About the University of Denver
Located where the Great Plains meet the Rocky Mountains, the University of Denver embodies the spirit of exploration and discovery that defines our region and our history. DU is a private institution built on exploration through research and collaboration among educators, students, and local and global communities. With nationally recognized academic programs, a history of widespread influence, a forward-looking vision for a 21st-century education, and a deep commitment to promoting inclusion, we open a world of opportunity to students and empower Pioneers to make a difference around the world. Through learning, scholarship and practice, students gain the experience, knowledge, and courage they need to tackle big challenges in the real world and guide diverse communities and organizations.
About the Daniel L Ritchie Center for Sports and Wellness
The University of Denver’s vision is to be a “great private university dedicated to the public good.” Founded in 1864, DU is actively implementing its dynamic strategic plan, DU IMPACT 2025. Among the plan’s most significant goals is a strengthening of the 4Dimensional (4D) Experience for all students, including advancing intellectual growth, pursuing careers and lives of purpose, exploring character, and promoting well-being.
At the Daniel L. Ritchie Center for Sports and Wellness, we build Pioneers for Life through excellence, character, and connection. We operate with a championship mindset; and we create and foster a winning culture every day. Inspired by our location in the Rocky Mountain West, we always find a better way forward; we work with optimism, passion, grit, and integrity. We forge lasting relationships one interaction at time; and our value to the University of Denver is the degree to which we offer connection points to a broad and diverse community. That’s why we’re always looking ahead, and not just to the next championship or what’s next in sports and wellness. We’re also looking at what’s next for you and how we can help you build a career you’re proud of.
Position Summary
Reporting to the Director, Business & Operations, the Assistant Director, Marketing & Communications will be responsible for the telling the story of the Division of Kennedy Mountain Campus, Wellness & Recreation (KMCWR) to students, customers, staff, campus and community partners, and donors through the development and execution of the marketing and communications plan. The plan must focus on driving new student involvement and retention of students to achieve the overall division student engagement goal of 80%, the acquisition of customer, campus and community partner, and donor leads to achieve the division revenue budget goal of $7.5 million and providing all of stakeholders with an outstanding experience. Each facility (James C. Kennedy Mountain Campus, Daniel L. Ritchie Center for Sports & Wellness) for the division will have a marketing and communications plan that is to be executed throughout each fiscal year to achieve division goals. This position plays the key leadership role in delivering an exceptional customer experience to all visitors of the Daniel L. Ritchie Center for Sports and Wellness and the James C. Kennedy Mountain Campus through the management of the digital experience (websites, social media, video, e-mail, text) and ensuring that the student and customer journey leads to engagement with our events, programs, and services.
Essential Functions
Strategy & Planning
- Develop and hire the division marketing and communications team (students/part-time staff), as well as supervising relationships with our marketing and communications partner(s), freelance writers, videographers, photographers, and other identified resources.
- Develops a marketing and communication plan for each facility (Daniel L. Ritchie Center for Sports and Wellness, James C. Kennedy Mountain Campus) which encompasses timely news and feature stories, promotional videos, multimedia coverage of major facility events, programs, and services, daily social media posts, weekly and monthly email digests, and various print/digital publications/reports to achieve division goals and targets for student engagement, revenue, and student, customer, and staff experience. The plan must contain expected outcomes, action items, responsible persons, timelines for execution, and results.
- Investigate the performance of division’s marketing and communication campaigns and strategies through evaluating key performance metrics.
- Working closely with the Associate Vice Chancellor, KMCWR, Director, KMCWR Business and Operations, KMCWR leadership team, and working with University Advancement to build a communications strategy around capital campaign opportunities, major donor-funded initiatives, annual fund opportunities (Mile Makers, #1day4du, giving Tuesday, etc.), donor stewardship, and other priorities.
- Responsible for conducting and providing market research, data analysis including student and customer trends, competitor offerings and demographic data that improves the division’s “one team” plan.
- Owning university and division brand standards and overseeing their application across all digital and print communications both internally and externally.
Marketing & Promotion
- Organizes and implements marketing and promotional programs/campaigns/events including digital advertising strategies, timelines, collaboration with business/community partners, and researches and negotiates rates with applicable vendors, and tracks results of leads captured from programs/campaigns/events.
- Design university and divisional digital and physical signage and marketing collateral needed for the Division facilities, programs, events, and services.
- Working with Division staff to develop the annual promotion schedule and ensure staffing and coverage of schedule to generate leads.
- Tracking lead generation results to determine which tactics are most effective and should be continued or eliminated.
- Work alongside division assistant directors to develop new campaigns for events, programs, and services that need special attention.
Digital Content and Execution
- Responsible for overseeing the content, design, maintenance, and performance of division websites including, but not limited to, James C. Kennedy Mountain Campus, Daniel L. Ritchie Center for Sports and Wellness, WebTrac, and Communication Blogs.
- Maintain all online calendars and WebTrac Online Registration and Reservation system.
- Manages all aspects of Webtrac upkeep including designing and changing out banners for high registration periods, splash page maintenance, and menu maintenance.
- Manage the division digital content calendar and disseminates information across multiple KMCWR channels to expand brand visibility, reach, and engagement.
- Optimize marketing and promotion campaigns through social media channels to drive both brand awareness and lead generation.
- Design landing pages that optimize both lead conversions and search engine relevance/quality scores.
- Design and display marketing and communication campaigns through the Poppulo system at the James C. Kennedy Mountain Campus, the Daniel L. Ritchie Center for Sports and Wellness, and across the University of Denver.
Communication
- Understanding and managing the flow and method of communications to key constituencies to build positive relationships, including current students and customers, prospective students and customers, faculty & staff, donors, and alumni.
- Monitoring and improving the performance of KMCWR’s communications channels, including the websites, email newsletters, social media channels, print publications, digital signage, text, blogs, and press releases.
- Leads internal communications efforts to keep KMCWR staff informed and engaged.
- Collaborating with the Associate Vice Chancellor, directors, and other key stakeholders to oversee consistent, accurate, on-brand, and on-message internal communications about facility policies, news, and other critical content.
- Serves as a key liaison with other campus units (marketing and communications, admissions, etc.) and national governing bodies (NIRSA, USA Hockey, etc) to drive collaboration and recognition.
- Support the Associate Vice Chancellor and directors with their public communications such as speeches, letters, and presentations.
- Providing crisis communications support as needed during emergency responses.
- Serve as an external relations liaison for media outlets (online, print, TV, radio, etc.) and community organizations.
Budget
- Works with the Director, KMCWR Business & Operations for the deployment, reconciliation, forecast and development of budgets within the marketing & communications responsibility center.
- Develops the budget for marketing and/or public relations programs/campaigns and works with team to approve and monitor allocations and expenditures to achieve student engagement or revenue goals.
- Conducts a monthly analysis of marketing & communications budget to ensure that the budget targets and allocations are on track and reports any issues or discrepancies.
- Ensure that budgeted expenses are managed within parameters unless agreed upon with the Associate Vice Chancellor, KMCWR.
Evaluation & Feedback
- Coordinate and manage the division survey calendar to ensure our facilities, programs, and services are evaluated.
- Executes consistent student, customer, and employee surveys and compiles net promoter score, results, and feedback to improve facility, program, event, and service offerings.
- Share key results and summaries with KMCWR leadership team.
- Monitor media coverage, google alerts, social media outlets, and customer feedback in order to track mentions and public perception of KMCWR.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
- Excellent oral/written communication skills.
- Ability to respond to common inquiries or complaints from customers and staff is essential.
- Detail orientated and highly organized.
- Ability to plan, direct, and evaluate the work of others.
- Ability to work independently and manage multiple tasks simultaneously.
- Proficient with technology systems (RecTrac, MS Office, Adobe, social media, other)
- Strong Work Ethic
- Good Interpersonal Skills
- Proactive
- Flexibility
- Teamwork
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree.
- Three (3) years of experience in marketing, communications, or web services.
- One (1) years of management/supervisory experience.
Preferred Qualifications
- Master’s degree.
- Five (5) years of experience in communications, marketing, fundraising, or web services.
- Experience and working knowledge of HTML coding.
- Experience in Outdoor Recreation or Wellness and Recreation management, human resources, and familiarity with university financial systems (Banner, Kronos, etc.). Familiarity with IT Systems (EBMS, RecTrac).
Working Environment
- The position is based in an office setting, with frequent computer use.
- Unexpected interruptions occur often, and stress level is moderate to high.
- Noise level is quiet to moderate.
Physical Activities
- Ability to sit in front of a computer for an extended period.
- Occasionally required to move about the office/campus with the capability of transporting objects up to 20 lbs.
Work Schedule
Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Application Deadline
For best consideration, please submit your application materials by 4:00 p.m. (MST) May 31, 2023.
Special Instructions
Candidates must apply online through jobs.du.edu to be considered. Only applications submitted online will be accepted.
Salary Grade Number:
The salary grade for the position is 10.
Salary Range:
The salary range for this position is $60,000-$68,000
The University of Denver has provided a compensation range that represents its good faith estimate of what the University may pay for the position at the time of posting. The University may ultimately pay more or less than the posted compensation range. The salary offered to the selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as the qualifications of the selected candidate, departmental budget availability, internal salary equity considerations, and available market information, but not based on a candidate’s sex or any other protected status.
Benefits:
The University of Denver offers excellent benefits, including medical, dental, retirement, paid time off, tuition benefit and ECO pass. The University of Denver is a private institution that empowers students who want to make a difference. Learn more about the University of Denver .
Please include the following documents with your application:
1. Resume
2. Cover Letter
The University of Denver is an equal opportunity employer. The University of Denver prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age (40 years and over in the employment context), religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, marital status, veterans status, and any other class of individuals protected from discrimination under federal, state, or local law, regulation, or ordinance in any of the university’s educational programs and activities, and in the employment (including application for employment) and admissions (including application for admission) context, as required by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended in 2008; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; the Age Discrimination Act of 1975; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967; and any other federal, state, and local laws, regulations, or ordinances that prohibit discrimination, harassment, and/or retaliation. For the university’s complete Non-Discrimination Statement, please see non-discrimination-statement .
All offers of employment are contingent upon satisfactory completion of a criminal history background check.
Advertised: May 10, 2023
Applications close: