Principal Marketing and Communications Officer at United States International University Africa (USIU)

Job Description

Reporting to the Chief Manager - Marketing and Communications, the successful candidate will be part of the Marketing & Communications team charged with the role of planning, developing, implementing and evaluating communications plans that raise the profile of USIU-Africa and demonstrate communications best practice.

Key Responsibilities:

• Build and execute effective and dynamic external communications campaigns.
• Identify external communication gaps and solutions.
• Create stakeholder maps, refreshing them regularly based on internal and external influences.
• Identify and consult stakeholders in developing appropriate communications collateral Track effectiveness of communications tactics and channels, responding to the feedback and experience of stakeholders to continuously improve and benchmark with the global communications strategy.
• Optimize trends in communications and communications best practice.
• Collaborate with communications professionals in the region and globally to ensure consistency in messaging and strategy.
• Support University-wide communications initiatives
• Develop processes and channels for seeking and publishing USIU-Africa stories within the Region and globally. Work with faculty to make their research relevant in the mainstream media, including op-ed pieces
• Research, write and edit compelling stories about USIU-Africa for internal and external use and promotion, working closely with stakeholders.
• Support marketing programs with developing promotional material including brochures, advertisements, etc.
• Contribute to internal USIU-Africa newsletters, profiling campus activities and impact; leveraging on them to build external profile of the University.
• Utilize internal resources to position USIU-Africa in print, digital and social channels.
• Work closely with relevant offices to populate the USIU-Africa website and social media channels with interesting, balanced, accurate and compelling stories.
• Supervise interns, volunteers and/or research assistants to help raise profile of USIU-Africa
• Build and maintain strong relationships with local, regional and international media houses to showcase USIU-Africa’s activities and impact.
• Influence professional media contacts through thought-leadership, engaging them to help transform the higher education sector by their outputs.
• Coordinate logistics and liaise with media for on-site events and promotions.
• Support all communications for USIU-Africa’s events.
• Develop concepts and protocols for major campus events.
• Plan and manage campus wide events that are well thought out and aligned to the USIU-Africa brand and within the allocated budget.
• Minimum Educational Qualifications and Professional Experience
• Master’s Degree in journalism, communications, business, social sciences or equivalent, from an accredited university. Proficiency in computer applications; Served as Senior Marketing & Communications Officer for a minimum of 5 years.
• Shown merit and ability as reflected in work performance and results5 years and above relevant work experience managing websites within a content management system framework and digital marketing strategy development and execution.
• Skills
• Demonstrated competence and qualifications in communications, public relations, business and IT.
• Applicable knowledge and ability in successfully integrating digital channels to deliver multi-channel campaigns.
• Output oriented, can handle time-sensitive projects and working to deadlines.
• Can work well with minimum supervision in a diverse team and across various functions both internally and externally.
• Ability to adapt and learn new trends in the digital space. Requisite experience in managing online technologies, standards and trends and the capacity to identify opportunities to deliver improved online services.
• Excellent interpersonal skills including the ability to develop effective working relationships with a wide range of external stakeholders and liaise at all levels.
• Good analytical and research skills including the ability to summarize complex information clearly and concisely.

Personal Attributes & Competencies

• Shown merit and ability as reflected in work performance and results;
• Confidentiality and integrity;
• Proficiency in computer applications;
• Team player with excellent interpersonal skills;
• Relationship builder & effective negotiator;
• Good communication skills;
• Self-motivated;
• Attention to detail;
• Adaptability and reliability