Senior Specialist, Communications and Marketing Strategy

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Posting Reason:

New Position

Job Type:

Employee

Anticipated Duration in Months (for contracts and temporary assignments):

N/A

Job Family:

Communications and Advisory Services

# of Open Positions:

1

Faculty/Service - Department:

Governance, Operations and HR, Telfer

Campus:

Desmarais Hall

Union Affiliation:

SSUO

Date Posted (YYYY/MM/DD):

2026/08/27

Applications must be received BEFORE (YYYY/MM/DD):

2026/09/07

Hours per week:

35

Salary Grade:

SSUO Grade 11

Salary Range:

$95,594.00 - $120,750.00

About the Telfer School of Management

The Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa is located in the heart of Ottawa and is the proud academic home of some 4,300 students, 200 faculty members, over 100 staff members, and over 30,000 alumni. At Telfer, everything we do from teaching to research, to policy advice is firmly aligned with helping Canada reach its potential. We believe that better business practice means a better Canada and that a better Canada means a better world.

Position purpose:

Reporting to the Chief Administrative Officer, the incumbent acts as the liaison between the Marketing and Communications team and the Office of the Dean. Leads communications strategy and planning, content creation and management of marketing and communications projects for the Office of the Dean. Produces end-to-end strategies and tactics that have a measurable impact on Telfer’s internal communications, employee and student experience, external stakeholder engagement, brand and reputation.

Liaises between Telfer School of Management units and the marketing and communications (MARCOM) team members to ensure that units’ communications work is integrated, strategic and relevant. Implements the omni-channel vision for the marketing and communications ecosystem while prioritizing the most effective and relevant media to reach students, based on the goals to be achieved. 

Leads in the development and implementation of marketing and communications strategies that aim to promote supported services, their priorities and sector initiatives targeting current and potential Telfer School of Management clients. 

Works closely with the MARCOM managers at the Telfer School of Management and their teams, as well as with the operational strategists (digital and content), with a view to maximizing the scope and effectiveness of efforts to promote student services through a wide range of communication channels, including the web, print documents, videos, social media, advertising and events. 

In this job, your responsibilities will include:

• Expert advice: Handles requests for marketing and communications support from stakeholders in the unit being served. Provides expert advice to unit managers based on in-depth knowledge of operations and the relevant data available. Leads and supports the development and implementation of all marketing and communications plans and strategies for the sector or unit being served, and provides expert advice to ensure communications with current and/or potential clients have a better scope and higher engagement. Works closely with operational managers and strategists from the Telfer School of Management MARCOM team in order to prioritize projects and ensure their execution. Supports the mission, vision and strategic directions of the Telfer School of Management in designing the proposed content and strategies.

• Supervision of product and content creation: Supervises the creation and production of relevant content in order to support the omnichannel vision of the proposed strategies in a multi-media environment (e.g., social media, digital platforms, webpages, videos and print documents), based on the proposed strategies and requirements. Ensures the implementation of the proposed strategies and content by tasking communications officers who have been assigned to specific projects, as well as digital strategists, graphic designers and other MARCOM colleagues, as required. Performs quality control on, and approves, communications products to confirm that they meet the University’s language and branding standards for student and University communications, as well as best practices in the field of marketing and communications.

• Project management: Ensures that sector priorities are assigned according to the MARCOM team’s capacity to complete their projects. Works closely with all stakeholders, including University marketing and communications teams; supervises the work of multifunctional teams and encourages dialogue and problemsolving. Regularly evaluates current performance and opportunities, with this evaluation serving as a basis for upcoming marketing and communication plans designed with other units.

• Research and analysis: Conducts in-depth research to fully understand the target audiences, the environment and the marketing and communications media to prioritize, given the omni-channel context that defines the overall vision of the MARCOM team.

What you will bring:

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, public relations, journalism or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience

• Five to seven years of professional experience in designing, implementing and evaluating marketing and communications strategies

• Proven skills in strategic planning and in implementing detailed marketing and communications plans

• Proven aptitude for designing and implementing digital strategies and associated content

• Proven experience in designing a variety of communications products and content for a range of platforms

• Strong ability to interpret data, and excellent knowledge of best practices for the digital environment Ability to understand and interpret industry metrics/analytics and apply them to plan and design products that meet the goals of clients and target audiences

• Ability to communicate in French and English

• Excellent judgment, initiative, creativity, flexibility, tact and diplomacy

• Skills and ability to resolve difficult situations and delicate problems that could affect the University’s brand

• Established credibility and authority, and experience in building trust and influence among client departments

• Motivation and excellent team spirit

• Proven ability to forge partnerships or productive working relationships with a wide variety of internal and external partners

• Ability to address the needs of many different clients and partners simultaneously and to balance speed, quality and accuracy

• Excellent interpersonal and problem-solving skills

• Availability to work flexible hours, including evenings and weekends

• Availability to travel, if required

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Key Competencies at uOttawa:
Here are the required competencies for all or our employees at uOttawa: 

Planning: Organize in time a series of actions or events in order to realize an objective or a project. Plan and organize own work and priorities in regular daily activities.
Initiative: Demonstrate creativity and initiative to suggest improvements and encourage positive results. Is proactive and self-starting. Show availability and willingness to go above and beyond whenever it is possible.
Client Service Orientation: Help or serve others to meet their needs. This implies anticipating and identifying the needs of internal and external clients and finding solutions on how to meet them.
Teamwork and Cooperation: Cooperate and work well with other members of the team to reach common goal(s). Accept and give constructive feedback. Able to adjust own behaviour to reach the goals of the team.

The University of Ottawa embraces diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We are passionate about our people and committed to employment equity. We foster a culture of respect, teamwork and inclusion, where collaboration, innovation, and creativity fuel our quest for research and teaching excellence. While all qualified persons are invited to apply, we welcome applications from qualified Indigenous persons, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, women and LGBTQIA2S+ persons. The University is committed to creating and maintaining an accessible, barrier-free work environment. The University is also committed to working with applicants with disabilities requesting accommodation during the recruitment, assessment and selection processes. Applicants with disabilities may contact [email protected] to communicate the accommodation need. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

Note: if this is a union position: The hiring process will be governed by the current collective agreement related to the union affiliation noted above; you can click here to find out more.

If this is a front-line position with responsibilities to interact with students, selected candidates must be rated at the Low Advanced proficiency level or higher for both oral comprehension and reading comprehension in their second official language. The rating is determined by a proficiency test designed by the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute.

Prior to May 1, 2022, the University required all students, faculty, staff, and visitors (including contractors) to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as defined in Policy 129 – Covid-19 Vaccination. This policy was suspended effective May 1, 2022 but may be reinstated at any point in the future depending on public health guidelines and the recommendations of experts.