Senior Specialist, Communications and Marketing Strategy (Registrar)

University of Ottawa; Ottawa; On-site; CAD 96,000 - 121,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Ottawa seeks a Senior Marketing and Communications Strategist to lead as a key liaison between Student Services and the Marketing and Communications Office, ensuring integrated, strategic student communications across channels. The role emphasizes developing and leading omnichannel strategies to promote services and sector-wide initiatives for current and prospective students.

You will collaborate with managers, digital and content strategists, and cross-functional teams to

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in marketing, communications, public relations, journalism, or related field (or equivalent).
• 7 years of professional experience in development, implementation and evaluation of marketing and communications strategies.
• Ability to communicate in both French and English.
• Strong data interpretation and analytics skills.

Responsibilities

• Advisory Services: act as the primary contact for marketing and communications support.
• Supervision of content and communications: oversee creation of content across channels and ensure quality and branding compliance.
• Project Management: identify priorities, manage cross-functional projects, and assess performance.
• Research and Analysis: conduct audience and channel analyses to inform strategy.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Communication

Project management

Data interpretation

Teamwork

Time management

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent in marketing/communications/public relations/journalism

Job description

Faculty/Service - Department:

Student Affairs, Communications

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Posting Reason:

New Position

Job Type:

Employee

Anticipated Duration in Months (for contracts and temporary assignments)

24

Job Family:

Communications and Advisory Services

# of Open Positions:

1

Faculty/Service - Department:

Student Affairs, Communications

Campus:

Tabaret Hall

Union Affiliation:

SSUO

Date Posted (YYYY/MM/DD):

2026/11/09

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

2026/11/09

Hours per week:

35

Salary Grade:

SSUO Grade 11

Salary Range:

$95,594.00 - $120,750.00

About Student Services:

Student Services is at the very heart of the student experience at the University of Ottawa. We recruit the very best future students, support them throughout their university years and leave them well-prepared for fulfilling careers and future studies. Our team of more than 600 dedicated staff provides the services that keep students happy, well and thriving as they pursue their ambitions. We help them apply and enrol for courses, we oversee 11 residences and an award-winning Dining Hall, we organize fun events, we provide extensive recreation program opportunities and varsity sports activities, we run an innovative career development and experiential learning program and much more!

There’s nothing more rewarding than helping future generations reach their full potential at a world-class university. With our wide variety of career opportunities and professional development pathways, we’re sure that you’ll enjoy the experience as much as our students do.

This job posting is intended to fill a temporary assignment or a two-year contract in a new Senior Marketing and Communications Strategist role, responsible for acting as a liaison between the Marketing and Communications team and the Office of the Registrar.

This sector oversees numerous services and processes that are essential to the student journey, including admissions, course enrolment, changes to academic programs, immigration matters, international exchanges, financial aid and scholarships, welcoming and supporting new students during their transition, issuing official documents, and graduation.

Position purpose:

The role of the Senior Marketing and Communications Strategist is to act as a key liaison between the Student Services and Support business units and the Marketing and Communications teams, ensuring that the business units’ communication efforts are integrated, strategic, and relevant. The Strategist is also accountable for client strategies and the omnichannel vision of the marketing and communications ecosystem, prioritizing the most effective and relevant student communication channels based on the objectives to be achieved.

The role focuses on developing and leading the implementation of communication and marketing strategies aimed at promoting the services provided, their priorities, and sector-wide initiatives targeting current and prospective students at the University of Ottawa.

The Strategist works closely with managers and their teams within the Marketing and Communications Office, as well as functional strategists (digital and content), to maximize the reach and effectiveness of promotional efforts for student services across a wide range of communication channels, including web, print, video, social media, advertising, and events.

In this role, your responsibilities will include:

Advisory Services

• Collaborate with stakeholders by serving as the primary point of contact for all marketing and communications support requests across the business unit served.
• Act as a resource person by providing business unit leaders with advice based on an in-depth understanding of operations and relevant available data.
• Lead and support the development and implementation of all communication and marketing plans and strategies for the sector or business unit served, providing expert advice to enhance the reach and engagement of communication initiatives targeting current and/or prospective students.
• Work closely with managers and functional strategists within the Marketing and Communications team to effectively prioritize initiatives and ensure their successful execution.
• Support the mission, vision, and strategic priorities of the business units served in the development of proposed strategies and content.

Supervision of Content and Communications Material Creation

• Develop and oversee the creation and production of relevant content to effectively support the omnichannel vision of the proposed strategies across multiple communication channels (e.g., social media, digital channels, web, video, and print), based on identified needs and strategic priorities.
• Take responsibility for implementing the proposed strategies and content by assigning tasks to communications officers assigned to projects, digital strategists, graphic designers, and other team members within the department, as needed.
• Ensure quality control of communications materials by reviewing and approving them to confirm compliance with the University’s language and student and institutional branding standards, as well as industry best practices in marketing and communications.

Project Management

• Ensure that sectoral priorities are appropriately identified, prioritized, and allocated based on the Marketing and Communications team's capacity to successfully complete assigned projects.
• Work closely with all stakeholders, including University Marketing and Communications teams; oversee the work of cross-functional teams, facilitate communication, and promote effective problem-solving.
• Conduct regular assessments of performance and opportunities to inform future marketing and communications plans developed in collaboration with business units.

Research and Analysis

• Conduct in-depth research to gain a thorough understanding of target audiences, the competitive landscape, and the most effective marketing and communications channels to prioritize within the omnichannel environment established by the Marketing and Communications team's overall strategic vision.

What you will bring:

• Education: Bachelor's degree from a university in marketing, communications, public relations, journalism, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience: Seven (7) years of professional experience in the development, implementation, and evaluation of marketing and communications strategies.
• Demonstrated ability in strategic planning and the implementation of comprehensive marketing and communications plans.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and implement digital strategies and associated content.
• Demonstrated experience in developing a variety of communications materials and content for multiple platforms.
• Strong data interpretation skills and an excellent understanding of best practices in the digital environment. Ability to understand and interpret industry analytics and apply insights to product planning and development to meet client objectives and the needs of target audiences.
• Ability to communicate in both French and English.
• Excellent judgment, initiative, creativity, flexibility, tact, and diplomacy.
• Ability to resolve challenging situations and sensitive issues that could have an impact on the brand.
• Established credibility and authority, with demonstrated experience in building relationships of trust and influence with client departments.
• Self-motivated with excellent teamwork skills.
• Proven ability to establish partnerships and productive working relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to manage the needs of multiple clients and partners simultaneously while maintaining a balance between efficiency, quality, and accuracy.
• Excellent interpersonal and problem-solving skills.
• Willingness to work flexible hours, including evenings and weekends.
• Willingness to travel as required.

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 [e-mail] 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.