Digital Communications Specialist, Cornell Tech (NYC)

About Cornell Tech

Cornell Tech is Cornell University’s state-of-the-art campus in New York City that develops leaders and technologies for the AI era through foundational and applied research, graduate education, and new ventures. Located on Roosevelt Island, the growing campus was founded in partnership with the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and in close collaboration with the NYC Economic Development Corporation after Cornell won a worldwide competition initiated by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s administration to create an applied sciences campus in New York City. More than 1,000 Cornell students are now educated annually on the campus, including 700 in Cornell Tech programs. Since opening in 2012, nearly 120 new companies have spun out from startup programs at Cornell Tech, and 95 percent of them are based in New York City. Cornell Tech continues to have a transformative economic impact on the region’s tech sector.

Position Summary

The Digital Communications Specialist creates compelling content to highlight Cornell Tech's faculty excellence and student achievements on a global scale. The incumbent must have demonstrated experience in project management, content development and website management. As an employer, we value staff who are agile, ambitious, creative, curious, and eager to innovate. The Digital Communications Specialist operates on a lean team under general supervision from the Design Director and supports a rapidly scaling campus. For many of the job duties the incumbent engages in self-directed work and has ownership over process and execution.

Successful candidates will need to have and display the following competencies as part of this role: 

• Communicates effectively • Developing and delivering multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences

• Action oriented • Taking on new opportunities and challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm

• Manages Ambiguity • Operating effectively, even when things are not certain or the way forward is not clear

• Collaborates • Works cooperatively with others across the organization to achieve shared objectives

This is a full-time, benefits-eligible position with primary work location at the Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island in New York City.

Add Visa sponsorship is not available.
Add Starting salary range: $70,458 to $78,356

Essential Functions Include

• Project management: Collaborate across campus to plan and execute digital communications across social media, web, email newsletters, campus monitors, and slide presentations, and to produce branded collateral and merchandise. Work with the Communications and Marketing team to manage relationships and provide logistical support and editorial guidance to external vendors, including freelance photographers, videographers, writers, and web developers. 20%

• Digital content creation: Strategize, pitch, draft, produce, edit, and publish photo, video, and written content for events, programs, research, and initiatives across Cornell Tech’s social media channels, website, news, and editorial platforms. Collaborate with external vendors and draft multimedia briefs, social media campaigns, video concepts, and photography shot lists. 20%

• Digital asset management: Create digital assets using Adobe, Mailchimp, Figma, and other apps. Publish content on Sprout Social, YouTube, Mailchimp, and tech.cornell.edu. Edit, organize, and manage the digital asset library. 15%

• Promotional assistance: Write social media posts, create advertisements and printed promotional materials, regularly pull analytics to track performance through comparative analysis, analyze audience sentiment, identify industry trends, track competitors, monitor conversations, manage brand health across major channels, and present recommendations to the Communications and Marketing team to improve performance. Meet regularly with Cornell University’s New Media Team to align initiatives and strategies across campuses. 15%

• Website management: Manage and maintain key sections of the Cornell Tech website and related sites, and engage in copyediting, page-building, troubleshooting, training colleagues on WordPress, and collaborating with Cornell Tech’s external web development team. 15%

• Brand stewardship: Advise constituents on the Cornell Tech brand, fulfill asset requests, create and distribute campus merchandise, maintain the brand’s web presence, manage licensing via the Exemplar portal, and review content for style and messaging consistency. 5%

• Administration: Oversee the team’s P-card usage, submit receipts, and collaborate with the Finance team to create and manage vendor contracts. Learn and master several programs, platforms, and systems to serve as an efficient campus resource and to train colleagues as needed. 5%

• Other position-related responsibilities: Participate in projects or other duties as assigned with occasional work responsibility falling above or below current classification. Completion of any university required compliance trainings. 5%

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field and 2 to 4 years of experience in communications, design, project management, digital asset management.

• Highly proactive, organized, efficient, detail-oriented, able to follow detailed instruction.

• Proven ability to multitask successfully and meet deadlines

• Proven ability to lead meetings with colleagues and external vendors.

• Exceptional writing, communication, and visual communication skills.

• Experience with Basecamps or similar project management tools.

• Proficiency with Sprout Social or comparable social media management and analytics platforms.

• Experience with Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Premiere, Bridge, Acrobat, InDesign, and Illustrator).

• Experience with MailChimp or similar newsletter management tools.

• Experience managing content in a CMS.

• Self-driven, capable of taking ownership of tasks and seeing them through to delivery.

• Excellent organizational skills and meticulous attention to detail.

• Ability to cultivate and develop inclusive working relationships with students, faculty, staff, and community members. 

Preferred Qualifications

• Working knowledge of AP Style. Experience with Wordpress.

• Experience with Figma, Exemplar Licensing Appspace, Localist, Sprout Social.

• Experience training colleagues in procedures, programs, and systems.

Culture of Inclusion and Community Standards

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