Director of Communications & Public Engagement
- Employer
- The University of Kansas
- Location
- University of Kansas Lawrence Campus
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- Employment Type
- Full Time
- Institution Type
- Four-Year Institution
Job Details
Working in collaboration with the Dean and the leadership team of the School, the position oversees all communications and marketing initiatives for the School and its units to translate complex students, alumni, faculty and staff achievements and impacts into clear, compelling narratives that improve student enrollment, retention, engagement and success; support advancement and fundraising; and promote reputation and community excellence.
The position is a member of the Dean’s leadership team. The position liaises with KU Marketing and Public Affairs, and KU Endowment Association on matters related to communications and public engagement. The position supervises the Graphic Designer of the School and a staff of student employees. The Position serves at the pleasure of the Dean and reports to the Dean.Job DescriptionResponsibilities Related to Strategic Communications (90%)
Strategic leadership responsibilities:
- Works with the Dean and the leadership team of the School to develop and implement an integrated strategic communications plan to advance the School’s brand and increase awareness of its programs, activities, and mission. The plan will identify priority audiences, messages, channels, responsibilities, an editorial schedule, and measures of success.
- Works directly and regularly with Department Chairs to understand departmental priorities, upcoming initiatives, events, accomplishments, recruitment needs, and opportunities for communication and promotion. Meets with the Chairs collectively or individually at least four times each academic year( twice per semester) to maintain consistent communication between the departments and the School’s communications efforts.
- Provides editorial direction and brand management to enhance School brand and reputation.
- Provides oversight of the School’s marketing and communications materials. Establishes and manages a process for review and feedback on visual communications, actively seeking input from School leadership to help ensure materials appropriately represent the School and its programs.
- Develops a communications strategy for increasing the visibility of faculty research, scholarship, and creative activity across Architecture & Design, identifying opportunities to promote faculty expertise and accomplishments to academic, professional, industry, media, alumni, donor, and public audiences.
- Maintains a clear editorial and project process for intake, prioritization, approvals, production, status updates, publication, and follow-up across web, social media, email, print, media relations, and events.
- Builds and executes systematic and sustainable processes for documenting School outputs, events, lectures, faculty and student research, and activities with alumni, community and industry.
- Maintains an active presence across the School and regularly engages with faculty and students to develop a strong understanding of the School’s programs, people, activities, accomplishments, and culture. Identifies stories and communications opportunities through direct engagement with the School community rather than relying solely on submitted content.
- Attends key School events, Annual Board Meetings, lectures, exhibitions, reviews, student activities, and other activities as appropriate to identify and capture stories, moments, quotes, achievements, and other content for use across School communications.
- Meets regularly with faculty across Architecture and Design to learn about their current and emerging research, scholarship, creative activity, publications, exhibitions, awards, grants, collaborations, and areas of expertise. Proactively identifies opportunities to translate and promote this work through School communications rather than relying solely on faculty to submit stories or requests.
- Coordinates photography and other documentation of student work, faculty activities, events, exhibitions, facilities, and the everyday life of the School, working with professional photographers, student employees, faculty, and staff as appropriate.
- Builds and executes systematic and sustainable processes for managing assets for public communications that strategically and creatively promote the past, present and future of the School.
- Establishes a sustainable, repeatable and effective way for faculty, staff and students to submit requests, understand priorities, know who approves the work, and see what is moving forward.
- Maintains the School website as a current and accurate representation of its programs, people, student work, research, activities, and accomplishments. Establishes a schedule for ongoing updates and an annual refresh of student work, photography, program information, and editorial content so that the website remains timely, relevant, and visually engaging.
- Manages the School’s websites and webpages including maintaining current content, improving navigation and usability, and ensuring information is accurate and accessible.
- Manages the production of marketing and recruitment collateral materials of the School in collaboration with the Director of Recruitment and Enrollment and the Chairs, highlighting the Return on Investment (ROI) of a specific academic program through career outcomes, salary data, and alumni success; student experience; and innovation and research.
- Manages the production of weekly newsletters for students and faculty in collaboration with the Director of Student Services and Success and the Chairs, highlighting weekly events and activities, policy updates, programmatic changes, and School resources to improve internal community engagement, inclusivity, and belonging.
- Manages the production of the bi-monthly ArcD Newsletter highlighting student, faculty and alumni achievements and stories to improve engagement within the broader School community, including alumni, donors, and industry and community partners.
- Manages the semiannual or annual publication/s of the School focusing on research, community, and economic impacts of the School for regional, national and international audiences.
- Develops and produces ongoing stories and content that make faculty research, scholarship, creative activity, and expertise accessible and visible to audiences through the website, newsletters, social media, publications, media outreach, and other appropriate channels.
- Develops and promotes a unified ecosystem of public engagement for the School. Such an ecosystem will have multiple points of entry for both internal and external constituents to the creative and research output, community-engaged activities, events and workshops, services, and everyday life of the School; and will use the digital, physical, spatial and human assets of the School.
- Builds relationships with faculty and students across Architecture and Design to ensure that communications reflect the breadth of the School and that emerging work, accomplishments, research, creative activity, and student experiences are identified and communicated.
- Actively promotes faculty research and expertise.
- Develops and stores collections and coordinates services that enhance communications and engagement activities through exhibitions, displays and other public efforts.
- Promotes a positive and cooperative team environment among all stakeholder groups.
- Pitches faculty experts to journalists for commentary on breaking news to elevate the unit's national profile.
- Supervises the Graphic Designer of the School and a staff of student employees.
- Develops guidelines to distinguish the director’s strategy, priority-setting, and approval responsibilities from the designer’s creative and production responsibilities.
- Establishes clear expectations and review processes for the quality and consistency of visual communications produced by the School. Actively seeks design expertise and feedback to help establish and maintain the visual direction of the School, ensuring that communications reflect the quality and standards of a School of Architecture and Design.
- Develops clear expectations for staff development, workload priorities, coverage, delegation, and consistent service to the members of the School community.
- Serves on committees, as needed.
- Participates in and provides communications support for School activities including Board meetings, alumni events and award ceremonies, donor events, lecture series, and exhibitions.
- Performs other duties in support of the mission of the School.
- Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, Communications, Marketing, Business Administration or a related field and five years of related experience
- Previous experience with editing, writing and website maintenance
- At least one year of supervisory experience
- Prior work experience working with a wide range of populations, as demonstrated by application materials and work history
- Experience with AI technologies for predictive analytics and yield modeling; personalized campaigns; and for administrative automation and document processing
- Excellent computer skills and demonstrated interest and capacity in database management
- Experience collaborating with different levels of leadership, including university and school leaderships as demonstrated by application materials and work history
- Experience with strategic communications
- Knowledge of developing surveys and analyzing data for reporting purposes
- Proven experience exercising initiatives, decision-making and self-discipline
- Experience in all or some of the other areas of responsibilities of the position
- Demonstrated effective written communication skills as evidenced by application materials
- Demonstrated organizational skills and demonstrated ability to handle multiple projects and juggle priorities
- cover letter
- resume
- list of three professional references
jhammen@ku.eduAdvertised Salary Range$62,000 - $72,000, commensurate with experienceApplication Review BeginsFriday October 9, 2026Anticipated Start DateMonday November 2, 2026Apply to Job
Organization
Working at the University of Kansas
Join the University of Kansas, and you’ll become part of a Jayhawk family that spans the globe. Wear your KU shirt in London, Istanbul, Buenos Aires, Nairobi or anywhere else, and you will likely hear a resounding “Rock Chalk!” from a stranger. Of course, the appropriate response is an enthusiastic “Jayhawk!” Because, after all, they’re not really strangers, they’re family.
The Jayhawk community is united by more than 150 years of tradition and by our commitment to pushing the boundaries of knowledge, transforming the academic experience, and creating solutions through innovative research. KU’s mission is to lift students and society by educating leaders, building healthy communities and making discoveries that change the world.
The University of Kansas is the state’s flagship university and one of just 66 invited members of the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU). We consistently earn high rankings for academics and recognition as a premier research university.
KU faculty and staff embrace our role as the state’s flagship university, AAU member and R1 institution that serves the state, nation and world. We celebrate the energy and compassion that infuse the Jayhawk spirit; and, we remain true to KU’s historic values: the elevating force of education, the transformative power of research and the healing power of service.
Instruction
KU offers a broad array of undergraduate and graduate study programs, and we fulfill our mission through academic and research programs of international distinction, coupled with outstanding libraries, teaching museums and information technology. These resources enrich the academic experience for students from all 50 states and 112 countries, and provide enrichment resources for KU faculty and staff.
Research
The university attains high levels of research productivity and recognizes that faculty are part of a network of scholars and academicians that shape a discipline as well as teach it. KU staff are integral to our research success, participating in and supporting discoveries that expand knowledge and improve lives.
Service
The university and our employees serve society through research, teaching and the preservation and dissemination of knowledge. KU's academic programs, arts facilities and public programs provide cultural enrichment opportunities for the larger community. And, KU offers educational, research and service programs throughout the state. KU employees are encouraged to participate in and serve the campus and surrounding communities in a way that is meaningful to them.
International Dimension
KU offers more than 100 programs of international study and cooperative research for KU students and faculty at sites around the world. The university offers teaching and research that draw upon and contribute to the most advanced developments throughout the United States and abroad. At the same time, KU's extensive international ties support economic development in Kansas.
Values
The University of Kansas, our students and employees are committed to excellence. We foster a multicultural, inclusive environment in which the dignity and rights of individuals are respected. Intellectual diversity, integrity and disciplined inquiry in the search for knowledge are of paramount importance.
Our City and State
KU sits atop Mt. Oread in the center of Lawrence, a town full of natural beauty and culture. In fact, Rolling Stone magazine named Lawrence one of the best college towns in the United States. Lawrence is home to more than 100,000 people, and has a charming, Midwestern friendliness that welcomes visitors and celebrates diversity. In addition to KU, Lawrence is home to Haskell Indian Nations University, the premiere tribal university in the United States.
Lawrence’s historic and thriving downtown features restaurants, nightlife and local shops offering unique finds that you won’t find anywhere else. The town has more than 50 parks, an encompassing mixed-use trail, and quick access to biking/hiking trails along the Kansas River and around Clinton Lake. A five-minute drive from Lawrence, Clinton Lake offers fishing, boating, beaches, camping and other outdoor activities.
Located just 40 minutes west of Kansas City, Lawrence offers the appeal of a mid-size, suburban town with quick access to the amenities of a large city, including an international airport. The Kansas City metro area is home to world-class museums and cultural activities, Jazz clubs and other nightlife venues, expansive shopping options, and exciting professional sports with the Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City Royals and Sporting KC.
Kansas is in the center of the country, making it convenient and cost effective to fly or drive to destinations throughout the United States. Far from flat, the Flint Hills, just 90 minutes from Lawrence, offer panoramic vistas that showcase the breathtaking beauty of America.
Making KU Your Home
Something about Lawrence is magnetic. Long-time residents are never surprised when a KU student or employee from out of state decides to make Lawrence their permanent home. And, even those who do leave often find themselves returning to “the nest” at some point in the future. In fact, Lawrence has been named by several publications as one of the best places to retire.
At the University of Kansas, you’ll join a global Jayhawk family and find a place to call home.
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