
3. Lead creation of university-level communications with a consistent brand voice based on deep understanding of the Marquette brand platform and key messages, particularly as representative of the university’s mission and strategic priorities.
4. Direct brand voice and identity in communications across platforms, counseling others to ensure consistency and alignment of university messaging.
5. Guide and support college communication specialists, with a supervisory role of college communication specialists housed in OMC.
6. Lead college communication specialists in creation of college-level communications and marketing/communication best practices.
7. Provide education and skill-building for college communication specialists in areas of marketing/communication including multimedia, social media, writing and editing, external media pitching, news releases and marketing materials.
8. Collaborate with OMC colleagues and university partners to develop creative strategy in alignment with audience needs, marketing goals and brand strategy.
9. Review communications and provide feedback regarding brand voice and identity alignment on materials developed by both internal external writers and/or firms.
10. Manage contributions from both internal and/or external partners as needed, including editing and creative direction for such projects.
11. Write and/or produce content for university outlets, including online publications, news releases.
12. Assist in media relations, media coverage staffing, event staffing and serve as a secondary university spokesperson.
13. Provide counsel and assistance for communication initiatives.
14. Serve on the Communication Team on-call rotation for safety alerts, immediate contact needs with other communication team members.
15. Contribute to writing and editing college magazines as needed.
16. Assist in the creation of marketing summaries, content outlines and/or calendars for ongoing initiatives.
17. Perform other duties and responsibilities as required, assigned, or requested.

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Bachelor’s degree in journalism, advertising or a related field.
• 7-10 years of experience in a communication, advertising or marketing role.
• Proven ability to work both autonomously and in a team environment
• Proven record compelling communication and marketing content
• Leveraging the use of digital communication tools. Must be an extremely organized self-starter, pay attention to details and be an effective verbal communicator.
• Requires a working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite

Preferred Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• The ideal candidate will have seven to 10 years of experience with knowledge of university communication, brand stewardship and content creation and distribution best practices across a broad set of outlets (internal, external, web, print, social media).

Consideration given to candidates with knowledge of:

•      Adobe Creative Suite
•      Web Content Management software (for example: OU Campus)
•      HTML/CSS and PHP
•      Google Analytics or professional web traffic analysis programs.
•      Sprout or other social media management systems

Marquette University offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, 403(b), paid vacation and sick time, and tuition remission.