Assistant Director, Communications and Marketing
Assistant Director, Communications and Marketing
Office of the CIO
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The Assistant Director will lead a creative team responsible for internal and external communications and marketing efforts. Your team has a variety of expertise including writing, graphics design, videography, social media, and event planning, which they use to turn technical or abstract concepts into content that is accessible for students, faculty, and staff.
Technology Services provides campus-wide technology solutions that support the teaching, learning, and research missions of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. We partner with other departmental IT staff to serve nearly 60,000 faculty, staff, and students. We invest in our staff to enable them to do their best work and prepare for inevitable changes in the technology landscape. We encourage and provide opportunities for continuous learning and development.
Illinois is a world leader in research, teaching, and public engagement. We serve the state, the nation, and the world by creating knowledge, preparing students for lives of impact, and addressing critical societal needs through the transfer and application of knowledge. Illinois is the place where we embrace difference. We embrace it because we value it. Illinois is especially interested in candidates who can contribute, through their research, teaching, and/or service, to the diversity and excellence of the Illinois community.
The University of Illinois is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action employer that recruits and hires qualified candidates without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability or veteran status. For more information, visit http://go.illinois.edu/EEO.
Primary Position Function:
Coordinate the creation and implementation of a comprehensive Office of the CIO communications plan, as well as provide direction and vision for the Technology Services’ websites, social media, marketing and publicity, and coordination of special events/projects.
Major Duties and Responsibilities
Leadership
- Provide leadership in creating, documenting, and following processes for organization- and university-wide communications regarding technology and IT services.
- Provide leadership in compiling, composing, and distributing organization- and university-wide communications including electronic newsletters, reports, social media, press releases, videos, and email.
- Supervise, mentor, and develop the skills of other Technology Services content creators including communications specialists and student communications interns.
- Manage and supervise staff including but not limited to the recruitment and selection of staff, setting goals, conducting performance appraisals, facilitating career development, succession planning, coaching, and mentoring.
- Lead employees with a focus on operational excellence, improving processes, accelerating process timelines, and be a change champion throughout the organization and university, providing for management analysis and recommendations on improvements
Strategic Planning
- Identify new and creative ideas for communicating key messages to various target audiences.
- Develop and direct content strategies for the Technology Services’ website, including editing website content created by other communicators, working with web-developers to identify and implement new functional needs on the website, and working with Technology Services leadership to make sure the values of the organization are reflected in the Technology Services’ web presence.
- Create data-driven content strategies that utilize analytics and data collection to maximize the effectiveness of current content strategies, goals, and campaigns.
Communications
- Edit content and create processes which establish an effective, consistent voice across Technology Services’ communications to internal and external audiences.
- Engage in or provide guidance with the drafting and review of communications to be sent by or on behalf of Technology Services leadership.
- Serve as an Office of the CIO representative for media inquiries, as well as coordinate outreach efforts to the media on behalf of the organization.
- Collaborate with content specialists, authors, writers, and editors to prepare publications according to processes and publication deadlines.
- Coordinate and review internal communications.
- Participate in the planning and implementation of the Office of the CIO’ programs, projects and special events such as meetings, receptions, conferences, workshops, annual events, lectures, staff and/or student appreciation events.
Campus Relationships
- Develop professional rapport with the university (IT Professionals, faculty, staff, and students) by both formal and informal networking.
- In the role of university CCO, represent the Office of the CIO as the primary liaison with the Office of Public Affairs and other university CCOs.
- Serve as a representative for the Office of the CIO in the university community and provide presentations on Technology Services’ services as necessary.
- Establish and maintain a broad range of university contacts and serve as a liaison to a wide variety of constituents such as deans, directors, department heads of academic and administrative units, faculty, academic and non-academic staff members, students, and the general public.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in marketing, business administration, communications, public relations, or a closely related field.
- Four years of professional experience in a communications-oriented position.
- Experience leading or managing staff.
- Demonstrated experience with content development and content strategies for web sites, electronic publications, and/or social media for a business or University environment.
- Experience with copy-editing to conform to style guides and identity standards.
- Experience with creating and implementing plans and strategies for communicating with large and varied audiences.
Preferred Qualifications
- Master’s degree in communication-oriented field like Communications, English, Advertising, Journalism or other related field.
- Four years of professional experience in a higher education communications-oriented position.
- Experience participating in a significant role/capacity in the deployment of at least one major IT implementation.
- Experience with measurement tools and strategies, including analytics, engagement, and SEO.
Salary and Appointment Information
This is a full-time, year-round Civil Service Marketing Associate position. The expected start date is as soon as possible after June 30, 2022. Salary is commensurate with experience.
To Apply:
Applications must be received by June 30, 2022. Apply for this position using the "Apply for Position" button on our website. If you have not applied before, you must create your candidate profile at http://jobs.illinois.edu. Applications not submitted through this website will not be considered.
The University of Illinois conducts criminal background checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent offer. Convictions are not a bar to employment. Other pre-employment assessments may be required, depending on the classification of Civil Service employment.
As a qualifying federal contractor, the University of Illinois System uses E-Verify to verify employment eligibility.
The University of Illinois System requires candidates selected for hire to disclose any documented finding of sexual misconduct or sexual harassment and to authorize inquiries to current and former employers regarding findings of sexual misconduct or sexual harassment. For more information, visit Policy on Consideration of Sexual Misconduct in Prior Employment.
The University of Illinois must also comply with applicable federal export control laws and regulations and, as such, reserves the right to employ restricted party screening procedures for applicants.
University of Illinois faculty, staff and students are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. If you are not able to receive the vaccine for medical or religious reasons, you may seek approval for an exemption in accordance with applicable University processes.