Marketing & Communications Strategist - Applied

The Marketing and Communications (Marcomm) Strategist is a key member of a team of professionals who advance NAIT's goals through centralized and coordinated marketing and communications. They play a critical role in driving the institution’s success in several high priority areas of NAIT’s Strategic Plan, providing direct marketing support to the brand, reputation and recruitment/business goals of the institution.

We are looking for our next Marcomm Strategist who will be the trusted partner to our Applied Research department. As the Applied Research team and the impact of their work continues to grow, the need for a highly strategic and multi-discipline strategist is needed. Applied research team also contributes to the growth of a highly skilled workforce, providing students with additional learning opportunities for career-readiness, and providing businesses with the talent that they need.

Reporting to the Senior Manager, Marketing, this position works closely with internal stakeholders (AVPs, executive directors, directors, research chairs, managers, and others) and external contacts (media partners, agencies and other partner/community organizations). The Marcomm Strategist is responsible helping Applied Research leaders develop short
- and long-term marcomm plans, and with the execution of these plans via project intake and coordination and management within the Department of Marketing and Communication (M&C) to plan resources effectively across the other teams. They are trained in agile marketing practices and skilled at complex project management.

To succeed in this role, you will work in a creative, collaborative environment to support NAIT’s overall strategy, annual business plans, and revenue generation goals. You will perform in a fast-paced, agile environment to guide projects from planning, brainstorming and concept through to design, implementation and measurement. You will be a key player in executing B2B, B2C and B2i campaigns by leveraging NAIT’s full marketing technology stack. Your experience in both marketing and communications will be invaluable in help NAIT reach goals in terms of brand awareness and revenue generation.

**Key Responsibilities**:
Strategy Development, Project Planning, and Client Management including:

- Providing strategic Marcomm advice[JB4] [KD5], identifying opportunities, analyzing challenges, and seeking creative solutions. Become a member of the Applied Research’s leadership team and be the SME within M&C.
- Deciphering business challenges/opportunities to inform Marcomm strategies.
- Identifying opportunities for storytelling and sharing the impact of Applied Research’s work.
- Auditing current marketing and communications strategies and working with clients to identify target audiences, objectives, key messages.
- Leveraging existing data and information on target audiences to deliver personalized marketing and brand experiences.
- Identifying opportunities across paid, earned and owned media that support Applied Research's business goals.
- Writing strategic marketing and communications plans.
- Managing project and marketing budgets.

Execution and Optimization including:

- Coordinating cross-functional teams comprised of web, brand, and communications colleagues.
- Collaborate with our external communications team on content creation across various platforms, crafting pitches for earned media, and distributing content across NAIT channels including social media and our online newsroom Techlife Today.
- Optimizing digital marketing campaigns and strategies to maximize ROI and achieving measurable goals.
- Support event and tradeshows, as needed, by advising client on how to maximize presence and generate leads.

Reporting and Analysis
- Monitoring and delivering insights on opportunities.
- Leveraging various reporting and data tools (Ex: Google Studio, Google Analytics, and native social media platforms).
- Sharing findings with multiple stakeholders and uses information in making data-driven recommendations.

**Skills & Abilities**:

- Ability to project manage complex initiatives and maintain strong, positive partnerships with internal and external stakeholders.
- Ability to work closely with clients and manage multiple projects end-to-end and coordinate the formation of cross-functional teams and lead them to project completion.
- Strong business acumen and understanding of B2B and B2C marketing best practices.
- Ability to create content with an audience-centric mindset and develop key messages in a clear and concise manner
- Knowledge of storytelling methods and techniques - identifying opportunities, craft pitches and create content in long and short form.
- Ability to translate complex information into common language.
- Knowledge of content marketing and inbound marketing.
- Well-developed verbal and written communication skills.
- Knowledge of privacy legislation and cybersecurity.
- Knowledge of SEO best practices.
- Knowledge of