Sr. Communications Specialist, Haskayne School of Business

Description

The Haskayne School of Business is currently seeking a Full‑time Limited Term Senior Communications Specialist for approximately 24 months.

The Senior Communications Specialist at the Haskayne School of Business (HSB) is an experienced public relations professional tasked with bolstering the school's reputation as thought leaders in business. The Specialist works closely with members of the school's communications, marketing, and recruitment team, HSB faculty, as well as other teams in HSB and across the University.

Reporting to the Director, Marketing, Communications & Recruitment, the Senior Communications Specialist creates, implements, measures, evaluates and adjusts the communications plans, campaigns, and programs to increase brand awareness and the profile of the Haskayne School of Business. The Specialist develops internal and external storytelling content and public relations initiatives to differentiate HSB from other business schools across Canada and effectively promotes Haskayne as an important part of the broader business community.

The Specialist role includes high‑level, fast‑paced communications projects that require agility and confidence to adapt strategies quickly, make judgment calls and take calculated risks to achieve ambitious targets. The position deals with complex issues and deep awareness of the competitive market.

The Specialist is responsible for managing many projects (5-10 projects at any given time) across a broad range of business topics, research areas and target audiences. This position is required to meet multiple, simultaneous deadlines throughout the year and requires extensive experience in project management.

This position is on‑campus. The primary hours of work for this position are Monday to Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, 7 hours per day (35 hours per week); however, flexibility is required and there may be a demand to work outside of these hours. This position is part of the AUPE Collective Bargaining Unit.

• Develops comprehensive and robust communications plans that identify audience, communications channels, key messages, tactics, and metrics
• Acts as a first point of contact for media inquiries to the school and facilitates interviews with school leaders, researchers, or other spokespeople
• Builds and maintains relationships with business journalists and media outlets
• Builds and maintains relationships with faculty
• Identifies, researches, writes, and proactively produces content to utilize in social media and the Haskayne website
• Successfully pitches stories to news media locally, nationally, and internationally
• Monitors media coverage and analyzes effectiveness of public relations campaigns
• Ensures alignment of communications efforts to enhance pride and ambassadorship among the faculty, staff, students and alumni of Haskayne
• In consultation with Haskayne units and other appropriate stakeholders, develops and implements an effective and focused marketing and communications plan with a variety of initiatives to promote Haskayne grad programs and to raise the profile of the School
• Works in conjunction with leaders across the school to implement strategic, internal and external communication plans. Plans reflect key messages and brand to support Haskayne's strategic objectives
• As a senior member of the marketing and communications team, provides mentorship and communications counsel to the advisor and student team members on a frequent basis

• Effective management of multiple projects, programs and campaigns to achieve deadlines, stay on budget and aligned with Haskayne's student recruitment goals and strategic plan
• Effective multi‑tasking skills are required to juggle and prioritize multiple projects, programs and campaigns
• Track communications metrics around media coverage, readership, engagement and share of voice
• Results oriented and proactive in identifying areas for improvement and coming up with creative solutions
• Provide regular updates and reports to the Director, Marketing, Communications and Recruitment

• A related university degree (in marketing, communications, or…