Communications Specialist

Association of Academic Museums & Galleries.; St. Louis (MO); On-site; USD 50,000 - 82,000; Full time

Job summary

The Communications Specialist at the Kemper Art Museum, WashU, leads content development for marketing communications and ensures messaging aligns with the Museum’s mission across print, digital, and social media channels.

Collaborating with internal teams and external designers, the role oversees content calendars, website updates, and email campaigns, while coordinating with university communications and media relations. Evening/weekend hours may be required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or combination of education and/or experience.
• Preferred: Bachelor’s in English, Communications, Marketing or related field.
• Experience with social media platforms for business and email services.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of written marketing and communications content, ensuring consistent tone and messaging across assets.
• Write, edit, and proofread promotional assets for the Museum and exhibitions across media platforms.
• Oversee hiring and project management of external graphic designers and coordinate printers.
• Develop content calendars and manage production schedules and stakeholder approvals.
• Lead social media content strategy and day-to-day activity across channels.
• Manage day-to-day website content updates and coordinate with developers.

Skills

Content development

Social media management

Editing and proofreading

Content strategy

Brand voice consistency

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

CMS platforms

Email services

Job description

Home | Communications Specialist – Kemper Art Museum, Washington University

Communications Specialist – Kemper Art Museum, Washington University

Communications Specialist at Kemper Art Museum at WashU

Position Summary

The Communications Specialist at the Kemper Art Museum in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at WashU helps lead the content development of marketing communications for the Museum. Contributing to overall promotional efforts, the successful candidate will be an excellent storyteller who can thoughtfully interpret the Museum’s mission, collection, and programs for broad audiences and across a wide range of content types. This position works closely with key stakeholders throughout the institution to help craft the tone, voice, and messaging for the Museum’s social media, e-newsletters, print and digital seasonal marketing materials, and advertising copy, among other assets. The Specialist ensures these communications—whether one-sentence social media captions or 300-word promotional brochure texts—are consistent, clear, and engaging across platforms. In support of this goal, the position also works closely with colleagues in the Sam Fox School’s Communications Office and the university’s offices of Advancement and Marketing & Communication on aligning the timing and tone of messaging and communications. Additionally, the Specialist will collaborate with the university’s News and Media Relations team on crafting Museum communications and maintaining relationships with local, regional, national, and international press outlets. It reports to the Head of Museum Publications.

Job Description

Primary Duties & Responsibilities:

Marketing and Communications Content (Print and Digital)

• Lead development of written marketing and communications content, serving as the voice of the Museum by adhering to editorial guidelines and ensuring consistent tone and messaging across assets.
• Write, edit, and proofread promotional assets for both the overall Museum and its seasonal exhibitions and programs across media platforms, including web texts, brochures, advertisements, calendars, and postcards.
• Work closely with the Head of Publications and the Curatorial, Education, and Marketing teams on content strategy for current and future promotional materials.
• Oversee the hiring and project management of external graphic designers. For print promotional materials such as FYI and exhibition announcements, coordinate and manage printers, incorporating color proofing and management of mailing lists to workflows.
• Develop, update, and distribute content and production schedules among internal and external stakeholders.

Social Media

• Lead the strategic development of content for the Kemper Art Museum’s primary social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube), consistent with brand narrative, tone, voice, messaging, and target audience for each channel. Responsible for day-to-day activities (e.g. designing compelling content, photographing events, posting on social media platforms, responding to posts, monitoring social media for news about the Museum).
• Maintain the social media calendar and publishing posts
• Coordinate with colleagues and student workers on content development and gathering.
• Increase visibility of the Kemper Art Museum through social media platforms, supporting the Museum collection, exhibitions, and programs, research and creative activity, and opportunities for community engagement.

Website Management

• Perform day-to-day content management of Museum website, including overseeing text and image updates to the homepage, events, learning, and exhibitions pages, securing approvals from stakeholders as appropriate.
• Develop content calendar and maintain workflow document for all website updates.
• Serve as a liaison, in coordination with Registrar, between the Museum and an external website developer on platform updates, service disruptions, and errors within content management system.

E-newsletters and Email Communications

• Create an email content plan and overall calendar, coordinating with the Marketing Specialist on targeted campaigns and audience segmentation.
• Write, edit, and publish the Museum’s weekly e-newsletters and email communications, working with Curatorial, Education, and Publications to align messaging.
• Oversee and manage contact lists for email communications, performing regular updates of names and addresses.

Public Relations

• Serve as the liaison between the Museum and University’s News and Media Relations team.
• Coordinate seasonal outreach about upcoming exhibitions and programs, highlighting key messages developed in coordination with Curatorial and Education teams.
• Help support efforts to place news stories about the Museum and exhibitions through the development and maintenance of press and media contacts.

Job Location/Working Conditions:

Must be available to work occasional evening and weekend hours.

Physical Effort

• Normal office environment
• Typically working at desk or table
• Typically standing or walking
• Repetitive wrist, hand or finger movement
• Occasionally lifting 25 lbs or less
• Ability to move to on and off-campus locations

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all job duties performed by the personnel so classified. Management reserves the right to revise or amend duties at any time.

Required Qualifications

Education:

Bachelor’s degree or combination of education and/or experience may substitute for minimum education.

Certifications:

No specific certification is required for this position.

Work Experience:

Skills:

Not Applicable

Driver’s License:

A driver’s license is not required for this position.

More About This Job

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in English, Creative Writing, Communications, Journalism, Marketing or related field.
• Master’s degree in art history, English, communications, marketing, or equivalent.
• Ability to create accessible communication experiences for all audiences and users.
• Experience using social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn) for business purposes and email services such as Constant Contact and EMMA.
• Proficiency with CMS platforms and proficiency or ability to become proficient with web analytics tools and reporting.
• Familiarity with cultural institutions and higher education environments and interest in art and art museums.

Preferred Education:

Preferred Work Experience:

Museum Marketing, Advertising, Communications, And Public Relations (5 Years)

Skills:

Adobe After Effects, Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe InDesign, Detail-Oriented, Digital Marketing, Graphic Design, Image Editing, Interpersonal Communication, Marketing, Microsoft Office, Proactive Thinking, Problem Solving, Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Platform, Strategic Thinking, Technical Savvy, Typography, Video Content, Video Editing, Visual Aesthetics, Work Collaboratively, Working Independently, Writing

Grade:

G10

Scheduled Weekly Hours:

37.5

Salary Range:

$49,700.00 – $82,100.00 / Annually

The salary range reflects base salaries paid for positions in a given job grade across the University. Individual rates within the range will be determined by factors including one’s qualifications and performance, equity with others in the department, market rates for positions within the same grade and department budget.

If you are unable to use our online application system and would like an accommodation, please email [e-mail] or call the dedicated accommodation inquiry number at 314-935-1149 and leave a voicemail with the nature of your request. All qualified individuals must be able to perform the essential functions of the position satisfactorily and, if requested, reasonable accommodations will be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions of their job, absent undue hardship.

Pre-Employment Screening

All external candidates receiving an offer for employment will be required to submit to pre-employment screening for this position. The screenings will include criminal background check and, as applicable for the position, other background checks, drug screen, an employment and education or licensure/certification verification, physical examination, certain vaccinations and/or governmental registry checks. All offers are contingent upon successful completion of required screening.

Benefits Statement

Personal

• Up to 22 days of vacation, 10 recognized holidays, and sick time.
• Competitive health insurance packages with priority appointments and lower copays/coinsurance.
• Take advantage of our free Metro transit U-Pass for eligible employees.
• WashU provides eligible employees with a defined contribution (403(b)) Retirement Savings Plan, which combines employee contributions and university contributions starting at 7%.

Wellness challenges, annual health screenings, mental health resources, mindfulness programs and courses, employee assistance program (EAP), financial resources, access to dietitians, and more!

Family

We offer 4 weeks of caregiver leave to bond with your new child. Family care resources are also available for your continued childcare needs. Need adult care? We’ve got you covered.
WashU covers the cost of tuition for you and your family, including dependent undergraduate-level college tuition up to 100% at WashU and 40% elsewhere after seven years with us.
For policies, detailed benefits, and eligibility, please visit: https://hr.wustl.edu/benefits/

EEO Statement

Washington University in St. Louis is committed to the principles and practices of equal employment opportunity. It is the University’s policy to provide equal opportunity and access to persons in all job titles without regard to race, ethnicity or shared ancestry, color, national origin, citizenship (where prohibited by federal law), age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, protected veteran status, or genetic information. As a federal contractor, the university maintains affirmative action programs to implement its equal employment opportunity policy for individuals with disabilities and protected veterans, in accordance with Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (VEVRAA), as amended.