Communications Specialist - NYU London

NYU is committed to being a welcoming campus community that reflects and enacts the values of inclusion, diversity, belonging, equity and accessibility that inform academic excellence. We seek candidates who will not only enhance our commitment to these values, but whose experience, competencies, skills, and community engagement efforts contribute to diverse, equitable, inclusive learning and working environments for our students, staff, and faculty.

The Communications Specialist (CS) role will focus on leading, creating, designing, and coordinating student-facing communications from NYU London in a highly collaborative environment. We seek an experienced communications professional to ensure NYU London students receive clear, accessible, professional, engaging, meaningful, and timely information from NYU London from pre-arrival through to student departure in a highly digestible and student-friendly way. The CS will work to create a consistent communications identity and tone that plays a central role in building trust between the NYU London administration and the students we support.

The CS will work across NYU London teams inclusive of senior leaders, professional staff, student staff, and student leaders to prioritise and streamline communications and the processes associated with student-facing communications. The CS will also create, maintain, and iteratively improve a system of staff-facing communications to build an understanding across all NYU London teams of what events, activities, and opportunities exist in any given week. In addition, the CS will build a working system to create, maintain, deliver, and improve externally facing communications to NYU London constituents.

As this is a new position within a growing organisation, a degree of mental flexibility, creativity, and thought leadership will be required to be successful in this role.

• 40% Student-Facing Communications
  • Create a streamlined and centralised approach inclusive of design, frequency, and methodology for delivering communications via email to NYU London students.
  • Lead the NYU London communications identity and tone to create a bridge of trust between the administration and students.
  • Collaborate with staff to create and distribute timely communications to students regarding events, opportunities, and general information.
  • Manage and distribute the student newsletter, the London Lowdown.
  • Manage digital signage.
  • Build a repository and heatmap of all NYU London communications sent across the student journey in an academic year.
  • Edit student-facing communications from all staff teams.
• 20% Student Communications Advising
  • Support student leaders in designing and delivering communications.
  • Support student leaders to create digital content on official NYU London social media platforms.
  • Advise students on creating and distributing Baedecker, a student-driven magazine.
• 15% Website Management
  • Collaborate with the NYU Office of Global Programs (OGP) to align on website work inclusive of brand management, vision, information, and workflow.
  • Iteratively work to keep the NYU London website and internal LDN Google Site up to date with accurate information.
  • Regularly proofread and assess NYU London websites for consistency, clarity, accuracy, and tone.
• 15% Supervision and Communications Leadership
  • Provide leadership and direction for one administrator-level professional, who will be responsible for executing delegated communications functions and general office management.
  • Provide ongoing training and development for NYU London staff in the communications dimension as needed with a particular focus on understanding communications streams and systems and how to collaborate on content.
• 5% Staff-Facing Communications
  • Create, maintain, distribute, and iteratively improve a system for staff-facing communications to keep all staff informed of NYU London events and activities.
  • In collaboration with NYU London Human Resources, maintain accurate staff email distribution lists.
• 5% Student Life General Duties
  • This position serves as a critical team member in the Student Life department as a whole. As such, a general attitude of a team approach to the work is critical.
  • Duties not described above may be assigned to meet business need.
  • Provide support to other teams within the Student Life department during high performance and peak periods of the semester, such as orientations, student arrivals, key events, or student departures.
  • Provide cover for reception front desk as needed.
  • Complete other duties as assigned by the Student Life Managers, Associate Dean of Students, or Deputy Site Director.
  • Respond to the on-call duty phone as a member of the departmental rota. Lead urgency response while on call; collaborate with managers and senior leaders to respond to emergencies while on call.
  • Work non-traditional hours, including evenings, weekends, and bank holidays, as required.
  • Be available and on-call to provide support during urgent situations or emergencies, ensuring the safety and well-being of residents and staff.

Qualifications

• Required Education
  • Educated to degree level or equivalent qualification/experience.
• Required Experience
  • Minimum 2 years’ experience in communications in writing, editing, and digital content.
  • Proven ability to build stakeholder relationships.
  • A strong track record of synthesising complex information to digestible formats appropriate for university students or young adult audiences.
• Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
  • Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
  • Exceptional command of the English language, including British and American spelling and grammar.
  • Comfort with managing digital content across multiple platforms.
  • Strong organisational skills: Ability to prioritise tasks, manage multiple projects simultaneously. Punctual, responsible, self-motivated and flexible.
  • Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills as well as a sincere concern for others: Ability to communicate clearly and effectively with a diverse range of people, including students, staff, parents, and external partners.
  • Strong motivation to learn and continuously upskill.
  • Demonstrated ability to assess complex situations, identify problems, and develop effective solutions in a timely manner.
  • Cultural and developmental skill: Strong understanding of the challenges faced by young adults at university and those living abroad, and demonstrable commitment to promoting a diverse and welcoming environment, as evidenced by prior successful and innovative measures.
• Preferred Experience, Skills and Abilities
  • Demonstrated managerial experience of 1 year.
  • Working for a global organisation, and/or within the student services sector.
  • Familiarity with the American higher education system: Understanding of the academic and residential life expectations within the context of a U.S.-based institution.

Additional Information

• Candidates must have the unrestricted right to work and live in the UK prior to appointment.
• Further benefits include: 28 days annual leave pro rata, USS pension scheme and private medical insurance (optional).
• Candidates should advise of any reasonable adjustments needed to participate in the application and interview processes.
• NYU London is an equal opportunity employer committed to equity, diversity, and social inclusion. We strongly encourage applications from under-represented individuals in the profession, across colour, creed, race, ethnic and national origin, physical ability, and gender and sexual identity.
• NYU London affirms the value of differing perspectives on the world as we strive to build the strongest possible university with the widest reach.
• NYU aims to be among the greenest urban campuses in the country and carbon neutral by 2040. Learn more at nyu.edu/nyugreen.
• EOE/AA/Minorities/Females/Vet/Disabled/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity.