- Job Type: Officer of Administration
- Bargaining Unit:
- Regular/Temporary: Regular
- End Date if Temporary:
- Hours Per Week: 35
- Standard Work Schedule:
- Building:
- Salary Range: $110,000 – $135,000
The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training. The above hiring range represents the University’s good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.
Position Summary
Do you want to develop the strategy for Columbia to tell its story through social media platforms? Do you have great ideas for creative digital content that communicates the University’s mission and values, and connects the University’s new president to the Columbia community? Are you innovative, enthusiastic, and willing to experiment across multiple social media platforms – while also having fun?
The Office of Public Affairs is looking for an Executive Director of Social Media who will report to the Associate Vice President of Public Affairs and help shape and develop the social media effort across institutional platforms to communicate University news, as part of a broader content strategy. This individual also will lead a social media coordination effort across all four campuses and corresponding schools, centers, and institutes. The Executive Director of Social Media is the digital eyes and ears of what is happening at the University and what needs to be communicated internally and externally. Through strategic planning and close collaboration with the leadership of the Office of Public Affairs, the Executive Director will serve as the steward of the University’s digital public profile, promoting Columbia’s position as one of the world’s leading institutions for teaching and research, as well as planning and implementing emergency messaging.
The Executive Director of Social Media will oversee a social media working group, comprised of three people within the Office of Public Affairs and will supervise an Associate Director of Digital and Social Media Content working with that person to write, edit, design, produce, and package University content for a wide array of audiences. With a new University president starting in July, the executive director will be instrumental in creating a social media strategy for the University and the new president, introducing this new president to students, parents, faculty, staff, and alumni.
Responsibilities
- In collaboration with the senior leadership of the Office of Communications and Public Affairs, identifies opportunities for social media communication for internal University audiences and for external audiences.
- Forges and manages relationships with a wide range of social media teams across the University.
- Develops, plans, guides, and executes the University’s social media strategy, including the creation of unified messaging that advances strategic goals and maximizes impact and engagement.
- Continuously identifies creative ways to enhance, promote, and cover the University’s achievements, events, and news across digital communications streams.
- Assesses effectiveness and adjusts tactics based on defined metrics, solicits feedback and input.
- Creates content for a wide variety of social platforms, including writing, editing, proofreading, and fact-checking.
- Streamlines the coordination and approval process for digital, audio, and visual story development.
- Stays abreast of social media trends to optimize the office’s approach.
- Communicates and educates others across the University on the best practices for social media and fine-tunes them based on data and analytics.
- Reviews and assesses content to ensure it adheres to University’s brand messaging and goals.
- Keeps the senior leadership of the Office of Public Affairs abreast of potential crises for the University that may be trending on social media.
- Prepares regular reports to inform senior leadership in the Office of Public Affairs and colleagues across the University about trends, lessons learned, successes, and areas of opportunities that were identified
- Develops and enhances internal systems that enable the office to work more collaboratively across teams.
- Collaborates on development and execution strategy, planning, and implementation of Emergency Messaging.
- Troubleshoots digital media issues as needed.
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree required.
- Minimum seven years of communications, public relations, web content management, marketing, and social media experience required
- Advanced writing, editing, and verbal skills, especially for social media.
- Sophisticated judgment about the relative newsworthiness of developments concerning the University.
- Discretion, the ability to keep confidences.
- Ability to interact effectively with senior administrators and faculty.
- Fluency with essential computer skills, Microsoft Suite, Adobe Suite, and google docs.
- Skill with social media platforms and publishing tools and an ability and willingness to quickly learn new platforms and applications.
- Strong attention to detail and consistency in meeting deadlines.
- Ownership of the end work product, flexibility in adapting to constructive feedback.
Preferred Qualifications
- Organized work ethic, a sense of calm under pressure, and a belief in team spirit.
- Experience with SalesForce, Quick Base, or other product management tools.
- Experience working with Canva.
Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran
Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.
Commitment to Diversity
Columbia University is dedicated to increasing diversity in its workforce, its student body, and its educational programs. Achieving continued academic excellence and creating a vibrant university community require nothing less. In fulfilling its mission to advance diversity at the University, Columbia seeks to hire, retain, and promote exceptionally talented individuals from diverse backgrounds.