Marketing and Communications Specialist II

University of Florida•Gainesville, FL

About The Position

This role is responsible for producing news and feature stories for various publications, building relationships to identify compelling stories, and covering special events. The specialist will develop content in multiple formats, including written articles, news releases, blogs, newsletters, photography, video, and social media, adhering to Associated Press style. The position also involves managing the college's flagship social media channels, co-managing college webpages, and developing and executing a social media strategy aligned with strategic goals. Responsibilities include monitoring social media, tracking project progress, advising on new approaches, conducting website audits, and capturing photo and video for multimedia needs. Collaboration with marketing, admissions, development, and academic leadership is essential to ensure consistent messaging and adherence to branding standards. The role also involves collaborating on marketing and communications materials, crafting digital campaigns, staying current on trends, and analyzing performance data for social media, websites, and digital campaigns. The specialist will develop methods for evaluating digital communications efficacy and stay aware of evolving digital platforms and technologies.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree and four years of relevant experience; or an Associate’s degree and six years of relevant experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Must be well-versed in Associated Press style.
Valid Driver's License

Nice To Haves

Strong reporting and writing skills, with journalism training
Experience producing multimedia content, including photography, video and social media storytelling.
Knowledge of SEO and expertise in social media execution and management tools
Ability to meet deadlines and handle multiple tasks
Proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, WordPress, other content management systems
Superior spelling, punctuation and grammatical skills; proficient in Associated Press style
The ability to plan, organize and coordinate work assignments independently
Creative thinking and emotional intelligence
Demonstrated ability to work as part of a team toward organizational objectives
Experience communicating complex scientific, research, healthcare or academic topics to broad audiences
Demonstrated ability to analyze performance data and translate insights into actionable communications strategies

Responsibilities

Produces news and feature stories for a variety of print and electronic publications.
Builds strong working relationships with faculty, staff, students and trainees to identify compelling stories and stay informed about college initiatives, achievements and priorities.
Covers various special events, such as gift announcements, awards presentations, student events and collegewide events.
Develops content using a variety of storytelling formats, including written articles, news releases, blogs, newsletters, photography, video and social media.
Serves as the primary social media manager for the college’s flagship social media channels, overseeing the social media editorial calendar and developing content and campaigns that help achieve strategic goals.
Co-manages a number of College of Veterinary Medicine webpages to ensure they meet high standards for quality, efficiency, design and content.
Develops and executes a comprehensive social media strategy aligned with the college’s strategic goals, vision and brand.
Identifies trends, audience behaviors and competitive insights to drive innovation, growth and engagement.
Monitors various social media accounts, creates a regular content publishing schedule, tracks and evaluates progress of projects, identifies opportunities for process improvement, monitors trends and advises on new approaches for web and social media communications.
Conducts regular website audits to identify and address technical issues, broken links, outdated content and opportunities for optimization.
Uses data-informed recommendations to improve user experience, web performance and search engine optimization.
Captures photo and video for multimedia communications needs.
Collaborates with marketing, admissions, development and academic leadership to ensure consistent messaging across digital platforms and adherence to university branding and accessibility standards.
Collaborates with leadership and stakeholders in the development of marketing and communications materials, tailoring recommendations and advising on best practices and strategy based on relevant and thorough research.
Crafts digital campaigns and content based on strategic goals and organizational objectives, including but not limited to reputation management and recruitment, and efforts to reach target audiences.
Stays current on local, regional and national trends that may impact the college’s digital communications to inform decisions.
Monitors, analyzes and reports on social media, website and digital campaign performance using relevant analytics tools.
Uses data to identify opportunities for improvement, optimize content and campaigns and evaluate return on investment.
Develops methods for evaluating efficacy of digital communications, analyzing data to inform and contribute to the optimization of communication strategies across multiple platforms and audiences.
Maintains awareness of evolving digital platforms, algorithms, communication technologies and industry best practices to ensure the college remains competitive and innovative in the digital space.
Builds relationships with college administrators, support staff and students and trainees to scout for stories keep informed of college activities and advise on best practices.
Serves as a communications liaison for college programs and initiatives, helping stakeholders identify communications objectives, opportunities and solutions.
Coordinates dissemination and production of communications materials, including facilitating creative services such as graphic design, photography and videography, and managing review and approval processes.
Other duties as assigned.