Communications and Marketing Manager

Position Summary
The Liu Idea Lab for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (Lilie) is seeking a Marketing
Manager to lead marketing, communications, and branding efforts across the entire
suite of Lilie courses and programs. In this role, you will develop and implement
new marketing strategies and campaigns and you will collect and analyze data to
access the efficiency of those strategies and campaigns. Lilie is a small, nimble
team, so in addition to designing the high-level strategy, you will also be
responsible for creating the marketing materials and content. To do this as
effectively as possible, you will be responsible for developing relationships with Rice
University students, faculty, and staff – constituencies we serve as customers or, at
times, collaborate with as partners.

About the Liu Idea Lab
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 4 years in a row but need your
help to aim even higher in the future.

The ideal candidate is a strong writer, enjoys creating content, and has strong
opinions that are adaptable to new information. The ideal candidate is a proactive
communicator and service-oriented, through and through.

Hiring Range: $90,000 - $100,000, contingent upon qualifications and
experience.

Requirements
● A bachelor's degree in a relevant field
● 8 years of work experience
o 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 Required
oOrganization and creativity skills
oAnalytical problem-solving skills
oStrong communication skills both oral and written
oAdept at problem-solving, creating contingency plans, and handling issues when
necessary
oExcellent organizational and time management skills
oExcellent verbal and written communication skills
oExcellent client service orientation
oAbility to prioritize, take initiative, and ownership of projects
oAbility to routinely and independently exercise sound judgment in
making decisions

Essential Functions
● Develops and executes marketing strategies and marketing plans/programs to meet
departmental and/or organizational objectives
● Leads the execution of communication and brand strategy for multiple programs
incorporating appropriate channels
● Responsible for staff including the recruitment, management, development, and
retention of staff
● Sets budget, goals, and objectives in alignment with organizational goals
● Oversees event management as needed to support marketing objectives
● Manages vendor relationships
● Oversees market research and analysis
● Uses the results to inform decisions regarding strategic marketing direction, product
segmentation and customer targeting
● Assesses market opportunities and track market trends. Implement marketing
improvements based on findings
● Performs all other duties as assigned

Additional Functions
-You should love writing, telling stories of Lilie and our students and alums, and treating your copywriting as their craft
-Thoughtfulness about strategy and implementation of email marketing as a main marketing channel, adapting copy and tone to different audiences of students, alums, campus, and community stakeholders
-Be willing to get out from behind the screen to build relationships with other campus stakeholders, student club leaders and other organizations to unlock new marketing channels and opportunities
-Be scrappy and creative in ideating and executing on new guerilla marketing tactics to stand out from the noise on the campus and increase exposure to key student demographics
-Owning our website content, copy, and strategy including SEO work
-Dangerous enough with Canva, Figma or other design tools to handle generative work on new creative independently
-Contribute to, and execute on, Lilie’s multi-channel marketing programs by managing communication assets for the Center, including the website, social media, newsletters, and collateral.
-Be a metrics maven, always willing to define and track the impact of your efforts on Lilie's programs, course enrollment, event attendance, and community engagement
-A bias for action, with the desire to share work early to get feedback, ensure alignment in messaging across the team, and secure approvals for your marketing ideas and experiments

Preferences
● A master's degree in marketing, public relations, communications, or related field is
preferred.
● Prior experience creating and implementing strategic marketing plans from
beginning to end