COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER

Department Description:

The Office of the Registrar provides a number of services to both prospective and current students and is the primary information source on enrollment, convocation ceremonies and important student dates and events throughout the year. We are a smart, collaborative staff of nearly 100, spread across 9 departments: Student Services,  Aid & Awards, Student Recruitment, Undergraduate Admissions, Student Records, Systems, Scheduling & Examinations, Communications and Central RO Administration. This supportive and dynamic team works together to provide assistance to students from the beginning of their time at McMaster University until they graduate.

The Communications department supports the communications and marketing needs of all departments in the Registrar’s Office. We use a variety of platforms and tactics to ensure effective and clear communication to McMaster’s 30,000+ undergraduate students. We are currently looking to hire 2 Communications Officers that will use a variety of specialized skills to promote and support the communication and marketing strategy of the Office of the Registrar.

General Description:

Responsible for developing, implementing, and evaluating a strategic communication plan which includes marketing initiatives and incorporating new infrastructure to support the communication activities and enhance the overall profile of the department.

• Develop, coordinate, and implement work plans and objectives for the communication and promotion of the department
• Develop communication and strategic plans and objectives.
• Collect, analyze, assess, and summarize information relevant to the decision making process and develop recommendations for final approval and implementation. Provide recommendations on the future development of communication strategy, structure, function, and activity.
• Design, build and update the website. Evaluate usability and relevance and make ongoing necessary additions and changes to website content.
• Develop content, design, edit, and maintain  social media sites.
• Liaise with internal contacts, external partners, community organizations, and other stakeholders.
• Schedule events and coordinate joint promotional activities and publicity opportunities with other departments and community groups.
• Coordinate and communicate content requirements and production deadlines to authors for publications.
• Review graphics, edit images, and make revisions to content and layout.
• Design and execute complete graphical layout for marketing materials used to promote exhibitions and general campaigns.
• Negotiate terms of service with various suppliers, publications, distributors, and designers.
• Develop annual publicity budgets and complete expense reports for events and marketing material expenditures.
• Create financial projections and make adjustments to the marketing budget throughout the fiscal year.
• Write, edit, design, and disseminate communications and marketing materials and in-house exhibition and education publications to a diverse audience in both print and electronic formats.
• Develop and maintain a graphics and video inventory.
• Conduct database, literature, and web searches to locate documents and articles that can be used for reference in marketing tools..
• Update, maintain, and verify information in a variety of spreadsheets and databases.
• Attend and participate in a variety of meetings.
• Remain current with frequent developments in design and graphics software, social media platforms, and trends in the communications field.

Supervision:

Ensure adherence to quality standards and procedures for short term staff and volunteers.