"Assistant Director, Marketing Communications"

Assistant Director, Marketing Communications

Company: The University of Arizona

Job Location: Tucson, Arizona 85724

Category: Communications, Marketing, and Public Affairs

Type: Full-Time

Posting Number: req25088

Department: RII Research Communications

Location: Tucson Campus

Address: Tucson, AZ USA

Position Highlights

The Marketing and Communications team of the Office of Research and Partnerships (ORP) at the University of Arizona is seeking a highly skilled Marketing Manager II. This role is dedicated to elevating the university's profile in key strategic research focus areas. The successful candidate will lead a professional team to define, direct and produce compelling, audience-focused content that communicates the urgency and significance of U of A research, facilities and faculty excellence. Reporting to the Sr. Director, Marketing Communications, ORP, this position ensures that all research-focused marketing and branding efforts are clear, high-impact and strictly aligned with the university's mission and goals and with ORP priorities.

Outstanding U of A benefits include health, dental, and vision insurance plans; life insurance and disability programs; paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays; U of A/ASU/NAU tuition reduction for the employee and qualified family members; retirement plans; access to U of A recreation and cultural activities; and more!

The University of Arizona has been recognized for our innovative work-life programs. For more information about working at the University of Arizona and relocations services, please click here.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Develop and execute holistic, integrated marketing and communications plans for specific strategic research focus areas.
• Manage day-to-day editing, writing and marketing to highlight U of A research achievements for internal and external audiences.
• Assign, write and edit high-quality content marketing pieces, including web news stories and digital narratives that translate complex scientific discovery into clear, persuasive narratives for both broad and focused audiences.
• Regularly review processes and procedures to refine and streamline team workflow, ensuring rigorous quality control and operational efficiency.
• Ensure all ORP communications efforts are strictly on-brand and aligned with the larger University of Arizona brand and goals and ORP priorities.
• Lead marketing research and campaigns promoting faculty, research breakthroughs and world-class facilities. This includes directing the creation of high-level presentations and printed marketing materials and coordinating with the creative team.
• Propose and develop creative marketing concepts and strategies for national-level events and high-profile research showcases.
• Serve as the primary liaison with central University Marketing and Communications to ensure cross-campus synergy.
• Collaborate closely with the Executive Comms Sr. Director, Social Media Manager, Creative Manager and Events team to ensure strategic narratives are visually and digitally optimized across all platforms.
• Successfully manage multiple competing priorities, managing the workflow for various research focus areas simultaneously to meet tight deadlines.
• Supervise and evaluate a professional multi-disciplinary team, providing direction, setting performance standards and conducting performance evaluations.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Ability to define the "story" that will best resonate with a specific target audience.
• Mastery of writing and editing with a focus on clarity, compelling hooks and technical accuracy.
• Proven ability to manage multiple large-scale projects and pivot between different research focus areas while managing competing deadlines.
• Demonstrated ability to improve workflows and maintain high standards of quality control in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong interpersonal skills to supervise staff and influence stakeholders.
• Detail oriented

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent advanced learning attained through professional-level experience.
• Minimum of 5 years of related work experience, including 2 years of managerial experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Expertise in content marketing.
• Experience in high-level communications and content marketing within a research-intensive or higher education environment.
• Experience coordinating, organizing and producing executive-level deliverables, including magazines, reports and booklets, and identifying and coordinating advertising/paid media opportunities.
• Experience translating scientific or technical information for a general audience.
• Experience in managing professional creative or communications staff.
• Evidence of using project management tools to streamline team workflows.

FLSA: Exempt

Full Time/Part Time: Full Time

Number of Hours Worked per Week: 40

Job FTE: 1.0

Work Calendar: Fiscal

Job Category: Communication and Marketing

Benefits Eligible: Yes - Full Benefits

Rate of Pay: $75,540 - $98,201

Compensation Type: salary at 1.0 full-time equivalency (FTE)

Grade: 10

Career Stream and Level: M2

Job Family: Marketing

Job Function: Communications & Marketing

Type of criminal background check required: Name-based criminal background check (non-security sensitive)

Number of Vacancies: 1

Contact Information for Candidates: Stephanie Doster | scdoster@arizona.edu

Open Until Filled: Yes

Documents Needed to Apply: Resume, Cover Letter, and One Additional Document

Special Instructions to Applicant: Please provide three (3) examples of marketing collateral that you produced.