Department
Law Communications
About the Department
The University of Chicago Law School occupies a unique niche among this country's premier law schools. Located on a residential campus in one of America's great cities, UChicago Law offers a rigorous and interdisciplinary professional education that blends the study of law with the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences. Students, faculty, and staff form a small, tightly knit community devoted to the life of the mind.
Job Summary
The Assistant Director of Digital Communications ensures that the Law School’s digital communications, including the website, social media, video, digital signage, and others, serve mission-driven needs for communication, community building, teaching/learning, and marketing. This position creates, shares, and manages timely, informative, and engaging content that clearly communicates the Law Schools' commitment to excellence in teaching and learning. Reporting to the Assistant Dean for Communications, the Assistant Director works on both technical and content matters to support all facets of the Law School’s mission.
Responsibilities
- Recruits, trains, monitors, and mentors decentralized content authors who use the CMS, including staff, faculty, student organizations, and alumni groups, and monitors new and existing pages for grammar, consistency in tone, content, design, and architecture.
- Coordinates and performs daily content updates and maintains currency of site content and deletes/archives obsolete or historical content.
- Creates original copy and/or multimedia content for website features as required.
- Coordinates design and technical changes to existing website and works with outside vendors in the bidding, development and implementation of new designs, functionality, and technical upgrades. Identifies and resolves technical problems.
- Monitors and curates content for Law School’s official social media presences, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Goodreads, LinkedIn, and Soundcloud, and maintains knowledge of social media trends and best practices.
- Encourages innovative web site use and helps train and support other constituents at the Law School in social media and email best practices and email templates. Assists in development and maintenance of all official social media presences of Law School departments.
- Edits audio and video for web and social media.
- Advises faculty in use of web-based technology such as wikis, blogs, course websites, and podcasts.
- Creates and maintains occasional microsites managed outside the CMS.
- Responsible for digital signage software and development of content templates.
- Creates and updates long term strategic plans for digital communications and collaborates with the Associate Director of Content on tools and strategies for digital storytelling.
- Stays current with University web-related developments and ensures that posted content complies with Law School and University policies, including accessibility requirements. Serves as the Law School’s primary contact with the University’s Web Services Group.
- Performs code testing on components and works to ensure that appropriate implementation standards are met. Evaluates design alternatives for development cost and solutions using various methods.
- Supports and maintains existing applications. Works with web developers and responds to requests from users.
- Performs other related work as needed.
Minimum Qualifications
Education:
Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.
Work Experience:
Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 2-5 years of work experience in a related job discipline.
Certifications:
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Preferred Qualifications
Experience:
- A minimum of four years experience in web design and development.
- Web development and project management experience in an academic setting strongly preferred.
Technical Skills or Knowledge:
- Proficient in graphic design.
- Skilled with Section 508 and knowledge of digital audio and video editing.
- Understanding of content management systems and Drupal.
- Proficient in Windows and Mac environment.
- Knowledge of CSS, HTML, Git, JavaScript, and the Adobe Creative Suite.
- Understanding of server-side and database technologies, especially PHP and MySQL.
Preferred Competencies
- Strong writing, editorial, and verbal communication skills.
- Strong interpersonal, teaching, and training skills and provide exemplary service to staff, students, and faculty.
- Work effectively in both team situations and independently.
- Strong organizational skills and high attention to detail.
Working Conditions
- This position is available for partially remote work based on the business needs of the Law School.
- Occasional evening and weekend work.
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
Information Technology
Role Impact
Individual Contributor
Scheduled Weekly Hours
37.5
Drug Test Required
No
Health Screen Required
No
Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required
No
Pay Rate Type
Salary
FLSA Status
Exempt
Pay Range
$85,000.00 - $95,000.00
The included pay rate or range represents the University’s good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.
Benefits Eligible
Yes
The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in theBenefits Guidebook.
Posting Statement
The University of Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, national or ethnic origin, shared ancestry, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.
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.
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.
