Communications Director

Job Summary:

The communications director reports to the Associate Dean for Advancement and Administration at the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine and is responsible for leading the school's communications and marketing efforts in support of its mission and strategic priorities. This includes the school's teaching hospital, UW Veterinary Care. Their responsibilities include managing messaging, strategy and content for print and digital communications as well as media and public relations efforts. The director manages the marketing and communications team, currently 3 FTE, and is a member of and works in collaboration with the school's advancement team.

Responsibilities:

Directs communications strategic planning, and execution. Provides approval and guidance for communications including staffing and budgetary planning in support of communication goals.

• 50% Develops, implements, and monitors strategic communication initiatives for designated audiences and internal stakeholders to maximize engagement and strengthen collaboration efforts
• 25% Identifies, establishes, and directs media relationships and partnerships with internal and external sources
• 5% Identifies, proposes, and implements new or revived operational policies and procedures
• 10% Audits and directs day-to-day operational plans to align with strategic initiatives and to meet established objectives
• 10% Exercises supervisory authority, including hiring, transferring, suspending, promoting, managing conduct and performance, discharging, assigning, rewarding, disciplining, and/or approving hours worked of at least 2.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees

Tasks:

• Establish messaging strategy, including content and delivery channels, for the school's targeted audiences in support of the school's strategic priorities.
• Lead the creation of compelling storytelling content that includes photos, graphics, audio, and video.
• Direct the school's media relations strategy, including press releases.
• Oversee the creation of communications in support of school fundraising and related initiatives.
• Support marketing strategy development and implementation for UW Veterinary Care.
• Oversee the management of the school's websites and social media channels.
• Define and ensure consistent brand identity across the organization.
• Regularly evaluate the effectiveness of the school's messaging strategy and refine as needed.
• Assist school leadership with public statements and crisis communication.

Institutional Statement on Diversity:

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.

For more information on diversity and inclusion on campus, please visit: Diversity and Inclusion

Education:

Required
Bachelor's Degree. Preferred field of study in communications, journalism, public relations, English or related field.

Qualifications:

Minimum of 7 years of professional experience in strategic communications, including the development and implementation of marketing and communication strategies in support of organizational objectives is required.

- Demonstrated knowledge of and/or experience with effective and strategic use of multiple communication channels and platforms, including digital, print, video, paid and earned media, social media, etc.
- Experience in tracking, interpreting, and applying analytical data to inform communications planning.
- Experience leading teams is required, with supervisory experience preferred.
- Excellent interpersonal and oral/written communications skills are required, including editing.
- Demonstrated experience navigating navigating complex subject matter.
- Ability to build strong, collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
- Ability to work in a fast paced environment with multiple priorities and audiences.
- Experience in higher education, veterinary medicine, and/or health research fields is preferred.

Work Type:

Full Time: 100%

This position may require some work to be performed in-person, onsite, at a designated campus work location. Some work may be performed remotely, at an offsite, non-campus work location.

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