Job Description
Special Instructions to Applicants: All interested applicants must attach a cover letter and a resume in the Supporting Documents section of the application in a PDF format . Please note that the applicant tracking system does not convert attachments in Word format successfully.
Position Summary:
The Liu Idea Lab for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (Lilie) is seeking a Communications Manager to provide leadership for all communications and branding efforts across the full suite of Lilie courses and programs. In this role, you will be responsible for designing and executing Lilie's communications blueprint. This means you will develop strategies to clarify and amplify the Lilie brand voice, liaise with communications and PR partners across the university and beyond in order to unlock new comms channels and opportunities, and coach Lilie team members to effectively support and reinforce our communications strategy.
As the Communications Manager you will own Lilie's written copy, including our website content and all Lilie emails. You should be dangerous enough with Figma, Canva, or other design tools to handle generative work on new creative collateral to support our writings.
Lilie is the beating heart of entrepreneurship, innovation, venture capital, and research commercialization for the whole Rice University campus. Our Center combines over 50 for-credit, experiential courses every year with a suite of programs, resources, competitions, and accelerators to help entrepreneurs and innovators at every stage of their journey. Our mission is to serve Rice University students, faculty, and alumni from all majors and degree programs in helping them go from idea to real-world impact. We've been ranked as the #1 Graduate Entrepreneurship program in the country for the last 5 years in a row but need your help to aim even higher in the future
Ideal Candidate Statement:
The ideal candidate is a storyteller, loves writing, enjoys creating content, and adapting that to different communities and stakeholders. The ideal candidate has strong opinions that are adaptable to new information. The ideal candidate is a proactive communicator, seeks alignment and clarity, and is service-oriented, through and through.
Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree
  • In lieu of the education requirement, additional related experience, above and beyond what is required, on an equivalent year-for-year basis may be substituted
• 4 years of professional related experience
  • In lieu of the experience requirement, additional related education, above and beyond what is required, on an equivalent year-for-year basis may be substituted

Skills

• Analytical problem-solving skills
• Strong communication skills both oral and written
• Strong leadership and strategic management skills
• Strong project management, time management, and organization skills

Preferences:

• A master's degree in marketing, public relations, communications, or related field is preferred.
• Prior experience creating and implementing strategic communications plans from beginning to end.
• Adept at problem-solving, creating contingency plans, and handling issues when necessary
• Excellent client service orientation
• Ability to prioritize, take initiative, and ownership of projects
• Ability to routinely and independently exercise sound judgment in making decisions

Essential Functions:

• Responsible for overseeing strategic long-range plans/programs to meet marketing departmental and/or organizational objectives
• Crafts and defines the comprehensive communication and brand strategy for the organization, adeptly incorporating diverse channels to amplify the institution's presence and reputation.
• Sets and monitors budget, goals, and objectives in alignment with organizational goals
• Oversees and manages vendor relationships
• Innovate, write, design, and orchestrate the production of sophisticated marketing and communication materials, ensuring a cohesive and impactful organizational image.
• Leads comprehensive market research and analysis initiatives for the purpose of informing decisions regarding strategic marketing direction, product segmentation, and customer targeting
• Guides the organization in assessing market opportunities, tracks market trends and implements communications improvements based on findings
• Consults with and coaches team members to execute communications strategies
• Provides expert guidance and mentorship to team members, fostering a collaborative and high-performing culture within the organization.
• Performs all other duties as assigned

Additional Functions

• Comfortable designing new and creative marketing tactics (even if they are just experiments) that will help Lilie stand out from the noise on campus and increase our exposure to key student and alumni demographics.
• Experienced executing communication strategies across multiple channels: email, social, via the website, in physical collateral

Rice University HR | Benefits: https://knowledgecafe.rice.edu/benefits-overview
Rice Mission and Values: Mission and Values | Rice University
Rice University is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to diversity at all levels. It considers for employment qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, genetic information, disability, or protected veteran status.
About Us
Boasting a 300-acre tree-lined campus in Houston, Rice University is ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has a 6-to-1 undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio, and a residential college system, which supports students intellectually, emotionally and culturally through social events, intramural sports, student plays, lectures series, courses and student government. Developing close-knit, diverse college communities is a strong campus tradition, which is why Rice is highly ranked for best quality of life and best value among private universities.