Associate Director of Digital Communications

Amherst, Massachusetts
Amherst College

Amherst College

Amherst has taken a leadership role among highly selective liberal arts colleges and universities in successfully diversifying the racial, socio-economic, and geographic profile of its student body. The College is similarly committed to enriching its educational experience and its culture through the diversity of its faculty, administration and staff.

Job Description:

Amherst College invites applications for the Associate Director of Digital Communications position. The Associate Director of Digital Communications is a full-time, year-round position, starting at $68,000-commensurate with experience. Given Amherst’s distinction as one of the most diverse liberal arts colleges in the country, the successful candidate will demonstrate the w ays in which they bring value to and will work towards supporting a broadly diverse community.

The Associate Director of Digital Communications creates and implements compelling strategic online initiatives in support of Advancement’s goals and programs. Working with their Advancement Communications colleagues, the Associate Director will tell compelling Amherst stories that engage a highly diverse set of College constituents both on and off-campus, identifying opportunities to strengthen connections between Amherst and its larger community. The Associate Director is responsible for deploying integrated digital campaigns, both in support of other communications to College constituents, including Amherst’s highly diverse population of 23,000 alumni, and as stand-along fundraising campaigns to increase participation and revenue across all segments of the population.

In addition to recommending and creating design and content for social platforms and engaging with the alumni accounts’ followers across all social platforms, the Associate Director seeks to inspire diverse alumni, families, and friends in support of giving and engagement goals. The Associate Director identifies and implements strategies, including Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and online paid placement, to boost metrics and reach prioritized audiences. In addition, the Associate Director works with advertising and media agencies and consultants to enhance program effectiveness, accessing available metrics to determine the effectiveness of Advancement’s online efforts.

The Associate Director works with Advancement Communications colleagues and Advancement data specialists to implement testing of content and design, identifying opportunities for new initiatives and programming and new digital resources to ensure that all digital communications are both leading-edge and connected to the College’s mission and traditions. They will analyze results and report on ROI and cost-benefit analysis of email marketing efforts, using results and testing to develop data-driven strategies for future initiatives. A firm understanding of alumni sentiment and preferences (e.g. reasons to give, reasons not to give, controversial terms/issues) available through quantitative data is also important.

Summary of Duties and Responsibilities

Online Communication:

• Creates and deploys integrated digital campaigns that support other communications to diverse constituents.
• In partnership with Advancement Communications colleagues, updates existing content and develops new content for amherst.edu/alumni and amherst.edu/give.
• Develops and executes paid media strategy to complement email and snail-mail messaging; uses SEO, retargeting, and paid media to boost alumni engagement and giving.
• Develops & implements test-and-learn email strategy to optimize on clicks/opens/conversions.
• Collects, integrates, and applies existing and emerging digital marketing strategies to maximize donor retention and acquisition.
• Helps to define and monitor goals and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

• Develops social media strategy using analytics, timing, posting, and monitoring best practices
• Creates and posts compelling content across online platforms that support Advancement initiatives and goals and that effectively communicate with a diverse audience.
• Determines response to user-generated comments, messages, and other content.
• Maintains up-to-date, cutting-edge resources on all new and developing social media strategies and tools.
• Uses writing skills and knowledge of Amherst’s style guide and visual identity toolkit to copyedit and proofread content.
• Pays particular attention to engaging with affinity groups and creating content that will resonate with an audience that is diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, immigration status, and socioeconomic background, and includes many constituents from outside the United States.

• Ensures that all marketing collateral and digital design, including website, meets or exceeds visual communications and brand standards.

Resource Management:

• Collaborates and coordinates with colleagues across Advancement and the College to identify opportunities to identify and promote events, initiatives, and individuals in support of College priorities and initiatives.
• Maintains and cultivates relationships with outside vendors, including advertising and media agencies and consultants, identifying new products and opportunities to innovate whenever possible.
• Works to find efficient and cost-effective solutions in support of projects.
• Manages relationships with a diverse group of campus partners and secures resources for programs.

Qualifications

Required:

• Bachelor’s Degree
• Progressive work experience in marketing, and communications strategy development and implementation, to include creative use of media; significant experience in higher education philanthropy or closely related service organization required.
• Familiarity with and commitment to understanding the needs and preferences of a highly diverse group of constituents to foster engagement and relevancy across demographic groups.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication, interpersonal, customer service, organizational, and time management skills.
• Experience with copyediting and proofreading
• Database experience and familiarity with CRM and email clients.
• Familiarity with current web trends and tools and social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
• Familiarity with HTML and CSS coding.
• Familiarity with graphic and web design and Adobe Creative Suite is preferred, but not required.
• Occasional evening and weekend hours are required as all Advancement staff members are expected to support and staff key events such as Reunion, Homecoming, and Family Weekend.
• Commitment to working with a diverse community.

Amherst College offers many opportunities for professional growth and development, continued learning, and career advancement.

Amherst College requires all employees to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 (medical and religious exemptions may apply).

Amherst College is pleased to provide a comprehensive, highly competitive benefits package that meets the needs of staff and faculty and their families. Benefits are an important part of our overall compensation, so it is critical that you review all of the options to ensure it meets your total compensation requirements. Click here for Benefits Information.

Interested candidates are asked to submit a resume and cover letter online at . Please be sure to upload all requested documents prior to clicking Submit. Applications cannot be revised once submitted. (Current employees and students should apply by clicking on the Career icon from their Workday home screen) Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled.

To find information about job group and level (JGL) follow this link.

Apply Here:

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