Director, Marketing, Communications & Recruitment

Description

The Administration & Operations Team in the Haskayne School of Business is currently seeking a Full-time Temporary Relief Director, Marketing, Communications & Recruitment for approximately 12 months.

In this leadership role, the Director, Marketing, Communications & Recruitment will work to build the local, national and international reputation of the University of Calgary's Haskayne School of Business as a top Canadian business school destination for graduate students. The Director of Marketing, Communications & Recruitment is a visionary force behind Haskayne's unique and distinct brand and help establish, safeguard and grow the business schools image among key stakeholders. This is particularly crucial as the graduate business school environment is highly competitive and the stakes are high as a balanced budget requires achieving recruitment targets.

This position reports to the Senior Director, Student Success and Community Engagement and is responsible for driving the achievement of enrolment targets across Haskayne's programs. The consequences of not meeting enrolment targets have a significant financial impact on HSBs operations. The primary focus of recruitment responsibilities is upon the graduate degree and certificate programs but there is also responsibility associated with meeting undergraduate recruitment targets. Part of this involves achieving recruitment targets for Indigenous students and other identified targets as set by the School. The role also provides oversight of some of the admission supports to the Admissions Team in the process of conversion. This position works primarily in-office and in the community, Monday to Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM (35 hours per week); however, due to constantly shifting priorities, flexibility is essential, including some evening and weekend hours.

Summary of Key Responsibilities (job functions include but are not limited to):

Marketing & Communications

• Develops, implements and measures high-quality and timely marketing and communication strategies focused on achieving Haskayne's undergraduate and graduate student recruitment targets.
• Works closely with the Dean to ensure the development and successful implementation of  the Deans communication plan.
• Works closely with the Senior Associate Dean Academic and Research to ensure the development and successful implementation of a research marketing strategy (including research translation).
• Leads a marketing and communications team that creates, develops and executes professional marketing and communications strategies and content to move our target market through the marketing funnel from applications to matriculated students for our graduate programs.
• Manage the marketing and advertising budget for the school.
• Work closely with different departments and centres to develop and execute marketing plans, advertising budgets, and report back on performance.
• Maintain and enhance the Haskayne School of Business website as the ideal destination for prospective students and the external community to learn about the school.
• Develop microsites, where appropriate, for grad programs and centres to manage content and optimal user experience.
• Proactively seeks out opportunities and achieves success in reputation management, brand strategies, marketing, media relations, social media, campaigns, publications, events and internal communications designed to create a positive image for the faculty and the University of Calgary.
• Ensures the implementation of strong and consistent brand and positioning protocols for the marketing efforts of the faculty.
• Ensures alignment of marketing and communications efforts across the Haskayne to ensure resources are focused on school priorities.
• Develops productive relationships with faculty leadership team, academics, students and staff.
• Manages contracts and relationships with external contractors, freelancers and design providers.
• Works professionally and collaboratively with other university communicators and marketing professionals, as well as members of the Office of Advancement and external funding agencies.
• Leads strategic faculty marketing and communication plans, in support of the university's entrepreneurial brand, its strategic direction, Academic Plan, Research Plan and other initiatives.
• Leads a team of marketing and communications professionals, ensuring the appropriate allocation of personnel to projects, providing staff with direction on administrative policies, procedure, collective agreements, technical requirements, priorities and service expectations.
• Coaches and mentors staff; supports team members to develop professional development plans.
• Accountable for supporting the short- and long-term business objectives of the Haskayne School of Business through effective marketing and communications strategies.
• Responsible for the development of timely and compelling stories to showcase teaching, education and research accomplishments.
• Leads team members to deliver successful events that meet faculty and department objectives, by engaging internal and external stakeholders.
• Establishes, tracks and maintains social media channels and content to share the news and accomplishments of the Haskayne School.
• Builds and maintains relationships with peers in the post-secondary, industry and innovation sectors in Calgary and nationally.

Student Recruitment

• Target, recruit, and convert qualified applicants for HSB's undergraduate and graduate programs (degree programs and certificates).
• Proactive planning, developing, and implementation of recruitment, marketing, and conversion strategies for HSB's graduate programs, under the guidance of a marketing and recruitment plan, to maximize market awareness, drive quality applicants and achieve enrolment targets for the programs. This includes an annual plan with clear KPIs, and reporting mechanisms.
• Developing and nurturing relationships in target markets resulting in a diverse pool of qualified applicants for HBS's graduate degree and certificate programs.
  Supporting the HSB Admissions team and the Faculty of Graduate Studies, as required, to confirm a candidate's admissibility.
• Working with the Registrar's Office, Associate Dean Undergraduate and Dean to meet undergraduate recruitment targets (including targets on specific groups).
• Working with Student Services and other internal stakeholders to ensure appropriate positioning and recruitment strategies for programs (e.g., Program Directors, Associate Deans, faculty).
• Supporting conversion of matriculated applicants as required.
• Implementing a scholarship strategy to achieve a defined set of enrolment targets.
• Reporting on recruitment initiatives and outcomes.
• Develops and implements high-quality and timely marketing, communication and recruitment strategies based on industry best practices and key performance indicators, This includes annual plans with targets and dashboards on reporting for key stakeholders.
• In conjunction with senior leadership, develops, monitors and meets the faculty's business objectives in the area of marketing, communications and recruitment.
• Provides advice to the Dean and senior leadership to effectively allocate and utilize resources to achieve strategic goals and objectives with regards to marketing, communications and recruitment.
• Responsible for overseeing the communications, marketing and recruiting budget for the Haskayne School.
• Works with the Offices of Advancement and Communications to provide a Haskayne perspective on any university-wide announcements, events and initiatives.
• Communications are timely, informative and appropriately represent the Haskayne School and the university.
• Manages complex faculty issues and challenging interpersonal interactions with composure and diplomacy.
• Seeks expert opinions and advice where appropriate and considered reliable.
• Proactively develops and maintains trustworthy, productive, problem-solving working relationships with colleagues and staff across the university community and external agencies.
• Coaches and motivates staff and project members to develop positive, high-trust working relationships; manages conflicts towards win-win outcomes.
• Creates an environment where knowledge sharing, training tools, coaching and staff development ensure service levels are met or exceeded.
• Creates a KPI focused, high performance work culture that focuses the team on its highest work priorities to drive desired results for HSB.

Qualifications / Requirements:

• A post-secondary degree in marketing, communications, public relations, business, or a related field.
• Minimum of 10 years experience in the marketing and communications field, including at least five at the management level with demonstrated experience leading a team.
• Demonstrated experience in planning and implementing strategic marketing and communications plans, which includes effective creation and execution of large-scale projects and campaigns aimed at target audiences.
• Experience leading and developing multiple brands, brand architecture, persona development and market research.
• Manage a budget of over $500,000 which entails an advertising budget (e.g., digital ads, social media, and traditional advertising customized to various unique grad programs).
• Experience managing creative agencies, media and digital agencies, and direct advertising partners and platforms to plan, implement and evaluate advertising strategies.
• Demonstrated experience in integrated cross-channel content marketing, including but not limited to direct mail, email, online, social media, video, print, out of home, radio and broadcast.
• Excellent written and oral communications skills required. This includes demonstrated ability to speak and write clearly and succinctly in a variety of settings and styles; ability to distill complex information into compelling stories, listen effectively and deliver messages that have the desired effect.
• Experience in events planning and community outreach, including media, event marketing and communications.
• Strong interpersonal skills and a proven ability to build and maintain relationships with a wide and diverse stakeholder group and across campus.
• Must be a creative thinker and problem-solver, with an orientation towards customer service.
• Experience producing a variety of marketing and communication channels aimed at various internal and external audiences, leveraging online, social media, print and face-to-face communications best practices.
• Knowledge and expertise formulating competitive strategies and managing policies, practices, trends and information affecting the entire university.
• Strong understanding of social media and how to leverage social media to the advantage of the Haskayne School of Business.
• Demonstrated ability to work with staff at all levels, to work under pressure and deadlines, and to handle numerous priorities and competing deadlines.
• Experience directly managing and working with creative experts to produce marketing materials/campaigns for a variety of channels aimed at various audience segments.
• Extensive experience in supervisory roles and performance management and coaching is required.
• Demonstrated effective ability with conflict resolution and balancing the interests and needs of multiple stakeholder groups.

Application Deadline:  March 17, 2025

We would like to thank all applicants in advance for submitting their resumes. Please note, only those candidates chosen to continue on through the selection process will be contacted.

This position is classified in the Management Career Band, Level 3 of the Management and Professional Staff Career Framework. 

For a listing of all management and staff opportunities at the University of Calgary, view our Management and Staff Careers website. 

About the University of Calgary

UCalgary is Canada's entrepreneurial university, located in Canada's most enterprising city. It is a top research university and one of the highest-ranked universities of its age. Founded in 1966, its 36,000 students experience an innovative learning environment, made rich by research, hands-on experiences and entrepreneurial thinking. It is Canada's leader in the creation of start-ups. Start something today at the University of Calgary. For more information, visit ucalgary.ca.

The University of Calgary has launched an institution-wide Indigenous Strategy committing to creating a rich, vibrant, and culturally competent campus that welcomes and supports Indigenous Peoples, encourages Indigenous community partnerships, is inclusive of Indigenous perspectives in all that we do.

As an equitable and inclusive employer, the University of Calgary recognizes that a diverse staff/faculty benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of the entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers that have been historically encountered by some people in our society. We strive to recruit individuals who will further enhance our diversity and will support their academic and professional success while they are here. In particular, we encourage members of the designated groups (women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible/racialized minorities, and diverse sexual orientation and gender identities) to apply. To ensure a fair and equitable assessment, we offer accommodation at any stage during the recruitment process to applicants with disabilities. Questions regarding [diversity] EDI at UCalgary can be sent to the Office of Institutional Commitments ([email protected]) and requests for accommodations can be sent to Human Resources ([email protected]).

Do you have most but not all the qualifications? Research show that women, racialized and visible minorities, and persons with disabilities are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At UCalgary we are committed to achieving equitable, diverse, inclusive and accessible employment practices and workplaces and encourage you to apply if you believe you are right for this role. 

We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, however preference will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.