Associate Director, Marketing Web Strategy

About Worcester State University:

WORCESTER STATE UNIVERSITY is a liberal arts and sciences university with a long tradition of academic excellence dating back to 1874, as well as an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer that seeks to reflect the diversity of its community. Our workforce is dedicated to academic quality, student-centered programming, engaged citizenship, open exchanges of ideas, diversity and inclusiveness, and civility and integrity. We are looking for job applicants who share these values and commitment to our students.

Worcester State is centrally located in Massachusetts, about an hour's drive from Boston, Springfield, and Providence, Rhode Island. Our 58-acre campus is nestled in the residential northwest side of Worcester--the second largest city in New England and home to 37,000 college students at more than a dozen colleges and universities. Over 6,000 of those students attend Worcester State--approximately 5,300 are undergraduates and 1,000 are graduate students. Learn more about us at worcester.edu/about .


Job Description:

OFFICIAL TITLE: Associate Director, Marketing Web Strategy
SUPERVISION RECEIVED: Director of Marketing
SUPERVISION EXERCISED: Professional and Clerical Staff, as assigned. Student Interns, Student Employees, and Graduate Assistants, as assigned.

General Statement of Duties: The Associate Director, Marketing Web Strategy will play an important role in developing and implementing Worcester State's communications and marketing web strategy. An experienced and skilled marketing strategist and project manager, with knowledge of web design and development, the Associate Director, Marketing Web Strategy will take the lead in the ongoing maintenance and continuous improvement of the university's websites to positively promote the university brand, support strategic goals and deliver a best-in-class user experience for all Worcester State audiences.

The Associate Director, Marketing Web Strategy will:

• Provide strategic direction to worcester.edu, implementing industry best practices and data analysis to identify opportunities for continuous improvement and optimizations to meet up-to-date technological demands and support university strategic goals.
• Collaborate with Communications and Marketing team colleagues as well as stakeholders from across the university to maintain website content that is engaging, relevant, and accurate.
• Develop goals and actionable strategies for measuring and optimizing the effectiveness of web communications and marketing initiatives.
• Oversee web culture and governance for the entire university, collaborating with faculty, staff, and university leadership to develop processes and policies for creating and curating web content.
• Apply knowledge of web development and design to direct a team of contracted web developers and content managers to maintain worcester.edu and provide a best-in-class digital experience.

Responsibilities:

(E) = Essential

Marketing Strategy

1. (E) Create and implement marketing website strategies and best practices to engage a diverse audience and support university strategic initiatives.
2. (E) Work with the Director of Marketing, the AVP of Communications and Marketing, and the Director of Editorial Communications to develop processes and procedures to continuously review and maintain the timeliness, accuracy, relevance, and accessibility of Worcester State's website.
3. (E) Collaborate with marketing team colleagues to execute integrated marketing campaigns to drive website traffic and encourage campaign conversions.
4. (E) Work with individuals and departments to develop web page(s) and web content that adhere to university visual and editorial guidelines and promote a consistent brand identity.
5. (E) Establish processes and best practices for website Quality Assurance including steps for identifying, prioritizing and addressing issues in a timely manner.
6. (E) Develop, deploy and optimize web content and a content strategy that increases engagement, strengthens brand reputation, and promotes university strategic recruitment and revenue goals.
7. (E) Establish goals and metrics to measure, analyze, and optimize digital communication and marketing strategy effectiveness. Monitor and track website initiatives via analytics and provide regular reports to leadership highlighting key information, trends and opportunities.

Technical

1. (E) Monitor functional requirements and communicate requirements to outside vendor as needed.
2. (E) Oversee content management system and work with outside vendor to plan and execute enhancements and modifications
3. (E)Apply knowledge of web development in partnership with outside web development professionals to identify and implement strategies for improving website design, user experience, and functionality.
4. (E) A/B test landing pages and website elements to optimize conversion rates.
5. (E) Work with Information Technology (IT) and other partners to maintain a secure website and support regulatory compliance across digital platforms (privacy, legal, compliance, security, accessibility).

Management

1. (E) Lead and supervise support staff, interns and student workers to ensure responsive and customer-service-oriented collaboration. Serve as primary liaison with outside developers and vendors as well as internal stakeholders.
2. (E) Assist in developing policies and procedures for shared governance of the university website.
3. (E) Facilitate training and provide resources to assist content collaborators. faculty, deans and department chairs.
4. (E) Demonstrate civility and professional, customer-service oriented behavior, worthy of emulation by other staff and students.
5. (E) Act as an essential employee, during emergency and weather-related events, as a member of the Emergency Response Team, to assure timely and accurate communication to campus constituencies
6. (E) Responsible for contributing to the Worcester State University Strategic Plan.
7. (E) Responsible for contributing to Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action objectives.
8. Perform other duties as assigned.

Requirements:

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree.
• 5 or more years' experience in technology, marketing web strategy, or related field.
• Experience and knowledge of some or all of the following required.
• Website analytics tools (Google Analytics, SiteImprove, etc.).
• Content management systems (WordPress).
• Website usability, user experience.
• Proficiency in web analytics tools, SEO, and digital marketing platforms.
• Strong analytical skills and data-driven decision-making.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree.
• Higher education experience.
• Customer relationship management (CRM) software expertise (WordPress).
• Student information systems experience (such as Ellucian's Colleague).
• Strong project management, problem-solving, analytical, interpersonal, communication, and writing skills.
• Ability to thrive in a highly collaborative, creative, cross-functional team environment.
• Proven ability to successfully work with vendors and agencies to achieve results.
• Demonstrated success in managing major strategic projects that support marketing and enrollment initiatives.
• A team player with exceptional organizational and communication skills with proven ability to communicate technical strategies clearly and effectively to both technical and non-technical audiences and stakeholders.
• Ability to work under pressure and multi-task several projects by setting priorities and meeting deadlines.
• HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript.

Additional Information:

This is a full-time, benefited, exempt, professional APA position. The firm annual salary range for this position is $85,000 - $90,000, commensurate with relevant professional experience and education.

Here at Worcester State University, it is strongly recommended that all employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 before they begin employment.

Worcester State University offers a competitive benefits package that includes:

• a choice of 9 different pre-taxed, health insurance plan options
• a choice of pension or 401(a), and supplemental plan retirement options
• life insurance up to 8x the annual salary
• long-term disability coverage
• dental insurance
• 20 vacation days accrued per year
• 15 sick days accrued per year
• 5 personal days per year
• paid holidays
• tuition remission for self, spouse, and dependent children
• and more...

We are an equal opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. M/F/D/V. Members of traditionally underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.


Application Instructions:

Applicants must apply online and may do so by visiting www.worcester.edu/careers, and submitting a cover letter, resume, and the contact information of three professional references.

For assistance with uploading materials, log a ticket via the HelpDesk link, or contact us directly at 508-929-8053.

URL: www.worcester.edu