If you’re passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you’re committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career.
Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.
The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs.
At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:
Grade: Professional 305Pay Range: $54,800.00 - $82,200.00
Job Description
Summary
The Student Communications Specialist plays a key role in supporting our mission by developing and delivering timely, personalized, and effective communications that guide and support students throughout their journey.
Responsible for executing targeted, lifecycle-based campaigns that inform, engage, and nurture students—from enrollment through graduation.
This role will also require occasional after-hours or weekend work to deliver time-sensitive communications, particularly those critical to student progress, university operations, or urgent support notifications.
Primary Responsibilities
- Builds and deploys strategic communication campaigns across email, SMS, in-app, and other digital channels.
- Ensures messaging is student-centered, action-oriented, and aligned with the University brand, tone, and values.
- Creates and manages nurturing journeys that support key milestones such as enrollment, orientation, academic momentum, and program completion.
- Collaborates cross-functionally with content creators, academic teams, and student support units.
- Utilizes CRM and marketing automation platforms to segment audiences based on behaviors, student journey stage, academic profile, and engagement history.
- Personalizes messaging and delivery timing to maximize student response and retention.
- Works with analytics and insights teams to track performance and continuously optimize campaigns.
- Operates within communications platforms such as Salesforce, Marketo, Gensys, or other student engagement tools.
- Maintains and troubleshoots automated workflows, dynamic content blocks, and contact management logic.
- Collaborates with IT and data teams to support integrations and data flow for accurate targeting and reporting
- Monitors and responds to urgent communication needs outside of traditional working hours when necessary.
- Supports rapid delivery of high-priority messages that impact student experience, service availability, or academic deadlines.
- Performs other related duties as assigned.
This job description includes a general representation of job requirements rather than a comprehensive inventory of all required responsibilities or work activities. The contents of this document or related job requirements may change at any time with or without notice.
Qualifications
- Excellent written communication and project coordination skills.
- Must be highly organized
- Proficiency with communication tools and platforms such as CRM/marketing automation systems.
- Experience creating and managing nurturing campaigns.
- Strong attention to detail and ability to manage multiple concurrent projects.
- Must be flexible, willing, and able to support after-hours communications as needed.
Education
- Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, education, or related field.
Experience
- 2 years of experience in campaign-based communications, digital marketing, or student engagement.
- Must have experience in campaign management, audience targeting, and nurturing strategy within a digital or higher education environment.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience in higher education or working with student audiences.
- Knowledge of data segmentation, testing frameworks, and campaign analytics.
- Familiarity with communication compliance standards in education (FERPA, CAN-SPAM, etc.).
Working Conditions:
- Prolonged sitting with occasional bending, stretching, and manual dexterity for office equipment use.
- Requires visual and auditory acuity and the ability to focus for extended periods.
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Position & Application Details
Full-Time Regular Positions (classified as regular and working 40 standard weekly hours): This is a full-time, regular position (classified for 40 standard weekly hours) that is eligible for bonuses; medical, dental, vision, telehealth and mental healthcare; health savings account and flexible spending account; basic and voluntary life insurance; disability coverage; accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity supplemental coverages; legal and identity theft coverage; retirement savings plan; wellbeing program; discounted WGU tuition; and flexible paid time off for rest and relaxation with no need for accrual, flexible paid sick time with no need for accrual, 11 paid holidays, and other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave.
How to Apply: If interested, an application will need to be submitted online. Internal WGU employees will need to apply through the internal job board in Workday.
Additional Information
Disclaimer: The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It’s not all-inclusive.
Accommodations: Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at recruiting@wgu.edu.
Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.
