JOB DESCRIPTION
Job Title:
Alumni Marketing and Communications Officer
Department/Division/Faculty:
Alumni Office,
Communications and Public Affairs
Job Family/Level:
Professional Services, Level 3b
Responsible to:
Head of Alumni Relations
Key Working Relationships (internal):
Communications and Public Affairs,
Development Division, Student Recruitment and
Outreach, Careers Service, Department and
Faculty representatives.
Key Working Relationships (external):
Alumni, donors, external suppliers (printers and
designers) and related professional networks
(e.g. CASE and the Russell Group)
Campus location:
South Kensington Campus
Length of Appointment if fixed term:
Permanent
PURPOSE
The purpose of this post is to develop and deliver a compelling package of marketing and
communications activity to promote alumni affinity and engagement. The post holder will use
sophisticated communications strategies and techniques to keep alumni connected, promote
alumni benefits and inspire alumni with opportunities to get involved. They will focus on both
broad level participation and engagement with specific initiatives.
Key responsibilities include the production of the monthly alumni e-newsletter, creating a
strong online / social media presence, and managing an alumni communications schedule to
ensure year round activity and interest. In addition, the post holder will advise a wide range
of internal and external stakeholders on communications strategies to engage effectively
with individual alumni audience segments.
ALUMNI RELATIONS AT IMPERIAL
Imperial College London has an outstanding global community of more than 170,000 alumni
around the world. Alumni are among the College’s greatest advocates and supporters. They
contribute in a variety of ways to support ongoing excellence in education and research.
The mission for alumni relations at the College is to build a proud, lifelong and engaged
alumni community, which is supported in its desire to network, burnish the brand and see
excellence maintained. Key aims are to:
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Engage alumni as part of a lifelong relationship
Create value through alumni networking and services
Enlist the support of alumni to advance strategic priorities
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KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Strategy and planning
- Plan and deliver an alumni communications and marketing strategy, with supervision
from the Head of Alumni Relations.
- Manage an alumni communications schedule to ensure year round activity and interest,
and a coordinated approach with the regular giving programme.
- Create communications plans for specific projects and initiatives – e.g. promoting alumni
benefits, events and volunteering opportunities.
- Liaise closely with colleagues across the College to ensure alignment with wider
stakeholder engagement strategy.
- Develop communications strategies aimed at raising awareness of the alumni relations
programme among students and staff.
- With support from direct marketing experts in the Digital and Creative Media team of
Communications and Public Affairs, use marketing and segmentation strategies to
effectively target affinity groups in order to maximise engagement potential.
Marketing and communications
- Manage the production of a monthly alumni e-newsletter by planning, compiling and
editing the content for each issue.
- Maintain an attractive and current set of alumni webpages, providing a convenient
platform for accessing services.
- Develop and maintain a lively online presence across social media platforms (such as
LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter).
- Contribute content and story suggestions for the Imperial magazine.
- Prepare copy and design briefs for the production of persuasive marketing collateral
such as leaflets, gifts and invitations.
- Represent the Alumni Office at the College’s image management group, commissioning
photography to illustrate events, activities and news.
- Write alumni focused stories for publishing on the College’s news site and for further
dissemination through social media.
- Ensure that, where appropriate, key alumni stories are represented within other College
and student publications.
- Where appropriate, promote alumni giving and the importance of philanthropic support to
the College.
Communications advice and support
- Advise and assist departments, alumni groups and student clubs who are seeking to
communicate to alumni, facilitating mail-outs and promotions where appropriate.
- Work with the Alumni Engagement Officer to coordinate communications support for
alumni groups and associations.
- Work with colleagues engaged in student recruitment in communicating about the alumni
programme to prospective students.
- Work with departments in communicating to students about the benefits of being part of
the alumni community.
- Identify and suggest alumni for profiling and news stories by staff within Communications
and Public Affairs.
- Contribute to reports, briefings and background information about the Alumni Office for
internal and external audiences.
- Liaise with the Alumni Communications Executive in the Business School team to crosspromote events and opportunities and avoid communications clashes
Monitoring and evaluation
- Evaluate the success of marketing and communications activity by measuring impact on
participation and engagement.
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Support the development and monitoring of key performance indicators (KPIs) for alumni
communications and marketing.
Review impact of communications activity on specific audience and affinity groups in
order to develop segmentation strategy.
Ensure interactions are recorded on the alumni database, including adding global actions
when mass communications are sent.
Other responsibilities
- Input and contributions towards other key aspects of the alumni relations programme, as
appropriate, including alumni volunteering, events and services.
- Support for the delivery of high quality customer service, including supporting the team in
handling queries and running the Alumni Visitor Centre.
- Participation in cross-divisional projects, including but not limited to assisting with the
College’s two annual graduation ceremonies in the Royal Albert Hall, the Imperial
Festival and Alumni Reunion, and other events throughout the year. Some evening and
weekend work may be required.
To observe and comply with all College policies and regulations, including the key
policies and procedures on Confidentiality, Conflict of Interest, Data Protection, Equal
Opportunities, Financial Regulations, Health and Safety, Imperial Expectations (for
new leaders, managers and supervisors), Information Technology, Private
Engagements and Register of Interests, and Smoking.
To undertake specific safety responsibilities relevant to individual roles, as set out on
the College Website Health and Safety Structure and Responsibilities page
(http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/safety/policies/organisationandarrangements).
Job descriptions cannot be exhaustive and the post-holder may be required to
undertake other duties, which are broadly in line with the above key responsibilities.
Imperial College is committed to equality of opportunity and to eliminating
discrimination. All employees are expected to adhere to the principles set out in its
Equal Opportunities in Employment Policy, Promoting Race Equality Policy and all
other relevant guidance/practice frameworks.
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PERSON SPECIFICATION
Essential
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Educated to degree level or equivalent
Excellent copywriting skills and experience, including writing for the web
Expertise in marketing products / services and coordinating campaigns / publicity
Proven knowledge and experience in the use and development of digital and social
media as part of integrated communications and marketing activity
Evidence of planning, commissioning and crafting news stories and features
Strong project management skills and evidence of delivery
Experience of using content management systems and having previous responsibility for
editing, updating and overseeing web content
Excellent communication, interpersonal and people management skills
Customer focus and experience in delivering a high quality front-end service
Ability to work accurately at all times, including in highly pressurised situations
Ability to prioritise and balance a complex work programme and tight production
schedules
Ability to think strategically, and understand how communications supports wider alumni
relations and engagement strategy
Microsoft Office skills to an advanced level, particularly Word, Excel and PowerPoint
Ability and willingness to work evenings and weekends where required, including travel
within the UK and overseas
Desirable
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A professional marketing qualification
Experience writing for community audiences
Experience of working with complex databases (e.g. Raiser’s Edge)
Experience of data analysis and segmentation
Experience of working in or with a large complex organization
A sound understanding of the role of alumni relations and fundraising within universities
and awareness of current issues in Higher Education
Experience of working in alumni relations in Higher Education
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