Senior Associate Director of Advancement Communications

Department

Crown Alumni Relations and Development

About the Department

As one of the first schools of social work in the United States, the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice has shaped the field for more than 100 years. As part of the University of Chicago, the Crown Family School shares the University's core values and distinctive intellectual culture. Crown Family School faculty, staff and students focus on identifying solutions to complex problems through the integration of research, training, and direct community engagement. Guided by an interdisciplinary tradition, Crown Family School scholars conduct innovative research to address interconnected social challenges such as educational inequality, health disparities, crime and violence, poverty, and child and family welfare—working at multiple scales, from individual to policy-level interventions.

More than 8,000 Crown Family School graduates in the US and globally hold leadership positions in academia, at nonprofits, and at governmental agencies The Crown Family School is the home of several academic centers. These include the Susan and Richard Kiphart Center for Global Health and Social Development, the Urban Education Institute (UEI), the Center for Climate, Health and Society, the Smart Decarceration Project, and the Employment Instability, Family Well-being, and Social Policy Network (EINet). More information may be found at https://crownschool.uchicago.edu/.

Job Summary

The Senior Associate Director advances the mission of the Crown Family School by leading and implementing comprehensive communication strategies for the Advancement team, developing cohesive narratives across digital and print platforms to enhance the visibility and impact of Advancement initiatives and the capital campaign. This role collaborates with Advancement leadership to support strategic editorial projects and continuously seeks innovative approaches to engage alumni, donors, volunteers, and friends, fostering connection and philanthropic support for the school. This position serves as the primary liaison for the Advancement team to marketing and communications teams, working closely with senior leadership to support broader organizational goals.

The ideal candidate is a collaborative and strategic communicator, proficient with digital tools and passionate about leveraging technology to encourage alumni engagement and drive fundraising success. This individual combines creativity with strong project management skills, thrives in a team environment, and excels at building relationships across departments. They bring a thoughtful, detail-oriented approach to their work and are committed to advancing the Crown Family School’s mission through effective and purposeful communication.

Job responsibilities are categorized as follows:

Visual and Editorial Communications (55%)
Communications Strategy & Planning (20%)
Campaign Marketing & Communications (20%)
Other duties as assigned (5%)

Specific, additional job responsibilities are detailed below.

Responsibilities

• Provide consultative support and serve as the primary point of contact, engaging with faculty, staff, students, and other stakeholders to develop marketing and communication materials that inspire philanthropic contributions and strengthen affinity for the school.
• Advise strategy adjustments by monitoring and investigating industry trends, researching new technology options, and analyzing key digital metrics on engagement and impact to enhance content performance, audience engagement, and continually refine and allocate resources effectively.
• Guided by data analytics, plan, execute, and optimize multi-channel campaigns and communications plans (print, email, web, and social media), ensuring a consistant voice, style and tone in messaging for key audiences and alignment with university-wide standards.
• Develop and implement comprehensive, data-informed communications and digital strategies to support alumni relations, fundraising materials, events and stewardship to increase institutional visibility and meet fundraising and engagement goals.
• Write, edit, and produce a wide range of advancement communications, including fundraising appeals, stewardship reports, proposals, digital content, and impact stories.
• Design visually compelling materials and digital graphics to engage alumni, donors, and community audiences.
• Create digital content for the advancement webpages, social media, and newsletters, with a focus on storytelling and community engagement, ensuring accurate, timely, and audience-focused messaging.
• Manage advancement communications assets (i.e., reports, newsletters, solicitations), platforms and editorial calendars, aligning content with organizational goals and campaigns.
• Collaborate with central Advancement and school leadership to implement a communications and marketing plan that supports campaign goals, aligns with university’s core message, and maximizes impact.
• Design and craft compelling proposals, email marketing, and content (digital and print) to inspire donors to support the campaign, engage key audiences and expand the school’s campaign reach.
• Establish and maintain effective vendor relationships, including with writers and designers; create schedules and project plans, develop production timelines, traffic files, and ensure high quality, on-time delivery.
• Develops, plans, and disseminates information designed to keep the public informed of the organization's programs, accomplishments, or point of view.
• Solves moderate to complex problems related to the writing, preparation, and/or delivery of information from or about the unit.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 5-7 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications

Education:

Master’s Degree in communications, journalism, English, or related field.

Experience:

• Communications experience, including oversight of web content, in higher education, non-profit, marketing communications agency, or other relevant experience driving branding efforts.
• Photography, video, and/or graphic design is a plus.
• Familiarity with University of Chicago and the field of social work is a plus.

Preferred Competencies

• Demonstrated skill and knowledge of, or ability to learn quickly, the internal workings of the University as well as the technology tools including Salesforce, Mailchimp (or similar email platform), and Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Adobe Creative Suite Photoshop and InDesign, Outlook.
• Superior writing and editing skills, interpersonal, communication, and listening skills.
• Strong client service orientation and attention to detail and follow-up.
• Creative problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Effectively manage time, prioritize work, and multi-task across many assignments; think both strategically and logically, with the ability to function effectively under tight deadlines and high workload.
• Flexibility and adaptability to new programs in an emerging and changing environment.
• Willingness and ability to travel to campus and/or non-campus locations for University business and work occasional evenings and weekends.

Working Conditions

• Hybrid work schedule, on-site at the Hyde Park campus in Chicago.
• Occasional evenings and weekends.

Application Documents

• Resume (required)
• Cover letter (required)
• Design portfolio (required)

Job Family

Communications

Role Impact

Individual Contributor

Scheduled Weekly Hours

40

Drug Test Required

No

Health Screen Required

No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required

No

Pay Rate Type

Salary

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FLSA Status

Exempt

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Pay Range

$80,000.00 - $92,000.00

The included pay rate or range represents the University’s good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits Eligible

Yes

The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook.

Posting Statement

The University of Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, national or ethnic origin, shared ancestry, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.

Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5800 or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.

All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history.A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment.Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case-by-case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position.

The University of Chicago's Annual Security & Fire Safety Report (Report) provides information about University offices and programs that provide safety support, crime and fire statistics, emergency response and communications plans, and other policies and information. The Report can be accessed online at: http://securityreport.uchicago.edu. Paper copies of the Report are available, upon request, from the University of Chicago Police Department, 850 E. 61st Street, Chicago, IL 60637.