Associate Director, Web Content Strategy

University of Washington•Seattle, WA

5d•Onsite

About The Position

The Associate Director of Web Content Strategy is a creative problem-solver with exceptional communication skills, leading a team responsible for building best-in-class prospective student websites for Continuum College partners. As a subject matter expert in and spokesperson for student-centered content strategy, you’ll collaborate with stakeholders across campus and with the different teams within UW Continuum College to plan and deliver website content that aligns with student needs and organizational priorities. The Associate Director of Web Content Strategy works with Continuum's marketing and IT teams to develop processes, systems and taxonomies to manage the creation, publication and evaluation of content for the web. As a core member of the web team, the Associate Director serves as a key stakeholder for our enterprise content management system (CMS) and as the champion and advocate for CMS users (writers, editors, designers and web production staff).

Requirements

Bachelor's degree AND 5 years of experience to include a web or marketing-related and managerial role.
Strong foundational systems thinking; well-versed in creative, analytical and research skills, along with excellent writing and communication skills.
A strong grasp of content strategy fundamentals and experience establishing pre- to post-production goals and objectives (e.g. content gap analysis, content plan, evaluation, etc.).
Strong interpersonal skills, collaborative work style, and ability to work effectively in a cross-functional team.
Experience working with at least one enterprise-level content management system.
Understanding of digital marketing strategies and techniques including marketing communications, search experience optimization, conversion tracking and analytics.

Responsibilities

Partnering with marketing leadership, develop scalable content models and taxonomies that allow for innovative, agile approaches to marketing and educational program development.
Utilize enterprise Content Management System (Kentico) to create systems and processes to handle content in efficient and powerful ways.
Responsible for ensuring that content is structured, organized so that it is discoverable, reusable, and consumable across platforms and channels (e.g., ready for automation and personalization).
Establish and monitor search experience optimization strategies and guidelines; conduct research and provide recommendations for program titles, course names, and other key content choices.
Analyze existing content models, using native and third-party analytics tools; lead focus groups and/or other methods of user testing for major web features and site launches.
Evaluate the effectiveness of content in meeting organizational goals; report results to leadership and to content/editorial teams.
Stay informed of industry trends and developments in information architecture, usability, and accessibility; keep abreast of the rapidly evolving search engine landscape.
As a member of the broader content team, develop and edit content, such as articles on career-related topics, program descriptions and other content as needed.
Lead a team of up to 5 web content managers and marketing student assistants.
Ensure accuracy of job descriptions, hire, onboard, and mentor staff; complete performance appraisals, and recommend staff separations.
Set standards for partner-facing customer service related to creation and maintenance of program websites and content.
Serve as the marketing subject matter expert in a consultative capacity for a range of topics including content strategy, higher education web best practices, search engine optimization; meet with program directors, faculty, and administration from various units across campus as needed to present on these topics.
Participate in strategic planning sessions with leadership from Marketing and Enrollment Services teams.
Actively participate in CMS development meetings, including scrum stand-ups, sprint planning, and sprint retrospectives and other working sessions.
Work with the Creative Director, Director of Marketing, and web marketing project manager to maintain a prioritized backlog of tickets, issues, and epics.
Translate new front-end features from concepts to concise, straightforward requirements in collaboration with web developer(s) and design team.
Define content requirements and develop content solutions for over thirty Continuum managed web properties.
Create and maintain sitewide and page-level content guidelines; provide documentation and training for web content managers.
Develop process improvements for content development and maintenance, including oversight of both ongoing, proactive maintenance and inbound content requests.