Job Title: Marketing and Communications Officer (Careers and Employability)

THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM
Recruitment Role Profile Form

Job Title: Marketing and Communications Officer (Careers and Employability)

School/Department: Careers and Employability Service (with specialist direction from External Relations)

Salary: £22029 to £26274 per annum, depending on skills and experience. Salary progression beyond this scale is subject to performance

Job Family and Level: APM Level 3

Contract Status: Permanent, full-time

Hours of Work: 36.25 hours per week

Location: University Park

Purpose of the Role:

Develop and implement annual marketing and communications plans to support the University’s wider strategy for careers and employability. Raise the profile of careers and employability events and services to increase student awareness and engagement across all levels of service and to support engagement with graduate recruiters.

Develop, direct and manage content, digital and social media channels and wider marketing assets and collateral to support the priorities of the Careers and Employability Service.

Self-starter initiative, excellent communication skills, an interest in the employability agenda and the ability to manage priorities in a fast-paced environment are essential to the role.

Main Responsibilities / % time per year
1. / Marketing and communications plans
Work with key stakeholders within the Careers and Employability Service (‘the Service’) and the corporate marketing team to develop annual marketing and comms plans to support the strategic objectives of the Service.
Specifically this involves creating, implementing and monitoring an annual operating plan outlining marketing and comms tactical activity including aims, objectives, key messages, channels and KPIs – these should be based on strategic needs and student focused, i.e. informed by market testing. A large proportion of this activity will be driven and informed by the student-focused events which are planned on a termly basis by teams across the Service. The post-holder will work collaboratively with colleagues across the Service to ensure consistency of messaging.
Ensure that plans are appropriately monitored, reviewed and refined to meet the needs of the Service.
Ensure that annual plans are shared with key stakeholders across the University and ensure that key messages are embedded across all wider marketing and communications activity, i.e. student recruitment, student comms and alumni. / 15%
2. / Marketing and communications assets
Work with the University’s internal design team and external design roster to conceptualise, design and implement creative campaigns across online and offline assets for (primarily) student and graduate recruiter audiences.
This includes producing appropriate creative briefs and schedules to ensure assets are designed and delivered to meet the needs of the Service and delivered within appropriate deadlines.
Work with key stakeholders across the Service to understand their requirements and recommend appropriate marketing solutions.
Ensure that all marketing and comms assets are appropriately designed (meeting University brand and style guidelines) from a creative and narrative perspective.
Working with the Service Website Officer to ensure that the site reflects and supports current campaigns and messages.
Ensure appropriate calls to action are included and impact measured.
Support the E-Information Manager in managing the Service marketing budget to help track ROI. / 20%
3. / Marketing and communications content
Ensure that appropriate Service content is surfaced, created and curated on a regular basis to support all marketing and communications activity.
Develop and manage social media content for the Service, including the Careers Blog, to reflect the priorities and objectives in relation to messaging. This will include the development of new concepts in consultation with relevant Service colleagues.
To manage a small team of ‘occasional’ student bloggers.
To co-ordinate the contribution made by the Service to University-wide publications (e.g. prospectuses) working with the Associate Director of the Service.
Provide regular analytic reports on all social media channels. / 60%
4. / Other
Any other duties as required, relevant to the scope and scale of the role to support the wider External Relations team, the Service and the University.
Examples include:
-  attendance and input into project groups
-  representing the University externally by attending meetings or conferences as required
-  representing External Relations as appropriate at events such as Graduation, Open Days and recruitment events as required / 5%

Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications & Experience

Essential / Desirable
Qualifications/
Education / ·  HNC or HND in a relevant subject, or equivalent qualifications/certification, plus considerable experience in
a relevant role(s)
OR
·  Broad substantial relevant experience demonstrating general knowledge of best practice within higher education student-focused marketing / ·  Educated to degree level or equivalent
·  A marketing-related professional qualification, or working towards a marketing-related professional qualification e.g. CIM
Knowledge/
Skills/
Training / ·  A range of marketing and communication skills including digital/social marketing
·  Excellent copywriting skills
·  Excellent customer service skills
·  Understanding of the Careers and Employability agenda within higher education
·  Excellent project-management skills
·  Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written
·  Excellent organisational skills with the ability to prioritise workloads and demonstrate flexibility
·  Proficient in MS Office, particularly Word and Excel
·  Knowledge of digital technologies and their impact on communications
·  Outstanding proofreading skills and meticulous attention to detail
·  Judgement and understanding of how to respond to and route a diverse range of enquiries
·  The ability to work under pressure
·  ‘Can do’ attitude
·  Ability to work independently and as part of a team / ·  Database and web skills
·  Knowledge of higher education
·  Market research skills
·  Experience of working in a careers and employability-related role
Experience / ·  Significant experience of working in a marketing role
·  Significant, proven copywriting experience
·  Significant experience of working on marketing assets
·  Significant project-management experience
·  Experience of building a network of contacts for information gathering
·  Experience of liaising with subcontractors and a diverse range of stakeholders at various levels
·  Experience of researching content in preparing for marketing and communications activity
·  Experience of working on digital campaigns
·  Experience of working in a customer-focused environment / ·  Experience of working in a large and complex organisation, preferably in education
·  Experience of undertaking market research
Other / ·  Understanding the importance of confidentiality
·  Ability to be diplomatic in sensitive situations

Decision Making

i) taken independently by the role holder;

Prioritisation of workload

Day-to-day execution of marketing campaigns or projects

Copywriting and digital messaging

Initial design of marketing assets

Research and collection of data to support marketing strategies

ii) taken in collaboration with others;

Development of annual marketing and communications plans
Annual budget proposals
Campaign concepts and key messaging

iii) referred to the appropriate line manager by the role holder.

Approval of annual plans and budget allocation

Sign off campaign concepts and key messaging

Variations from the budget

Managing conflicting priorities

Scope of the Role

The role-holder will primarily be based in the Careers and Employability Service in the Portland Building but will hot desk with the External Relations team one day a week as a matter of routine, with occasional additional days as deemed appropriate by External Relations and the Service.

The role-holder will report to the E-Information Manager within the Careers and Employability Service for day-to-day management and support to ensure that annual plans and activities align with the strategic direction of travel for the Service. The Corporate Marketing Manager will provide professional direction to ensure that plans and activities align equally with University marketing and communications strategy and practice.

The role is to manage the wide and diverse range of marketing and communications activity related to the delivery of careers and employability services at the University in support of the wider University approach to employability.

Additional Information

The successful candidate is contracted to work 36.25 hours per week, Monday to Friday inclusive.

The successful candidate is expected to occasionally work out of office hours including evenings and weekends to support recruitment and careers events.

The line manager for this role is the E-Information Manager.

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