The Associate Director manages, produces, and supports the university's digital strategy and solutions efforts, serving as an essential production resource fully integrated with the broader marketing and communications team. Under the general direction of the Senior Director of Digital Strategy and Solutions, the Associate Director helps ensure brand consistency, mission/DEI alignment, quality assurance, and accessibility of mission-critical digital communications channels and content. The incumbent is a senior technical product owner (CMS) and digital expert who manages the CMS, successfully delivering projects and tasks within established deadlines and budgets. The Associate Director leads a comprehensive portfolio of activities ranging from strategic to tactical, technical to creative, training to production--and in all aspects, ensuring excellence in quality. The position may supervise professional staff, external partners, students, and other resources as assigned.

Position Specific Responsibilities/Accountabilities

Resource Management

• Coach team members to maximize technical and creative productivity and effectiveness. Develop a culture of accountability through evidence-based decision-making, outcomes assessment, and process improvement where individual and team progress, deadlines, and results are regularly evaluated and reported.
• Assist in supporting and creating the university's strategic digital communications and marketing plan, interpreting key constituent insights, and translating those into compelling, memorable, and distinctive digital experiences. Recommend and implement strategies that influence target audiences, move them to action, and support revenue generation goals.
• Assist in managing and developing enterprise solutions and tools that support the university's communications, marketing, and external relations objectives, including UX/IA, websites, component design, content management systems, quality assurance tools, accessibility tools, and other digital functionality extensions. Collaborate closely with Information Technology Services to ensure university practices, policies, and methodologies are consistently applied to all systems managed.

Technical Knowhow

• Serve as a resident expert for the enterprise content management system (CMS) and related digital tools. Train and consult with colleagues, content providers, faculty, campus administrators, and freelancers on various topics, including operation, functionality, and usage. Create, develop, and oversee training, workshops, and tutorials as necessary to support the university.
• Serve as the subject matter expert and facilitate active dialogue between system users, content providers, and vendors. Manage, verify, and approve access to the university's digital media systems as appropriate. Manage digital metrics delivery, analytics tools, and reporting.

Digital Production

• Own significant projects, establish project requirements, assess team member performance goals, prioritize team requests and workflows, and mitigate risks associated with successful project outcomes.
• Project manage communications and digital marketing initiatives. Provide planning and project coordination services to strategic projects and initiatives. Establish and adhere to formulas, criteria, and standards throughout project implementation. Conducted focus groups, led committee meetings, delivered presentations, deployed surveys, presented statistical analyses, led benchmarking exercises, and provided other measurements to support competitive positioning and data-driven decision-making.
• Implement the university's quality controls, developing checklists and protocols that systematically and specifically address periodic and special reviews (including, but not limited to, link integrity, SEO, ADA, DEI, and other areas of focus/interest).
• Research and stay abreast of emerging digital media technologies and communications channels. Identify and advocate for opportunities to utilize and enhance digital media projects, improve the digital experience, and better address communications objectives.
• Provide expertise to clients and projects regarding accessibility, design, and information architecture. Ensure other digital considerations effectively reach the identified target audiences, integrate with the university's marketing and messaging direction, and align with the university's visual identity program. Audit digital media channels and recommend solutions. Devise plans and educate clients regarding alternative approaches and emerging trends.

Quality Assurance, Reporting

• Manage aspects of quality assurance, search engine optimization, ADA compliance protocols, analytics tool integration and reporting. Develop and support a culture of data measurement metrics to measure the effectiveness of digital media channels, campaigns, and efforts. Provide minimum data collection guidelines, implementation, and training.
• Guide colleagues, content providers, faculty, campus administrators, and freelancers in various topics, including writing styles, design, and functionality. Recommend information architecture approaches and photography selections. Review and audit client copy/design/functionality and report whether objectives are being met.
• Complete other duties and projects as assigned.

Loyola Marymount University Expectations

Exhibit behavior that supports the university's mission, vision, and values of the university. Communicate and employ interpersonal actions that model high professional, responsible, accountable, and ethical conduct. Demonstrate a commitment to outstanding customer service.

The incumbent must have the ability to supervise creative, communications, and technical personnel and manage complex projects with dependencies, deadlines, budgets, and outside resources. The incumbent must possess the ability to implement marketing and communication principles and strategies in the execution of complex communications projects. The incumbent must be willing to initiate ideas, develop concepts, and review the effectiveness of processes to ensure high professional standards and quality. The incumbent can assess the needs of internal clients and suggest appropriate measures to meet those needs or redirect those requests to the relevant areas. The incumbent can work effectively and independently with internal and external constituencies. The incumbent can operate in an environment where skilled relationship management and consensus-building are required to deliver successful outcomes.

Requisite Qualifications

• Typically a bachelor's degree or equivalent experience. A master's degree is preferred. Degrees in business management, computer science, design, or marketing fields preferred. The incumbent will be expected to continue upgrading the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to keep abreast of best practices and industry trends.
• Minimum of 6 years experience in an institutional, enterprise, or executive consulting role coordinating digital strategy and marketing/communications with progressive managerial and supervisory experience. Must possess the ability to work effectively and independently with internal and external constituencies and with professionals of varied disciplines to accomplish tasks and projects.
• Strong working knowledge and proficient in current web technology including HTML, CSS, XML, SQL, MySQL, PHP, and JavaScript; web servers and server-side technology; code versioning technology such as Git, JS libraries and frameworks; Google analytics; search engine optimization, schema; best practices for content marketing, responsive design; usability testing and tools; HTML email tools; content management systems (in particular, Terminal 4 and WordPress); proven ability to generate, analyze, and interpret web metrics to inform strategic decision making; visual design, Adobe Creative Suite, web animation, audio/video; knowledge of best practices for user interface (UI) and user experience (UX).
• Strong knowledge of Accessibility Best Practices and WCAG Standards: Demonstrated expertise in creating web content that adheres to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), including WCAG 2.0, WCAG 2.1, and WCAG 2.2. Familiarity with tools and testing methodologies to ensure digital products are accessible to people with disabilities.
• Must demonstrate experience and commitment in aligning with an organizational brand and articulate support for the university's DEI commitments through the role.
• Demonstrated expert-level understanding of creative process and ability to synthesize highly complex information into formulating editorial concepts. Demonstrated ability to implement communications projects to satisfy objectives.
• Demonstrated computer proficiency with standard software production suites.
• Ability to produce high-quality deliverables with meticulous attention to detail. Must be metrics-driven and results-oriented with proven analytical skills.
• Possesses exceptional verbal and written communication skills and compelling and impactful presentation abilities. Can demonstrate the ability to motivate and inspire teams and colleagues, constituents, and audiences.
• Highly collaborative style with experience developing and implementing communications strategies successfully; a background that demonstrates relationship cultivation, consensus building, flexibility, team orientation, and managing through influencing.
• Must be able to perform effectively in a fast-paced, intellectually intense, creatively challenging, service-oriented environment while managing multiple projects with varying deadlines.
• Experience working successfully in a complex organization, preferably in higher education.
• Willing and able to adjust to changing demands and shifting priorities, as well as address urgencies that arise on evenings or weekends.
• Evidence of positive, energetic, and flexible leadership style with a track record for producing high-quality deliverables with meticulous attention to detail. Must be metrics-driven and results-oriented with excellent analytical skills--the ability to provide quick turnaround and updates for multiple requests while maintaining high-quality work.
• Self-starter, able to work independently and entrepreneurially; experience creating, developing, and implementing new initiatives.
• Excellent judgment and creative problem-solving skills, including negotiation, mediation, and conflict resolution skills.

The above statements describe the general nature and level of work being performed. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of this position.

Reasonable Expected Salary - $90,000 - $93,000. Salary offer commensurate with education and experience.

#HERC# #HEJ#

Staff Regular

Salary range

$66,560.00 - $87,776.00 Salary commensurate with education and experience.

Loyola Marymount University, a Carnegie classified R2 institution in the mainstream of American Catholic higher education, seeks outstanding applicants who value its mission and share its commitment to inclusive excellence, the education of the whole person, and the building of a just society. LMU is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing an environment free from discrimination and harassment as defined by federal, state and local law. We invite all persons in the full diversity of their being, life experience, and beliefs to apply. (Visit www.lmu.edu for more information.)