Dining Operations Marketing Specialist (Temporary)

University of Washington•Seattle, WA

13h•Onsite

About The Position

Housing & Food Services (HFS) has an outstanding opportunity for a temporary Dining Operations Marketing Specialist to join the team. The Dining Operations Marketing Specialist serves as a contributing member of the UW Dining team through collaboration with HFS team members and supporting Dining with marketing and merchandising projects. This position is responsible for coordinating the UW Dining marketing programs and promotions, and for executing marketing and merchandising plans and campaigns, digital and printed signage (communications), events and special projects. The position is anticipated to start July 1, 2026 and end February 17, 2027.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Advertising, Communications or related field.
Two years of marketing experience, including developing and/or executing marketing plans.
Proficiency with digital marketing tools, including but not limited to website CMS, graphic design tools, and workflow software.
Demonstrated experience with Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Project.
Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.

Nice To Haves

Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and interpersonal skills. Including communicating effectively with stakeholders and leadership about priorities and deliverables.
Effective interpersonal, organizational, analytical, communication and critical thinking skills.
Attention to detail, ability to consistently meet deadlines, high level of professionalism and strong customer service orientation.
Ability to meet challenging timelines and work in a fast-paced environment.
Demonstrated ability to manage multiple competing priorities.
Experience working in hospitality industry.

Responsibilities

Ensure all in-unit communications (Digital and Printed Signage) are updated as needed and display branded content and accurate information: pricing, nutritional, and allergens.
Maintain and assist with deployment of weekly digital menu boards, ensuring content is accurate.
Submit/upload weekly menus to the website for UW Dining locations.
Use tools and/or digital templates from MarCom to ensure consistency in communication across all Dining locations.
Collaborate with Marcom to maintain/update content for the dining website, campus apps, service alerts, and event listings, including but not limited to rapid response messaging during service disruptions (e.g., weather closures, equipment failures, staffing shortages), changes in operating hours, location closures, menu modifications, staffing updates, and emergency notifications.
Collaborate with Marcom on design and deployment of signage, print collateral, digital content, and promotional campaigns to support HFS goals and dining unit-specific needs.
Collaborate with Marcom to initiate and implement new marketing projects on behalf of Dining.
Identify and communicate additional marketing opportunities that could support dining initiatives; provide information for consideration by dining administrators/unit operators.
Maintain a regular cadence of working in dining units to observe and ideate on marketing opportunities.
Create and use a marketing scorecard to communicate findings to unit operations and leadership.
Ensure work is in alignment with established Department and University vision and values, and policies for messaging, communications, information design, graphics, and photography.
Act as a liaison between Marcom and dining operators to coordinate marketing efforts with service and customer experience goals that are in alignment with brand representation and messaging.
Ensure that UW Dining marketing deliverables are scheduled, completed on time and within budget, and tracked in the marketing budget cost center.
Schedule and conduct regular marketing meetings with unit managers to review and align upcoming plans and events.
Collaborate with managers/culinarians to create an annual food event calendar for the Residential Dining Halls and other Dining locations as applicable.
Coordinate the planning and lead the execution of all Dining events: vendor partnerships, samplings/demos, set up, rentals, merchandising, photography, etc.
Serve as a resource for unit managers ensuring necessary training is provided to support all promotions, events, and marketing initiatives.
Collaborate with student staff to generate peer-focused content and represent student perspectives.
Function as a primary marketing liaison between UW Dining Leadership and MarCom on marketing campaigns.
Collaborate and help implement marketing plans to increase participation, revenue, customer satisfaction, promote dining locations and events, and highlight seasonal promotions or limited time offers.
Support campaigns for new dining concepts, culinary initiatives, sustainability efforts, limited time offers, or special events in collaboration with operations teams.
Collaborate with Marcom on email communications, social media content, and internal updates that align with brand standards, voice, accessibility, and diverse audiences.
Conduct informal surveys or intercept feedback at dining locations and collaborate with Marcom to synthesize findings into actionable items.
Additionally, collaborate with HFS partners to synthesize formal surveys into actionable insights.
Support units through merchandizing food and product displays to help enhance guest experiences and capture revenue growth opportunities.
Create merchandizing and smallware plans for new and existing units, concepts, platforms, venues, etc.