Senior Communication Specialist

Position Overview:

Be The Difference Begins with Great People.

Are you looking for a new opportunity where you can make the difference in the lives of students and faculty? We’re always looking for highly talented individuals to join our team – people who think big, care deeply, and believe in being the difference in their work and community.

We prioritize student success, access to education, and service in our work to educate well-rounded servant leaders who transform their fields, our society and the world. Our Catholic, Jesuit approach emphasizes student engagement with the world around them and formation of the heart and mind.

We believe in our mission: The search for truth, the discovery and sharing of knowledge, the fostering of personal and professional excellence, the promotion of a life of faith, and the development of leadership expressed in service to others. These core values guide our relationships with our students, each other, and our community.

Marquette University offers a rich and competitive Total Rewards package including medical, dental, vision, 403(b) with up to 8% company match, 5 weeks of time off to start, and tuition benefits for employees, spouses, and dependents with no payback requirement! View details of our total rewards package here.

This is your next opportunity to join an organization that invests in their employees’ career journey by diversifying their skills, deepening their expert knowledge, encouraging a healthy work-life balance, focusing on personal wellbeing, providing leadership training, and sustaining a culture of respect and inclusion.

The senior communication specialist is a key member of the university communication team. This individual assists in implementing communication strategies focused on key strategic priorities of the university and general image/reputation building, with a special emphasis on media relations and feature writing.

Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Develop positive relationships with members of the media and the university community in order to successfully find and “pitch” stories to the media that reinforce and elevate the university’s academic reputation and other strategic priorities.
2. Work closely with other staff members in the development of sourcing, researching and writing print and online features.
3. Work with members of the communication team to further develop and implement a media relations strategy that supports the university’s overall marketing/communication priorities, including enrollment, fundraising and academic reputation.
4. Serve as primary liaison for a college beat as assigned, providing counsel and assistance for marketing and communication initiatives. Maintain regular beat contacts with members of the university community to identify newsworthy programs, activities and other developments.
5. Develop and maintain positive relationships with members of the local, national and trade media, including responding to expert requests and other media requests.
6. Identify, develop, pitch and place university stories and events with local, regional, national nd trade media.
7. Research and write news releases to disseminate news of university programs and activities to local, regional, national and trade media.
8. Participate in the communication team’s on-call, 24/7 rotation schedule for issues/emergencies and responding to media queries.
9. Provide communication counsel to university offices and departments, including assisting in the development of communication plans for major initiatives.
10. Edit and/or proofread the work of other members of the communication team.
11. Assist with major news events on campus, including news conferences, major events and the launching of new initiatives.
12. Manage the communication team’s interns, including recruiting, scheduling, assigning work and providing feedback.

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Bachelor’s degree in communication, marketing, journalism or other similar background.
• Three to five years of substantive public relations and/or media experience
• Knowledge of local and national print and broadcast media.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Ability to translate the needs of university partners into multiple communication formats, including print and online materials.
• Demonstrated ability to handle multiple projects.
• Writing test required. 

Preferred Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Experience working with broadcast media and familiarity with Catholic and higher education media desirable.
• Strong working knowledge of AP style.
• Social media management skills.
• HTMLskills.
• Knowledge of web platforms such as WordPress.

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