CRM Communications Specialist

CRM Communications Specialist

R-0002771
Joplin Campus
Kansas City Campus

Job Type:
Staff

Job Description:

The CRM Communications Specialist leads the design and execution of CRM-driven communications that guide prospective and applied students through key enrollment milestones. This role owns lifecycle journeys (email/SMS/portal/automation), builds segmentation and automation aligned to enrollment goals, and continuously improves messaging through testing and performance insights. In close partnership with Admissions, University Relations/Marketing, Financial Aid, Student Services, and IT/CRM administration, the CRM Communications Specialist ensures communications are clear, timely, personalized, and measurables support strong conversion and confident student decision-making.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Orchestration

• Lead the end-to-end design and ongoing optimization of prospective and applicant journeys by program and stage (prospect, applicant, interview, decision, admitted, deposited, onboarding-to-handoff)
• Build segmentation, automation, and message sequencing that aligns to enrollment priorities and supports consistent stage movement
• Deliver communications that clearly reinforce next steps, deadlines, requirements, and decision-point confidence
• Exercises independent judgment in the design and optimization of CRM communication strategies supporting enrollment outcomes
• Advises enrollment leadership on communication strategy based on performance analytics and student engagement trends

Yield & Late-Stage Support

• Develop targeted communications and nudges that strengthen engagement and support deposit-to-matriculation outcomes
• Partner across Enrollment, Admissions, Financial Aid, and Student Services to address common friction points and improve the admitted/deposited experience

CRM Content Development & Stewardship

• Create and maintain CRM templates, modular content blocks, and multi-step sequences across channels (email/SMS/portal)
• Maintain a CRM communications calendar aligned to the admissions operating calendar and program milestones
• Apply clarity, accessibility, and compliance-aligned standards to all student-facing communications

Governance, Quality Control & Coordination

• Establish and manage communications intake, prioritization, and review process to ensure message quality, timing alignment, and stakeholder readiness
• Coordinate with CRM/Admissions Operations on data definitions, QA, automation testing, and release management
• Document journey logic, decision rules, and template libraries to support scalability and continuity

Measurement & Continuous Improvement

• Monitor and report on communication performance and funnel outcomes (deliverability, engagement, conversion by stage, RSVP-to-attendance, deposit conversion, onboarding completion signals)
• Conduct A/B and multivariate tests and implement improvements based on outcomes and insights
• Provide actionable recommendations to Enrollment leadership based on performance trends and student behavior signals

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• CRM lifecycle communications expertise (journey design, automation, segmentation)
• Excellent writing/editing for high-stakes student communications
• Strong QA, governance, and template library management
• Data literacy: reporting, testing, and optimization for conversion outcomes
• Cross-functional collaboration and project management in a cycle-based environment

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, English, Journalism, or a related field preferred
• Strong understanding of email marketing, content creation, and user engagement strategies
• Experience working with admission CRM system; preferred experience working with Slate
• Experience in implementing and using admissions CRM technology; Slate CRM experience preferred
• Must possess the ability to work effectively and positively as part of the Admissions Team
• Must be comfortable operating in a collaborative, shared leadership environment
• Ability to interface with information technology team, business analysts, functional users, external vendors and other stakeholders
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Strong customer service skills
• Ability to create technical documentation and flowcharts preferred
• Ability to work independently on a day-to-day basis
• Excellent written and verbal skills
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite
• Ability to anticipate needs and maintain resourcefulness
• Strong organizational and time management skills