Assistant Director/Manager of Creative Services, 28463

Hiring Department

Division of Strategic Marketing and Communications

Job Description

UMKC’s Division of Strategic Marketing and Communications is looking for a creative, collaborative leader to provide editorial or creative vision for marketing and communications projects and strategic oversight for projects developed by the creative team. This position supervises staff, serves as a relationship manager supporting several campus clients and is involved in production of major university publications, both print and electronic, focused on strategic initiatives, student affairs and success, fundraising and community engagement.

The ideal candidate would have a passion for higher education and be experienced in producing communications for internal and external audiences across print, digital and visual mediums.

The job requires someone who can:

• Hire, train and develop staff and collaborate with creative team leadership on process improvements.
• Juggle a variety of strategic projects, demonstrating ability to move quickly on short-term needs while making progress on longer-term goals.
• Demonstrate superb judgment, creative expertise and problem-solving skills.
• Serve as the primary liaison for several internal academic units and affiliates, building positive relationships and providing strategic insight.
• Work with other relationship mangers to assess strategic fit of project requests, assign projects to creative staff and reassign as necessary to balance workload.
• Act as a backup for weekly production meetings and contribute to strategy discussions for the department to improve efficiency and impact.

For this vacancy, there is the unique opportunity to either hold the title of Manager or Assistant Director. Duties differ as followed:

Assistant Director

• Supervisor duties will be over one or more specializations. Focus is primarily on leadership and the direction of executing of short/long term projects.
• Collaboration with external/internal stakeholders and customers is common.
• Experience should be heavier on past supervisory roles within marketing, public relations and communications

Manager

• Supervisor duties will be over one specialization. Focus will be primarily on overseeing and guiding the communications processes and implementation.
• Majority of collaboration is more likely to be internal, may work with external agencies/parties.

• Experience should be heavier on past subject matter skills and experience within marketing, public relations and communications

This position reports directly to the Director of Creative Services

Minimum Qualifications

A Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience, and at least 3 years of experience from which comparable knowledge and skills can be acquired is necessary.

Preferred Qualifications

• Five to seven years of experience in publication management, advertising and/or marketing.
• Demonstrated leadership in a team environment.
• Project management skills and experience at developing and refining project processes.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Cloud software, especially InDesign a plus.
• Proficiency in AP style.
• Proven track record of producing high-quality content in a variety of formats.
• Ability to think strategically about content needs across a wide variety of projects and find opportunities to repurpose and target content for maximum impact.
• Traits of a successful candidate: adaptability, customer-oriented focus, strong organizational and relationship-building skills, quick learner, team player, innovative and a positive attitude

Full Time/Part Time

This is a full time, benefit eligible position.

Salary

Salary will be commensurate with education and experience.

Application Deadline

Position will remain open til filled

Application Instructions

Applicants must combine all application materials (cover letter, resume, and list of five references with contact information) into one PDF or Microsoft Word document and upload as a resume attachment.

Limit document name to 50 characters. Maximum size limit is 11MB. Do not include special characters (e.g., /, &, %, etc.).

If you are experiencing technical problems, please call (800) 488-5288.

Note, you must provide a description of job duties for each Work Experience entry on your application. Please carefully review the application instructions section of our Careers page prior to submitting your materials.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Equal Opportunity is and shall be provided for all employees and applicants for employment on the basis of their demonstrated ability and competence without unlawful discrimination on the basis of their race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable state or federal law. This policy shall not be interpreted in such a manner as to violate the legal rights of religious organizations or the recruiting rights of military organizations associated with the Armed Forces or the Department of Homeland Security of the United States of America. For more information, call the Vice Chancellor - Human Resources at 816-235-1621.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the duties and functions of this job. If you believe you may have difficulty performing any of the duties or functions of this job, please contact the Office of Affirmative Action at (816) 235-1323.

EEO IS THE LAW

To read more about Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) please use the following links:

• EEO is the Law English Version
• EEO is the Law Spanish Version
• EEO is the Law Chinese Version

UMKC Statement on Diversity

Diversity, equity and inclusion are central to the UMKC mission as an urban-serving institution. Kansas City is a particularly diverse city, including African, African American, Asian, German, Irish, Italian, Latino, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Native American and Slavic communities. Such ethnic diversity, in addition to our thriving neighborhoods of the Westside, Northeast Kansas City and the Eastside, fosters creativity, connection and innovation, which is showcased across the region. Major attractions such as the Annual Ethnic Enrichment Festival, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, the Filipino Cultural Center, the American Jazz Museum, Guadalupe Centers and Mattie Rhodes and Kansas City Irish Fest are a small sample of the many ways our diverse city enriches us.

For the reasons enumerated above, UMKC’s strategic plan prioritizes our commitment to multiculturalism, globalism, diversity and inclusion. The university’s values call upon its faculty, staff, students and community to position themselves as global citizens who seek out, embrace and celebrate the many benefits of diversity. UMKC received the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award in 2019 in recognition of our continued commitment to equity and inclusion. Such commitment is demonstrated across teaching, service and research. We welcome applicants to share in our commitment to these core values and know that you will quickly understand the beauty of calling Kansas City your home.

Please visit these pages to learn more about UMKC’s engagement in diversity, equity and inclusion .

Roos Advocate for Community Change

The Division of Diversity and Inclusion

Annual Report

Multicultural Student Affairs

Benefit Eligibility

Why UMKC?

We offer full benefits that start day one, generous paid time off, paid winter break, and continuing education benefits. Visit our Total Rewards page to learn more.

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