Job Description
Position Summary
The Communications and Events Specialist in the School of Humanities collaboratively works on the development and implementation of communication and marketing activities, enabling the School and its departments and programs to meet organizational objectives and support the School of Humanities’ curriculum across school and university disciplines.
In addition, they will manage events for the office of the dean and consults with the School’s departments, centers and programs on best practices and guidelines.
The individual in this position should be highly motivated and receptive to strategic guidance and editorial direction. The Communications and Events Specialist is part of the team in the Dean’s Office responsible for formulating and executing communications and events for internal and external constituencies that are intended to bolster a sense of pride in the school, supply critical information, build understanding of school and department, center and program goals and priorities, and help foster engagement among the school’s various audiences and stakeholders. This position requires a critical thinker who can consistently uphold the editorial and visual identity standards of the University’s Office of Public Affairs and the School of Humanities Dean’s Office.
The ideal candidate will be highly organized, curious, and creative with proven experience in large-scale meeting and event planning, coordination and implementation in an academic and/or non-profit setting. The ideal candidate will have the ability to work cross functionally on a variety of projects, offering advice and expertise while remaining flexible and collaborative. Ideal candidates should have demonstrated social media, and website management experience.
This position is benefits-eligible, exempt, and has an expected minimum salary of $65,000 (dependent on experience and qualifications).
Requirements
- Bachelor’s Degree
- In lieu of the education requirement, additional related experience, above and beyond what is required, on an equivalent year for year basis may be substituted.
- Three (3) years of full-time, related experience in communications and/or event planning as a paid full time/part-time employee or contractor. Additional education can substitute for experience
Essential Functions
Communications
- Manages and creates content for School of Humanities social media accounts
- Assists with the development and management of the communication and brand strategy for individual program(s) incorporating appropriate channels
- Assesses market opportunities and tracks market trends
- Write, edits, and creates content for social media, websites and promotional materials across the entire School of Humanities
Event Management
- Participates in the planning of events.
- Oversees the management of event teams to produce quality, multi-faceted events and productions
- Serves as project manager of multiple activities, scopes out project tasks/ team assignments and guides team to create work plans and schedules, monitors progress, and meets milestones
- Operates as project leader responsible for providing meeting and event status reports and ensuring achievement of meeting and event deliverables
- Oversee event logistics, including travel, accommodations, catering, registration, etc.
- Acts as department representative at cross-departmental project meetings
- Works cross-departmentally to prepare and manage complex meeting and event budgets
- Manages budgets, goals, and objectives in alignment with organizational goals
Additional Functions
- Liaise with colleagues across Rice responsible for social media content development; networks with other professionals and stays current on social media practice and platforms to strengthen and grow our digital visibility.
- Manages analytics for school social media. Assesses opportunities to increase visibility for the school
- Works with the Director of Communications on publicizing faculty research and school/department initiatives
- Participates in the production of promotional materials and brochures
- Processes expense reports and invoices.
- Other duties as assigned
Preferences
- Strong verbal and written communication skills including presentation skills
- Good organization and creativity skills
- Good analytical problem-solving skills
- Graphic design skills
- General knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite, including InDesign, Photoshop and Acrobat
- Experience working in an academic setting, non-profit setting, or institution of higher learning
Workplace Requirements
- Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., 40-hour work week
- Occasional weekend and/or evening work for special events
Rice University HR | Benefits: https://knowledgecafe.rice.edu/benefits
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Rice University is an Equal Opportunity Employer with commitment to diversity at all levels, and considers for employment qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, genetic information, disability or protected veteran status.
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