"Comms/Marketing Sr Specialist"

Position Summary

Columbia University Irving Medical Center seeks a strategic, creative, and digitally savvy Communications and Marketing Senior Specialist to lead initiatives supporting the CUIMC Office of Communication’s mission in close collaboration with clinical departments. This role plays a key part in communicating the impact of our clinical services, research, and education through compelling storytelling and innovative marketing strategies. The ideal candidate will have exceptional writing skills, a strong understanding of health care audiences, and deep experience managing campaigns across platforms.

Responsibilities

The responsibilities will include the following:

Essential Duties:

Content Development

• Contributes to the design of the communications strategy and carries out the development and management of high-quality content tailored to patients, faculty, researchers, students, peers/referring providers, and the broader healthcare community.
• Conducts benchmarking research and leverages internal priorities to make informed recommendations that shape content strategy.
• Collaborates with administrative and clinical leadership to define content approach that aligns with departmental goals and institutional objectives. Produces various materials, including web copy, patient stories, service line features, provider bios, newsletters, and internal communications.
• Collaborates with the central editorial team to produce content.
• Ensures all communications maintain a consistent brand voice and comply with HIPAA regulations, brand standards, and institutional messaging guidelines. Produces written content and basic graphics to support the department’s social media accounts.
• Facilitates awareness and understanding of available resources and guidelines by creating effective channels for information sharing and knowledge exchange among users.

Digital Marketing & Strategy

• Collaborates with the marketing team to plan and lead multi-channel campaigns that drive patient acquisition, enhance faculty promotion, increase clinical program visibility, and raise awareness of research initiatives across the health system. Oversees content management and optimization of department websites using CMS tools (e.g., Sitecore, Drupal, Adobe).
• Oversee email marketing initiatives, including audience segmentation, automation, and analytics, using tools like Salesforce Marketing Cloud or Mailchimp.
• Supports the development of strategic partnerships within Columbia by staying informed on client needs and market trends to identify potential growth opportunities. Monitors competitive landscape and healthcare industry trends, providing regular analysis and reports to inform marketing objectives.
• Establish and manage social media strategies, content calendars, and engagement approaches to strengthen brand reputation.
• Assists in optimizing and scaling digital marketing plans by analyzing performance data and supporting adjustments to improve campaign reach and effectiveness across platforms.
• Monitors and responds to audience engagement across platforms, including provider ratings, reviews, and social media platforms.
• Maintains provider profiles (bios, specialties, expertise, headshots, locations).
• Applies search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) best practices to enhance content discoverability across digital channels.
• Assists in monitoring project budgets and ensuring alignment with institutional cost expectations.

Analytics & Performance Tracking

• Measures and reports on the performance of campaigns and digital channels using tools like Piwik Pro Analytics, social media insights, and CRM dashboards.
• Provides actionable recommendations based on data to improve outreach, engagement, and ROI.
• Analyzes and presents data to various stakeholders, adapting communication style to effectively engage different audiences.

Collaboration & Project Management

• Serves as the primary communications liaison between the clinical departments and CUIMC’s central Office of Communication.
• Builds strong relationships with clinical leadership, faculty, and staff to identify opportunities for storytelling and promotional efforts. Coordinates projects across internal teams (editorial, digital, marketing, design, and media).
• Provide brand guidance, content recommendations, and messaging support to departmental stakeholders. Support press release development and work with the CUIMC Office of Communications on media relations and public announcements.

Other

• Engages in ongoing learning to stay current with best practices in healthcare marketing, digital communications, and institutional branding.
• Supports special projects or initiatives as assigned by senior communications leadership.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor's Degree or equivalent in education and experience, plus four years of experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Minimum of a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in Marketing, Communications, Public Health, Journalism, Public Relations, or a related field.
• 4 years of marketing and communications experience, preferably in health care, academic medicine, or higher education.
• Exceptional writing, editing, and storytelling skills with an ability to translate complex medical or research information for lay audiences.
• Proven experience developing and executing digital marketing campaigns.
• Understanding CMS platforms, web analytics tools, SEO/SEM, social media management tools, and email marketing software.
• Basic understanding of graphic design and multimedia tools (e.g., Canva, Adobe Creative Suite).
• Strong project management, interpersonal, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience in an academic medical center or teaching hospital environment.
• Knowledge of health marketing, service line promotion, or patient engagement strategies.
• Familiarity with CRM, marketing automation tools (e.g., Salesforce, Marketo, HubSpot).