Senior Communications Specialist

Arizona State University • Isla Vista, CA

5d • $75,000 - $80,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Position Salary Range: $75,000 - $80,000 per year; DOE The College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (CISA) Dean’s Office is seeking a dynamic, experienced Sr. Communications Specialist to join our team. This position reports to the Director of Marketing and Communications and works collaboratively with a team of strategic creative professionals. The person in this role will serve as the principal writer and editor of an array of communications projects, proactively and as assigned, for internal and external constituents and across platforms, maintaining a consistent CISA voice. Projects led by this position include, but are not limited to, advertising copy, text for web pages, speeches, scripts for videos and podcasts, stories and blog posts featuring CISA research, faculty and students, and materials related to academic programming. This position also assists the director in leading the messaging arc for the organization and providing a strategic framework to grow and maintain CISA’s marketing communications to prospective students, current students, alumni and the community. The person in this role will oversee email campaigns, list management, segmentation and email journeys to help refine CISA’s recruiting funnel, as well as relevant analytics tracking for performance improvement. This position works independently and collaboratively to gather information to produce communications that increase brand awareness, tell CISA’s story and strategically promote all facets of the college. This position may manage student workers as part of its duties. This position will be based on the ASU Polytechnic campus and will require periodic travel between ASU metro-Phoenix campuses. Arizona State University offers a comprehensive benefits package to enhance your total compensation. This package includes flexible work schedules, low-cost health and life benefits, a wellness program for preventative health education and screenings, tuition waiver for benefits-eligible staff members, as well as tuition reduction for their spouses and dependents, a disability and leaves program for income protection, employee assistance for free and confidential behavioral health services, volunteer and professional development release time, disability resources and retirement program designed to promote long-term savings and provide income upon retirement.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree and five (5) years of experience appropriate to the area of assignment/field; OR, Any equivalent combination of experience and/or training from which comparable knowledge, skills and abilities have been achieved.

Nice To Haves

• Experience successfully copywriting and editing with a sharp eye for detail to craft engaging, accurate and brand-aligned content for a variety of channels, including feature stories, advertising, websites, e-newsletters.
• Experience creating dynamic email content, building lists and managing campaigns in Salesforce, or a similar CRM system, to deliver strategic email journeys, as well as using utms or other methods to track call to action success.
• Experience working in spreadsheets to manage sensitive data and information, as well as to provide reports for analyzing results .
• Ability to translate complex academic concepts within a variety of fields into writing appropriate to the level of understanding the target audience, shifting writing voice to meet audience and channels.
• Experience in interviewing people and writing long form and short form prose across channels for a brand in higher education, exercising a high degree of judgment and diplomacy.
• Demonstrated knowledge of public relations, marketing and communications principles, practices and procedures, including best practices for SEO and accessibility.
• Experience in establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with diverse collaborators and constituents, and demonstrated success working as part of a collaborative team of creatives.
• Skilled in organizing work, prioritizing projects, meeting deadlines, and operating efficiently in a fast-paced work environment.
• Experience managing interns and student workers.
• Knowledge of the educational, research, and public service mission of a major public research university; knowledge of the ASU and its connection to the Valley’s economic and workforce development, a big plus.
• Demonstrated knowledge and adoption of interactive tools and technologies to help with communication implementation and project organization, including Wrike, Slack, Airtable and ChatGPT.
• Experience with relevant software and platforms, such as those in Adobe Creative Suite, for photo optimization and design, Google Slides and other Google Suite applications, Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Dropbox.
• Knowledge of the principles of exemplary customer service demonstrated through actively listening, acknowledging, and responding to inquiries; taking ownership and resolving each concern or problem as appropriate; exhibiting professionalism and expertise in every interaction and engaging in professional development to meet expectations for service excellence.

Responsibilities

• Works with the Director of Marketing and Communications and to develop marketing communication goals, plans, and strategies to increase awareness and visibility of CISA’s distinctive programs, expertise and people, ensuring projects meet the goals of CISA and broader goals set by ASU.
• In collaboration with the director and other CISA team members, creates and implements the strategy and schedule for email campaigns to prospective students and their families, current students, alumni and the wider community through e-newsletters, segmentation, dynamic content, targeted emails and email journeys through the Salesforce platform.
• Understands building and using segmented lists of data in order to reach intended audiences to meet set communications objectives and optimize performance.
• Writes marketing communications content for materials related to academic offerings and curricula, events, digital advertising, and scripts for videos and podcasts.
• Proofreads and edits content produced by others to enhance style and readability, ensuring it meets AP style, ASU brand guides and CISA objectives.
• Interviews, researches, writes and edits content for articles for a variety of print and electronic uses, including news and feature articles for campus publications, web sites, and newsletters, as well as external publications, often translating complex academic concepts into stories that can be understood by a broader audience.
• Writes executive communications, such as scripts, speeches, or talking points for presentations and meetings
• Engages with the dean, faculty, school directors, director of Office of Veteran and Military Academic Engagement, and other administrators in promoting the college and its schools, events, their research activities and expertise.
• Ensures that marketing and communications content is engaging, thoughtful, inclusive, represents CISA’s values and mission, and is optimized for intended channels.
• Builds relationships with other ASU communicators, ASU Enterprise Brand Strategy and Management, Academic Enterprises and other professionals on ASU campuses, as well as communicators in the local community and larger Arizona market.
• Creates reporting to show measurables to assist with analyzing strategic efforts, including data related to email communications and advertising.
• Engages best practices related to search engine optimization and accessibility in digital communications.
• Manage projects and work flow using Wrike, a project management platform.
• May coordinate day-to-day work of student employees.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Director to support Marketing and Communications operations.

Benefits

• flexible work schedules
• low-cost health and life benefits
• a wellness program for preventative health education and screenings
• tuition waiver for benefits-eligible staff members, as well as tuition reduction for their spouses and dependents
• a disability and leaves program for income protection
• employee assistance for free and confidential behavioral health services
• volunteer and professional development release time
• disability resources and retirement program designed to promote long-term savings and provide income upon retirement

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level