Director of Partner Services & Digital Engagement

Director of Partner Services & Digital Engagement
Marketing

Position Overview

KU Marketing serves the University of Kansas and its many stakeholders by engaging external people for mutual benefit. We support many service lines across the university including student recruitment, branding, conferences & events, professional development programming, student services, and many more. This role leads several key pieces of these exciting marketing opportunities and the resulting benefits to students, employees, Kansans and the members of our local and regional community.

KU’s director of partner services & digital engagement delivers in three key areas.

First, the role leads the team that is the primary interface between KU Marketing and its internal University of Kansas partners, including strategy development, planning, regular communications in support of the delivery of marketing services, and results tracking and reporting. KU Marketing is not a vendor or supplier to other KU units, but rather a strategic partner working toward shared goals. KU’s director of partner services & digital engagement and the strategists reporting to the role engage in strategy development and regular communications with partners. Those communications include proactive notifications and issue avoidance, work reviews and approvals, status updates, change requests, financial and labor budget statuses, and KPI and results reporting.

Second, the role oversees the execution of digital tactics in support of Marketing’s plans and partner goals. Vital to the success of partner relationships and strategy are execution, tracking, analysis and reporting. For that reason and others, the digital experience team reports to this role as do the analysts within KU Marketing. The digital marketing functions that report to this role include digital advertising, KU Marketing’s portion of CRM utilization and marketing automation, email production, website design and development, and search engine optimization.

Third, the director of partner services & digital engagement collaborates with other teams and functions within Marketing and occasionally external vendors for brand alignment, creative services, project and resource management, and more to deliver upon strategies and plans. The director is a senior leader within KU Marketing, working on broad strategies and advising the chief marketing officer on varied topics.

KU Marketing is the central marketing unit at the university. It directly acts on KU’s strategic plan and institutional branding while also serving diverse internal partners. Key partners, and therefore work, include recruitment marketing for credit-bearing (e.g., degrees) and non-credit programs (e.g., professional development) delivered in several locations and modalities, conference and event services, on-campus events, student and campus services, economic development, KU affiliates, and others. KU Marketing offers a full complement of marketing services including copywriting, editing, design, video, photo and digital. Tactics delivered include digital and print advertising, direct mail, social media, email, webpages, CRM support and marketing automation, printed materials, research, press releases, and others.

The director of partner services & digital engagement reports to KU’s chief marketing officer.

Job Description

Internal Communications 40%

• Oversee and personally engage in the relationships between KU Marketing and its internal partners. This includes creating as needed and implementing methods for strategy development, regular communication, performance reporting, and optimizing partner success and satisfaction.
• Serve as oversight on the success and health of each relationship, including celebrating wins, reporting the status of relationships to the chief marketing officer, and resolving issues and escalations.

Oversee digital tactics Execution 30%

• Ensure that digital marketing strategies and tactics are executed in line with established strategies and plans, as well as high levels of quality and partner satisfaction.
• Team members reporting to the director will perform the hands-on work of digital marketing.

Strategy development 10%
• In the service of our partners and for those matters driven by Marketing, develop relevant, practical, actionable and high-potential strategies.
• Work with other members of Marketing to generate and vet ideas, align work, and create project plans. Some strategy may be developed by team members and reviewed by the director.

Leadership and management 10%
• Lead the several team members who report to the role and manage their productivity, engagement and employment at KU.
• Support team members’ needs including but not limited to performance, hiring and departures, professional development, equipment, and more.
• Fill in for team members during absences, as possible. Oversee budgets for specific partners, campaigns, and initiatives.
• Serve as a senior member of KU Marketing leadership by supporting, advising and acting on top priorities and issues.

Tracking, analyzing and reporting 5%
• Relying on the role’s team members for execution, the director will ensure Marketing is tracking marketing activities, analyzing the leading indicators and final results to identify success and opportunities for optimization, and reporting progress and outcomes to leadership and partners.

Other relevant duties as assigned 5%

Position Requirements

The position is hybrid in which incumbent works on-site and remote based on a set schedule. Incumbent will work at the KU Lawrence campus and at least 16 hours at the KU Edwards Campus and may work from an approved productive location at other times.
Travel between Lawrence and Overland Park, KS (KU Edwards).

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in marketing, communications, business, public relations, or related discipline and seven (7) years of professional experience OR a Master's Degree in marketing, communications, business, public relations, or related field and five (5) years of professional experience in the field.
• Seven (7) years of account management experience.
• Five (5) years of supervisory experience.
• Experience developing, communicating and implementing strategic marketing plans for complex, large campaigns and/or clients, as evidenced by application materials.
• Experience developing and executing digital marketing strategies and tactics including at least five (5) of the following focus areas: digital advertising, website development, search engine optimization, CRM/marketing automation configuration and utilization, content marketing, marketing (mass) emails, and/or database marketing.
• Experience tracking, analyzing and reporting the performance and outcomes of marketing strategies and tactics

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in marketing, communications, business, public relations or closely-related discipline
• Five (5) or more years of professional experience in higher education.
• Ten (10) or more years of full-time, professional experience in marketing communications
• Ten (10) or more years of full-time, professional experience in account management
• Experience employing contemporary best practices for successful account management.
• Experience regularly using the Slate CRM and/or Hubspot CRM as a marketer or administrator.
• Experience working on marketing or communications on a team of more than 20 professionals and for an organization of more than 1,000 employees
• Google Ads certification.
• Search engine optimization experience and/or certification.
• Experience preparing and delivering written and verbal presentations to diverse audiences including senior leaders.
• Familiarity with operational finances such as budget management and ROI analysis.
• Familiarity with University of Kansas operations, policies and procedures.

Contact Information to Applicants

Chris Gregory, cgregory@ku.edu

Additional Candidate Instruction

A complete application includes:
• Cover letter addressing how you meet the required and preferred qualifications.
Resume.
• Contact information for three professional references (including at least one previous or current supervisor).
• Completion of the online application.
• Application review begins Thursday, June 8, 2023 and continues until a pool of qualified applicants is identified.

Advertised Salary Range $105,000 to $115,000, final determination commensurate with experience
Application Review Begins: 08-Jun-2023
Anticipated Start Date: 17-Jul-2023
Primary Campus:University of Kansas Lawrence Campus
FTE: 1.0
Reg/Temp: Regular
FLSA Status: Executive
Employee Class: U-Unclassified Professional Staff
Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8 am - 5 pm with travel between KU Lawrence and Edwards Campus in Overland Park, KS.
Job Family: Administrative/Management-KUL
Work Location Assignment: Hybrid

If interested, please apply: https://apptrkr.com/4186745

Disclaimer

The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression, and genetic information in the university's programs and activities. Retaliation is also prohibited by university policy. The following persons have been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies and are the Title IX coordinators for their respective campuses: Director of the Office of Civil Rights & Title IX, civilrights@ku.edu, Room 1082, Dole Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045, 785-864-6414, 711 TTY (for the Lawrence, Edwards, Parsons, Yoder, and Topeka campuses); Director, Equal Opportunity Office, Mail Stop 7004, 4330 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Fairway, KS 66205, 913-588-8011, 711 TTY (for the Wichita, Salina, and Kansas City, Kansas medical center campuses).