Content and Communications Specialist

University of British Columbia · Vancouver · CA$7,158–CA$10,292/month (stated in the posting)

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Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.

Please submit both a cover letter and a resume as part of your application.

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career. 

Job Description
The Content and Communications Specialist supports UBC’s undergraduate recruitment process by cultivating prospective student engagement through email and messaging campaigns, by identifying audience segments for nurturing, and by planning customer (student) journeys in UBC’s Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) system. The Content and Communications Specialist is responsible for developing and optimizing CRM campaigns in order to increase participation and engagement rates among prospective undergraduate student with UBC. The role assists in the development and implementation of new email marketing initiatives, and ensures these are repeatable, scalable, and extensible across other marketing channels (such as SMS) as technologies emerge. The role also prepares reports on all campaign activities. The Content and Communications Specialist will bring knowledge of best practices to the work, continually improving and optimizing campaigns, as well as developing strategies for segmentation and personalization. Key to this role is delivering timely and relevant content to students throughout the recruitment lifecycle from prospect, applicant, to UBC student. The role is integral to the achievement of the University’s undergraduate enrolment objectives for UBC’s Vancouver and Okanagan campuses.

Organizational Status

Reports to the Manager, UX and Content Strategy, and works within an integrated, cross-channel digital team. Works closely and collaboratively with the Manager, International Student Recruitment Technologies. Close consultation and collaboration with the international and domestic recruitment teams, as well as other key UBC stakeholders is critical to success of this position.

Work Performed

Marketing Automation and Email Campaign Planning, Coordination, and Implementation

• Plays a key role in the creation of the overall strategic email marketing and communications plan, shaping the content and campaign calendar within the cross-channel, integrated approach of the Recruitment Marketing and Prospective Student Engagement team.
• Balances the creation and optimization of multiple campaigns at once.
• Uses effective stakeholder management and consensus-building skills to set campaign goals and objectives among competing internal priorities. Liaises with internal stakeholders to achieve reachable targets, and to measure and report on target and goal success.
• Uses best practices to drive student engagement with email and other marketing channel campaigns, recruitment events, and other touchpoints available to our audience.
• Creates scalable processes that ensure best practices in campaign set-up, conversion, lead generation and nurture, engagement monitoring, and data reporting.
• Takes on an advocacy role for best practices, for a student-centred approach to email/SMS marketing and communications, for adherence to brand, and for a consistent and unified approach to messaging.
• Develops and implements comprehensive nurture-campaign plans for emails, e-newsletters and SMS channels. Pilots new approaches and tactics to ensure the recruitment teams are supported by continually improving campaigns and email communications.
• Schedules, coordinates, and executes all email campaigns (including lifecycle trigger programs, promotional campaign, transactional emails, and other) to ensure students receive messaging and information on time and when it is most relevant and meaningful to them. Some of this work is deadline-driven and time-sensitive.
• In consultation with the Manager, International Student Recruitment Technologies and other key stakeholders, identifies market/audience segments to target in campaigns. Ensures accuracy of target markets/audiences (quality control of recipient lists and campaign workflows).
• Develops, updates, and maintains documentation for campaign flows and roadmaps to optimize campaigns and deepen engagement.
• A/B tests and continually measures performance of targeted campaigns, conversions, and nurture/engagement goals.
• Increases participation in on-campus, off-campus, and virtual events from CRM campaigns.
• Monitors subscriber list health, including list effectiveness and opt-out rates.

Content Creation and Management

• Creates high-quality digital campaign content (from text and images to email templates and designs).
• Develops HTML email template layout/designs, visual assets, and styles, under broad guidelines established by the RMPSE team, and ensures adherence to the over-arching UBC brand.
• Develops compelling content, imagery, embedded visual assets, calls-to-action, and design elements for all campaigns.
• Implements and maintains an editorial calendar for all automation and CRM campaigns.
• Ensures all emails and messaging sent through the CRM meet Canada s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), and meet UBC’s access and privacy policies to ensure compliance with BC’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA).
• Ensures all CRM campaign activity is tracked and analyzed (including making sure that all hyperlinks are tracked for analytics and reporting).
• Ensures that content and messaging arcs in CRM campaigns are logical, seamless, and progressive, and that students do not receive duplicate, conflicting, or confusing content. All CRM campaigns and messaging must align with the reputation of the University and help reinforce a sense of credibility and authenticity among students.
• Ensures that messaging and content respects the cultural, linguistic, or political sensibilities of our diverse prospective student audience.
• Develops clear and unique value propositions for campaigns.

Campaign Analysis and Success Reporting

• Measures results of all email and CRM campaigns (from the effectiveness of overall campaigns to the effectiveness of individual calls-to- action, and everything in between) in order to optimize nurture campaign workflows, improve student engagement with a variety of recruitment touchpoints, and help students achieve their UBC tasks/objectives.
• Works to decrease unsubscribe rates while increasing campaign reach.
• Monitors and tracks email performance metrics, and analyzes campaign performance.
• Improves open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates from email and CRM campaigns, especially year over year.
• Based on analysis, provides recommendations for improved performance and efficiencies, and other optimization efforts.
• Maintains metrics reports on marketing automation and campaign output to measure effectiveness and business impact, and report out to recruitment teams and key UBC stakeholders.

Consequence of Error/Judgement

The quality of work and decisions of the Content and Communications Specialist will have an impact on the goals and overall efficacy of the recruitment teams ability to support faculties enrolment objectives. The consequence of error associated with this position is serious in that a mistake could have a negative impact on the perceptions prospective students and applicants have of the University, its faculties, and its programs. Incorrect or erroneous information delivered through emails and CRM campaigns could mislead or misinform students and deter them from applying to UBC. Poor performance in this role could ultimately reflect negatively on UBC’s reputation as one of Canada’s leading universities.

Working in this capacity necessitates access to personal information and other information that may be confidential in nature. Failure to maintain the confidentiality and security of student, staff, and client information, or to use channels of communication that are not compliant with FIPPA requirements, could result in a privacy breach that could cause significant harm to affected individuals and also constitute an offence under FIPPA.

Supervision Received

Under the guidance and direction of the Manager, UX and Content Strategy, this role works within an integrated, cross-channel digital team on RMPSE. A very close operational relationship with the Manager, International Student Recruitment Technology is essential to ensure the integration with CRM campaigns and activities undertaken on behalf of multiple business groups and strategic priorities.

Supervision Given

None.

Minimum Qualifications

Undergraduate degree in a relevant academic discipline. Minimum of three years of related experience, or the equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own
• Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion

Preferred Qualifications

Hands-on experience with marketing automation and CRM nurture campaigns, and email analytics preferred. In addition:

• Experience managing weekly email campaigns for a high-volume subscriber list. Proven experience creating effective campaigns.
• Topic expert on email marketing, impactful email content and layout, CRM campaign management, and proven tactics for engaging and retaining CRM customers, as well as driving loyalty and affinity.
• Experience developing comprehensive nurture and engagement campaigns.
• Digital marketing and promotion experience, plus experience working within a clearly articulated brand and/or a set graphic-identity system.
• Solid blend of analytical and creative skills. Capacity for creativity, initiative, and resourcefulness. Good understanding of the email creative process.
• Excellent communication skills, especially written, with an in-depth understanding of email copywriting, subject-line best practices, content production, as well as web writing standards.
• Effective interpersonal, presentation, and public relations skills, ideally developed working with youth communities.
• Demonstrated organizational skills in project and time management with the ability to manage multiple priorities to achieve results. Ability to work effectively under pressure to meet deadlines.
• Accuracy and attention to detail, as well as results-oriented.
• Ability to troubleshoot data inconsistencies or challenges.
• Problem-solver, and strategic thinker who is thoughtful about the lifecycle email strategy.
• Ability to work independently but also function well collaborating with others on the team, with stakeholders, and across cross-functional teams.
• Ability to exercise diplomacy, tact, and discretion when working with confidential and/or sensitive information, and in dealing with various levels of administration, internal stakeholders, and external agencies.
• Sensitive to cultural differences and possess an understanding of the importance of cross-cultural context in marketing and communication activities. International experience and knowledge of a second language would be an asset.
• Continually curious about customer behaviours, and a passion for learning and using technology to create, share, and measure ideas in service of audience needs and business goals.
• Strong working knowledge of email marketing and CRM campaign best practices.
• Experience working with CRM systems and marketing automation tools.
• Strong knowledge of MS Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint.
• Working knowledge of Oracle’s Eloqua and/or Marketing Cloud would be an asset.
• Competent and comfortable using web technologies such as HTML5, HTML authoring tools, FBML, CSS, JavaScript, RSS/syndication, wikis, image formats, and resizing tools.

Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Metis, Inuit, or Indigenous person.

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