Communications & Engagement Manager,

Job Purpose This is an exciting opportunity for an exceptional communications professional to refresh and deliver a communications strategy for the Academic Services division at the University of Birmingham. The role of Communications & Engagement Manager will have line management responsibility for a Communications & Engagement Assistant and will report into Student Services on behalf of Academic Services in order to develop and deliver a student and staff communications strategy and communications outputs to key stakeholders (e.g. current students) within a coordinated marketing community.

You will need to have significant experience in a communications based role in a large and complex organisation, ideally with a remit for student communications based in an educational setting. You will have demonstrable background in successfully building relationships with people at all levels.

You must be able to demonstrate experience of effectively developing and delivering a range of information across multiple channels including face to face events, online, print and social media. You will be expected to be proficient in a range of associated skills such as copywriting and proofreading along with possessing the ability to translate complicated information in order to communicate it in a clear and concise way.

You will be required to lead the implementation of new initiatives as well as considering and delivering quality improvements to existing practices. You must have excellent communication skills, able to confidently deal with a wide range of internal stakeholders, some of whom will be high profile individuals or teams. An ability to segment audiences and target communications appropriately is essential, and experience of a CRM would be advantageous.

Academic Services is at the heart of education and research endeavour at the University. Academic Services is responsible for providing support and advice to staff and students to enable them to undertake their responsibilities effectively and efficiently. Academic Services is made up of divisions including the Academic Services Directorate, Birmingham International Academy, Careers Network, Centre for Learning and Academic Development and Learning Spaces, Library Services, Registry and Student Services. You will play a key role in the University’s marketing community and will work closely with colleagues in External Relations. Person Specification • A degree or equivalent experience, ideally with a professional qualification in marketing (e.g. CIM).
• A communications professional with proven experience in a comparable role in a large, complex organisation, operating in a multi-channel, mixed media environment (ideally with experience of student communications).
• Experience of planning, implementing and managing a multi-channel communications strategy.
• Line management experience.
• Highly developed written and oral communications skills with the ability to engage stakeholders at all levels – to include effective presentation skills.
• Ability to translate complex messages into engaging forms of communication.
• Knowledge of emerging social media trends and experience of utilising these channels within a communications or marketing role.
• Experience of working with Customer Relationships Management (CRM) systems.
• Experience of copywriting, proofreading and content editing.
• Calm and focused under pressure.
• Commitment to continuing professional development and training.
• Experience in applying appropriate technology and approach to service delivery.
• Ability to think strategically and translate strategy into operational plans.
• Ability to work collaboratively with stakeholders and partners to achieve common goals.
• An innovative and creative approach to stakeholder engagement, capable of developing exciting new initiatives.
• Demonstrable problem solving skills when under pressure
• Ability to write persuasively and produce concise copy within short timescales.
• Excellent IT skills (including experience of web based packages) ideally with experience with graphical design packages and web authoring tools (e.g. Photoshop, Dreamweaver).
• Ability to prioritise and schedule workloads in the face of conflicting demands while maintaining a high degree of accuracy.
• Ability to work on own initiative, taking a flexible, proactive and creative approach to work.
• Good knowledge and understanding of Higher Education and its environment.
• An understanding of the University’s aims and objectives.
• Flexibility to work out of hours, on occasion, as required.
• Commitment to continuing professional development and training.