Assistant Director of Strategic Communications

Reporting to the Executive Director of Strategic Communications and Marketing, the Assistant Director will be one of St. Lawrence’s lead creative storytellers responsible for advancing the national visibility of the University in the marketplace. The position will be responsible for developing compelling and motivating written and photo content. The person will also implement news and content strategies with a priority on enhancing institutional reputation.

Hybrid Work Statement

This position is based on our campus in Canton, N.Y., and is eligible for a hybrid work schedule with some work-from-home flexibility within University guidelines.

Duties/Responsibilities:

• Research, write, photograph and edit interesting and inclusive content that strengthens St. Lawrence’s brand messages and aligns the University’s personality with what prospective students and families need to know about St. Lawrence
• Maintain the University’s events calendar and send public notices to local and regional media
• Assist with curating content from across campus for regular distribution to internal and external audiences
• Assist with proactive strategic media relations and earned media placements
• Design and execute an institutional strategy for sharing student accomplishments with their hometown newspapers and websites
• Serve as the department’s liaison for Athletics and Recreation, as well as several other University departments, to ensure stories about faculty, staff, students, and alumni from all academic and co-curricular programs are being considered and shared
• Helps to maintain and operationalize the University Crisis Communications Plan as part of the broader Emergency Preparedness Plan and serves as part of the crisis communications team.
• Occasionally serves as University spokesperson when needed
• Collaborate with Communications colleagues and campus partners to take projects from concept to completion on time
• Assist the Marketing and Content Strategy team with social media content creation and monitoring as needed
• Assist the Marketing and Content Strategy team with external marketing campaigns that align with divisional goals and objectives as needed
• Perform other duties as assigned

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree
• 1-3 years of related work experience, including relevant professional internship experience.
• Excellent writing, grammar, and editing skills, including experience with and knowledge of feature writing, writing for marketing purposes and writing for print and/or digital mediums
• Proven skills in creativity, analysis, and problem solving, and the ability to evaluate, synthesize, and incorporate ideas and feedback from multiple stakeholders; ability to synthesize complex ideas and concepts into compelling writing
• Ability to work independently as well as within a team to meet deadlines
• Possess the cross-cultural abilities to build relationships and work effectively with diverse groups of students, colleagues, and community members

Preferred Qualifications

• A bachelor’s degree or advanced degree in English, communications, journalism, marketing, history, or another writing-intensive field
• Experience in multimedia asset creation and editing that includes photo and video as demonstrated in a digital portfolio. Experience with DSLR camera equipment a plus but not required
• Familiarity with higher education or a nonprofit setting

Interested applicants must apply online at http://employment.stlawu.edu uploading all required materials which are defined in the “special instructions to applicant” section. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Questions about the position may be directed to Kim Asch, Executive Director of Strategic Communications and Marketing, kasch@stlawu.edu.

All offers of employment are contingent upon the finalist successfully passing a background (including criminal records) check.