Communications Specialist

Department
 

AI RISC

About the Department
 

Data Science 4 Everyone is a national initiative working to catalyze the adoption of data science as a fundamental component of K-12 education. DS4E facilitates a broad coalition of influential leaders in and out of U.S. education, seeded by support from Steven Levitt (Freakonomics), Arne Duncan (fmr. U.S. Secretary of Education), Linda Darling-Hammond (Learning Policy Institute, California State Board of Education), Eric Schmidt (fmr. CEO Google), Ken Griffin (CEO of Citadel), Scott Cook (co-founder of Intuit), and many others. Incubated at the Center for RISC and popularized by the 2019 Freakonomics podcast “America’s Math Curriculum Doesn’t Add Up,” DS4E is now expanding into a dedicated center at the University of Chicago, striving to incorporate data science across all school subjects and grade-levels. Our core focus is to raise awareness and work with stakeholders across U.S. education to ensure every student is data literate by high school graduation. As a field catalyst, DS4E centralizes and disseminates resources, hosts convenings and communities of practice, builds awareness locally and nationally, creates partnerships with experts and stakeholders, pilots new content models and evaluates results, and helps schools and districts design new programs. We believe removing silos around stakeholders and empowering talent will uniquely enable our education system to adopt data science as fundamental.

Job Summary
 

The Communications Specialist will be the lead marketer for a fast-growing national initiative under the leadership of Freakonomics co-author Steve Levitt and many others, redefining how we teach 21st century skills in America. The Specialist will help lead development and implementation of communications and marketing strategies, including brand management, event publicity, community engagement, and digital/social media management. This position requires a knowledge of and passion for multi-channel communications and marketing, complemented by an interest in education policy (local, state, and national), and an ability to build relationships across diverse constituencies and communities.

Responsibilities

• Creates and manages DS4E’s digital and social media assets, compiling and analyzing relevant metrics based on established goals.
• Keeps track of social media engagement statistics, including responding to DMs and other inquiries to improve responsiveness and engagement statistics.
• Designs and executes outreach campaigns to keep coalition members, educators, and the broader K-12 education community informed of DS4Es programming and field-building initiatives.
• Maintains editorial oversight of public outreach/social media feeds, especially in order to create and preserve equitable attention to diverse audiences (educators, policymakers, parents, students).
• Strategizes ways to increase social media following and engagement in order to build a significant educator and student community.
• Attends national and local education conferences to cover them for our social media; trains communications interns and/or other students for social media assistance.
• Produces other unique digital content for DS4E’s social media platforms.
• Performs data analysis of highly engaged coalition and community demographics.
• Manages a monthly newsletter, in collaboration with DS4E’s leadership team, coalition members, and advisors.
• Collaborates with University of Chicago Public Relations team and Multimedia Specialists to ensure we are telling a consistent story across platforms, including for cross-promotion with the new University of Chicago Data Science Institute.
• Meets regularly with each program area to discuss their communications needs.
• Assists with creation and outreach management of public fundraising campaigns.
• Improves and manages organization of DS4E’s CRM system, including data management and analysis.
• Designs and compiles two community engagement and feedback surveys per year.
• Assists as needed in updating DS4E’s website and graphics.
• Plans, develops and disseminates information designed to keep the public informed of the organization’s programs, accomplishments, or point of view, with moderate levels of guidance and direction.
• Continues to build higher level knowledge of the University, processes and customers.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications
 

Education:

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

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Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 2-5 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

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Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree, preferably in public relations, marketing, English or related field.

Experience:

• Prior experience in communications or related field.
• Working knowledge with educators or the education sector.
• Background with relational organizing.
• Finger on the pulse of social media trends.
• Eagerness to try new things.

Technical Skills or Knowledge:

• Deep fluency and knowledge of digital communications best practices including accessibility, website development, social media, data maintenance, and email marketing.
• Excellent communications skills for the effective delivery of DS4E’s vision, mission and brand.
• Demonstrated experience in website editing (Wix/Squarespace) and graphic design.
• Knowledge of and passion for modernizing U.S. education and igniting a similar passion in diverse audiences, especially parents and/or students.
• Knowledge of or exposure to data science, computer science, and related technical fields.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office.
• Proficiency with social media platforms (Twitter, Slack, Facebook).
• Proficiency with Mailchimp and CMS/CRM management.
• Proficiency short-length video editing.
• Proficiency in survey development.

Preferred Competencies

• Exceptional time management and organizational skills including the ability to meet external and internal deadlines.
• Meet tight external and internal deadlines.
• Entrepreneurial, creative thinking about how to improve DS4E’s communications and outreach efforts.
• Proven ability to be a valuable part of a team.

Working Conditions

• Evening and weekend work during peak activity times.
• Some travel.

Application Documents

• Resume/CV (required)
• Cover Letter (required)

When applying, the document(s) MUST  be uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.

Job Family
 

Communications

Role Impact
 

Individual Contributor

FLSA Status
 

Exempt

Pay Frequency
 

Monthly

Scheduled Weekly Hours
 

37.5

Benefits Eligible
 

Yes

Requires Compliance with University Covid-19 Vaccination Requirement
 

Yes

Drug Test Required
 

No

Health Screen Required
 

No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required
 

No

Posting Statement
 

Employees must comply with the University’s COVID-19 vaccination requirements. More information about the requirements can be found on the University of Chicago Vaccination GoForward .
The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity/Disabled/Veterans Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, status as an individual with a disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University’s Notice of Nondiscrimination.

Staff 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.

We seek a diverse pool of applicants who wish to join an academic community that places the highest value on rigorous inquiry and encourages a diversity of perspectives, experiences, groups of individuals, and ideas to inform and stimulate intellectual challenge, engagement, and exchange.

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.