Communications Manager for the Office of Faculty Affairs


Position Overview

This position oversees all communications initiatives for the Office of Faculty Affairs. This position will be responsible for collaboratively developing, maintaining, and executing the Office’s communication plan with efforts including newsletters, reports, the OFA website, strategic email communications, and social media. The position will also provide communication and coordination support for the Center for Faculty Development and Mentoring’s programming under the direction of the Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs. The ideal candidate will be creative with strong writing and editing skills, able to work independently, be organized and detail-oriented, and enjoy working in a fast-paced and quickly changing environment focused on faculty affairs. This position requires a high level of team work, discretion, professionalism, and flexibility. This position will report to the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs.

In addition to a competitive salary, KU offers great benefits to employees with up to 176 hours of paid vacation per year, 8 hours of sick leave earned every month, nine paid holidays plus one discretionary day, a retirement program, medical & dental insurance, life and disability insurance, other benefit plan options and State of Kansas discounts offered by various vendors. KU also offers employees educational and professional development opportunities. KU is a great place to work! The University actively encourages applications from members of underrepresented groups.

Job Description

50% In collaboration with OFA leadership and staff, develops, maintains, and executes an overall strategic communications plan for the Office of Faculty Affairs. Plans, designs, develops, and distributes internal and external communication for the Office, and provides development, upkeep, and systematic record keeping of the Office of Faculty Affairs’ communications content and materials across a range of communications vehicles, including but not limited to newsletters, reports, printed materials, presentation materials, social media, event notices, the OFA website, strategic email communications, and other web-based resources. The communications manager will work with other departments and offices across campus to assure effectiveness of communications efforts.

35% Provides communication and outreach support for the Office of Faculty Affairs’ Center for Faculty Development and Mentoring programming, including but not limited to communication outreach that increases awareness of program offerings; assistance with coordinating the scheduling of programs, events, and presenters; oversight of the planning, preparation, and distribution of announcements; and assists with timely follow-up and assessment. Works with the Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Development to coordinate the process for tracking and reporting effectiveness at meeting strategic goals for Center programming and outreach.

10% Provides project management support for Office of Faculty Affairs’ initiatives that require strategic communication and coordination across multiple partners and projects.

5% Other duties as assigned

Required Qualifications

  1. Bachelor's degree in journalism, communications, marketing, English, or related field.
  2. Five years of related professional experience, that includes communications (e.g. website development, newsletters, social media, graphic design, videos), event coordination (e.g. scheduling, planning, preparing), and evidence of project management.
  3. Strong written and oral communication skills as demonstrated by submitted application materials and interview.
  4. Strong organizational and time management skills as evidenced by application materials.
  5. Demonstrated ability to effectively manage multiple projects and deadlines and a strong project management skillset as evidenced by application materials.
  6. Experience and demonstrated proficiency with the Microsoft Office Suite, including Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel and Teams

Preferred Qualifications

  1. Master’s degree in journalism, strategic communications, marketing, English or related field.
  2. Experience developing and executing a strategic communications plan.
  3. Experience with communications and project management in a higher education setting.
  4. Experience working with faculty and faculty leaders.
  5. Experience with photography, video and graphic design.
  6. Experience with the Adobe Creative Suite, including Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator.
  7. Demonstrated ability to work independently and collaboratively in a variety of situations.

Additional Candidate Instructions

In addition to the online application, the following documents are required to be considered for this position:
  1. A cover letter addressing how required and preferred qualifications are met.
  2. Resume or curriculum vitae.
  3. Contact information for three professional references.
  4. Up to three samples of previous work products submitted as attachments.
The application review begins Tuesday 9/19/2023 and will continue until a qualified applicant pool is attained. Apply by Monday 9/18/2023 for priority consideration.

Contact Information to Applicants

Mary Banwart, Associate Vice Provost
145 Strong Hall
mbanwart@ku.edu

Advertised Salary Range

$62,000 minimum, commensurate with experience

Work Schedule

Monday - Friday 8:00 am to 5:00 pm

Application Review Begins

Tuesday September 19, 2023

Anticipated Start Date

Monday October 16, 2023

Search Jobs

Posting Information

  • Posting ID:  26198BR
  • Department:  Office of Faculty Affairs
  • Primary Campus:  University of Kansas Lawrence Campus
  • Assignment:  On-Site
  • Reg/Temp:  Regular
  • Employee Class:  U-Unclassified Professional Staff
  • Review Begins:  19-Sep-2023

Jobs by Type

Other Employment at KU

Related Links