About Student Affairs:
Student Affairs is at the very heart of the student experience at the University of Ottawa. We recruit the very best future students, support them throughout their university years and leave them well-prepared for fulfilling careers and future studies. Our team of more than 600 dedicated staff provides the services that keep students happy, well and thriving as they pursue their ambitions. We help them apply and enroll for courses, we oversee 11 residences and an award-winning Dining Hall, we organize fun events, we provide extensive recreation program opportunities and varsity sports activities, we run an innovative career development and experiential learning program and much more!
There’s nothing more rewarding than helping future generations reach their full potential at a world-class university. With our wide variety of career opportunities and professional development pathways, we’re sure that you’ll enjoy the experience as much as our students do.
Position purpose:
Contribute to the development and growth of programs and services offered by the sector through the strategic use of marketing and communication tools, with a particular focus on supporting operations and activities of the Recreation and Varsity Sports sector. Create web content, conceptualize, and implement communication and marketing plans to project a positive image, promote the brand, and enhance the sector’s visibility. Serve as a resource person for sector employees regarding communication and marketing requests, ensuring compliance with established policies and standards.
In this role, your responsibilities will include:
- Communications: Develop and execute an annual communications plan that supports the sector’s communications needs for various internal and external target audiences. To this end, write content for annual reports, news bulletins, brochures, speeches, web, social media and press releases and coordinate translation. Perform needs and cost/benefit analyses of proposed communications plans to support the annual budget planning of the sector and ensure that related activities comply with budget limits.
- Marketing: Develop and implement marketing strategies for the sector contributing to the corporate marketing and communications plan. To this end, design marketing material, and collaborate with graphic designers and photography and printing resources in its production to promote the sector while ensuring compliance with graphic standards. Perform needs and cost/benefit analyses of proposed marketing plans to support the annual budget planning of the sector and ensure that related activities comply with budget limits.
- Quality assurance: Develop performance indicators and monitor performance by executing consultations and surveys in order to maximize the effectiveness of marketing and communications activities/products of the sector. Analyze results and coordinate improvements to optimize the use of marketing and communications tools.
- Trends and needs analysis: Initiate and execute market research studies and analyze results to identify potential new markets and program/service offerings. Analyze and evaluate communications and advertising needs and propose solutions contributing to annual strategic plan of the sector.
- Media relations: Act as the first point of contact for relations with media to facilitate responses to media requests and make referrals to subject matter experts when necessary.
- Client advice: Provide advice and tools to employees of the sector in the preparation of communications and promotional material to ensure visual identity and compliance to communication policies, web, accessibility and official language standards. Act as resource person for the sector for inquiries pertaining to the creation of accessible documents.
- Web content management: Anticipate requirements and generate web content to best meet ongoing business needs while ensuring compliance with web, official language and accessibility standards and established policies. Develop and evaluate performance indicators for web usage and usability, and coordinate improvements to maximize the effectiveness of the sector’s web sites.
- Events management: Lead all aspects of planning and execution for small- to mid-sized events for student recruitment and other special events in order to project a positive image of the faculty and/or the university. To this end, form and chair event planning committees, identify elements and timelines, monitor and communicate progress. Develop event budgets and ensure that all activities take place within budget limitations. Develop performance indicators and monitor performance to maximize the effectiveness of liaison and recruitment activities.
- Liaison: Participate in internal and external meetings and events in order to facilitate outreach, engagement, and collaboration. Promote programs, developments, and ongoing activities. Represent the sector during external recruitment activities.
What you will bring:
- Knowledge of marketing and communications principles normally acquired through a postsecondary degree in a related discipline or an equivalent combination of education and work experience
- Minimum 3 years of demonstrated experience in a similar role
- Bilingualism – French and English (spoken and written)
- Advanced knowledge of computer systems and software including graphic design and web applications, social media platforms, spreadsheets, databases, Internet and e-mail
- Knowledge of web accessibility guidelines and experience in their application
- Experience in developing and implementing a communications plan
- Experience giving presentations to large groups in both official languages
- Experience in event planning and organization
- Experience managing projects
- Strong public relations, interpersonal and communication skills
- Strong organizational skills
- Ability and availability to occasionally travel outside of the city to facilitate recruitment activities, and to work outside of normal office hours
Key Competencies at uOttawa:
Here are the required competencies for all or our employees at uOttawa:
Planning: Organize in time a series of actions or events in order to realize an objective or a project. Plan and organize own work and priorities in regular daily activities.
Initiative: Demonstrate creativity and initiative to suggest improvements and encourage positive results. Is proactive and self-starting. Show availability and willingness to go above and beyond whenever it is possible.
Client Service Orientation: Help or serve others to meet their needs. This implies anticipating and identifying the needs of internal and external clients and finding solutions on how to meet them.
Teamwork and Cooperation: Cooperate and work well with other members of the team to reach common goal(s). Accept and give constructive feedback. Able to adjust own behaviour to reach the goals of the team.