Associate Director, Programming and Communications

Department

AHD Staff: Div Admin PA - Communications Admin

About the Department

The Division of the Arts and Humanities comprises 19-degree programs across 16 departments and committees, with approximately 650 students from around the world enrolled in our PhD, MFA, and MA programs. The students and academics in our departments dedicate themselves to the thoughtful consideration of humanities' place in the world. This dedication is displayed through our interdisciplinary centers and programs. The Division of the Arts and Humanities thrives thanks to its engaging and dynamic staff members, who provide essential infrastructure to support faculty and students while driving institutional success. The Office of Communications for the Division engages audiences internally and externally across an array of media.

Job Summary

Reporting to the Executive Director of Strategic Communications, the Associate Director of Programming and Communications plays a critical role in producing programs and communications that promote the Division, making the impact of humanistic research vivid and compelling, and teaching to a broad range of stakeholders and key audiences.

This position plans, organizes, and manages Division events, both in-person and virtual; identifies and develops multimedia content for the Division’s website, e-newsletter, social media accounts, Tableau (alumni magazine), and University-wide publicity outlets; supervises Communication’s student hires, handles financial transactions; and manages the work of external vendors such as designers or printers. Serves as a consultant to staff and faculty on events and communications-related activities to ensure coordination and alignment with Division goals and objectives, and represents the office of the dean of the Division of the Arts and Humanities to a broad array of stakeholders and audiences within and beyond the University.

Responsibilities

• Working closely with the Executive Director of Strategic Communications, identifies, develops, writes, produces, edits, and promotes multimedia content for the full range of the Division’s media and channels, including the website Tableau, social media, email, and University-wide publicity outlets.
• Working closely with the Director of Digital Communications, helps deploy content across the Division’s array of digital media, including the web CMS Drupal, social media, e-mail, and marketing accounts.
• Working closely with the Executive Director of Strategic Communications, helps maintain an active editorial calendar for the team.
• Helps manage the work of student writers and content creators, including editing and feedback.
• Provides guidance to staff and faculty on communications-related activities. Provides full-service communications support when deemed appropriate by the Executive Director of Strategic Communications.
• Partners with colleagues in the Office of Advancement to produce advancement-related communications such as the annual digital and printed holiday card.
• Manages the work of external vendors, such as graphic designers, photographers, videographers, etc.
• Plans, organizes, and manages events including Arts and Humanities Day, Berlin Family Lecture Series, Paleography and the Book Lecture, decanal sponsored events, lectures, and other divisionally sponsored events. Handles logistics, travel, catering, set-up/take-down, etc.
• Manages the work of external vendors, such as photographers, videographers, caterers, etc.
• Partners with colleagues to support shared events including Division Convocation Ceremonies.
• Develops and executes communications and marketing plans for events and programs, including internal and external facing outlets (e.g., media, invitations, brochures, emails, response forms, posters, etc.).
• Develops and maintains strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders to maximize the impact of programming efforts.
• Collects and analyzes post-event metrics and feedback. Shares findings with leadership. Identifies and implements improvements to maximize the impact of programming efforts.
• Working in partnership with the Executive Director of Strategic Communications and the Director of Digital communications, participates in developing strategic planning for marketing and audience engagement for the division-owned channels, as well as ongoing integration with marketing and communication teams within individual units and departments.
• Working in partnership with the Executive Director of Strategic Communications and the Director of Digital communications, participates in convening and advising a division-wide working group to optimize the impact of events and programming by fostering action-oriented dialogue around things such as identifying and engaging key audiences, codifying best practices, and working with preferred vendors.
• Periodically helps perform assessment of AHD programming and communications in the context of peer university and other public-facing cultural organizations.
• Working in partnership with the Executive Director of Strategic Communications, performs financial tasks such as generating purchase orders; coding, tracking, and reconciling expenses, and paying vendors.
• Manages financial tracking spreadsheets.
• Maintains facilities and inventory of communications related supplies.
• Manages the work of vendors who help produce content and collateral in service of programs and communications, such as designers, printers, videographers, and photographers.
• Recruits, trains, and supervises student event workers and office student intern.
• Executes day-to-day event logistics, and other moderately complex assignments with some guidance from others.
• Assists with research, including vendor selection and contract negotiation. Keeps track of all expenses, prepares reports on costs, using existing procedures to solve moderately complex problems as they arise.
• Reviews and finalizes the guest lists, assists with mailing invitations and creates brochures for the event.
• Works to implement ideas for improvement as they are identified in addition to providing post-event feedback on turnout and vendor performance with direction from others.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 2-5 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications

Education:

• Graduate degree in a humanistic field or communications.

Experience:

• 4+ years in higher education roles with a large portfolio of written and spoken communications, developing audiences, managing events, or college-level teaching in humanistic fields.
• Portfolio of content that translates specialized knowledge for general audiences.
• Proven ability to understand and navigate a large, multi-tiered university environment.
• Background working with diverse audiences and organizing large public events.

Technical Skills or Knowledge:

• Proficiency with computers and software applications, such as Excel, Word, Graphic Design programs, Web CMS (e.g., Drupal, Wordpress, etc.), email platforms, etc.
• Interest in and willingness to stay abreast of evolving communication tools, technologies, and trends.

Preferred Competencies

• Broad understanding of humanistic fields, with some advanced training in a particular discipline.
• Translate specialized knowledge for broad audiences.
• Excellent oral and written communications skills.
• Coordinate the work of others.
• Project management skills.
• Train others.
• Budget management skills.
• Presentation skills.
• Interviewing skills.
• Interpersonal skills.
• Customer services skills.
• Quantitative skills.
• Problem-solving skills.
• Decision-making skills.
• Work independently and as part of a team.
• Organizational skills.
• Creativity.
• Flexibility.
• Maintain confidentiality.
• Work on multiple projects simultaneously, set priorities, and meet deadlines.
• Familiarity with the University of Chicago and the city of Chicago.

Working Conditions

• Office environment.
• Some remote work is possible.
• Walking to various parts of campus.
• Work an occasional evening or weekend.

Application Documents

• Resume/CV (required)
• Letter of Interest in this position (required)
• References Contact Information (required) (3)
• Writing Sample, such as a news article, essay, or review intended for a general, non-specialized audience, with a 1,000 word maximum (required)

Job Family

Communications

Role Impact

Individual Contributor

Scheduled Weekly Hours

37.5

Drug Test Required

No

Health Screen Required

No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required

No

Pay Rate Type

Salary

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FLSA Status

Exempt

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Pay Range

$65,000.00 - $80,000.00

The included pay rate or range represents the University’s good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits Eligible

Yes

The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook.

Posting Statement

The University of Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, national or ethnic origin, shared ancestry, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.

 

Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5800 or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.

 

All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history.  A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment.  Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case-by-case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position.

 

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