Web Developer and Digital Communication Specialist Details

Web Developer and Digital Communication Specialist

George Mason University - Fairfax, VA

Employment Type : Full-Time

George Mason University’s Office of the Provost invites applications for a Web Developer and Digital Communication Specialist. George Mason University has a strong institutional commitment to the achievement of excellence and diversity among its faculty and staff, and strongly encourages candidates to apply who will enrich Mason’s academic and culturally inclusive environment.

About the Department:
The Provost’s Academic Administration Pier provides academic communications leadership to advance the strategic priorities, goals and initiatives of the Provost’s Office and George Mason University. The team builds awareness of university-wide initiatives and supports the communication efforts of units within the Office of the Provost. The team’s areas of focus include:

Serving as a liaison with other internal offices to integrate strategies and align activities with university-wide academic initiatives and strategic priorities;

Providing vision and direction for key digital communications from offices within the Provost’s division, working across communication channels such as email, websites, social media, video, and more;

Collaborating with the Office of University Branding and the Provost’s Office Piers, the team works to ensure timely, consistent, and transparent messaging across the Provost’s Office.

About the Position:
The Web Developer and Digital Communication Specialist is responsible for creating, designing, analyzing, and maintaining websites for the Office of the Provost. These activities include, but are not limited to, designing, editing, proofing, updating, site maintenance, analytics, consulting, and fixing bugs. Main responsibilities include tracking web analytics, website usage, and site effectiveness; coordinating with the Office of the Provost’s communications team to ensure timely content updates; training Provost’s Office administrative staff in the university’s Content Management System ( CMS ); identifying opportunities for improvement; and implementing strategic updates to increase the effectiveness of the Office’s web presence for internal and external audiences.

Responsibilities:
Web Production: Responsible for designing, developing, maintaining, and updating websites managed by the Office of the Provost, while adhering to Mason’s established web standards.

Work within the templates and configuration of the SiteMasonry CMS , build web deliverables that adhere to best practices in inclusive, conversion-driven, user/mobile first design;

Modify and update content day-to-day as needed for desired functionality/content delivery and required university and Provost’s Office branding and security guidelines;

Create and maintain workflows for building audience targeted landing pages and university-initiative microsites;

Identify strategic web properties that drive user engagement on high-value university initiatives;

Assist in managing website requests by gathering requirements, analyzing requirements for design, developing sound and effective solutions, testing solutions, and deploying;

Work with the Associate Director for Strategic Engagement and Communication to set and meet realistic deadlines for delivery; communicate risks and blockers to success and delivery;

Ensure all sites within the Division are ADA compliant and in line with state guidelines.

Technical Communication/Collaboration: Responsible for providing web training, support, and guidance to Provost’s Office staff on the SiteMasonry CMS and associated technologies; communicate standards and collaborate with staff to ensure content visibility.

Communicate and socialize workflows for creating, updating, and maintaining webpages to Provost’s Office support staff;

Provide web training and technical support to Provost’s staff on the SiteMasonry CMS , BlackBoard document uploads, and associated technologies as requested;

Collaborate as needed with Provost’s Office communications team to ensure content visibility on all platforms (social media, web, etc.);

Utilize great interpersonal communication skills, actively listen, understand desired needs and outcomes, and translate into appropriate solutions;

Provide, accept, and synthesize collaborative input, such as constructive feedback, contributing to a shared goal of excellence;

Communicate bugs, functional requirements or desired improvements to appropriate constituents and help solve issues as they arise.

Measurement Strategy: Collaborate with Provost’s Office communications team to create regular and simple analytics reports; monitor web traffic and suggest data-driven strategic improvements.

Understand and relay regular web analytics reports to Provost’s Office communications team; compile findings into simplified reporting for leadership review;

Analyze readership data, monitor web traffic, and develop content strategies to increase user engagement; monitor and measure longitudinal site performance across audiences;

Proactively work to help Provost’s Office develop content that is readable, understandable, findable, actionable and shareable; recommend strategic modifications where indicated;

Collaborate with members of the Provost’s Office communication team to identify measurable objectives for website projects and improvements.

Content Editing and Creation: Create new content as necessary to keep up with expanding Provost’s Office needs.

Write and edit new material for website deployment with awareness of target audience, attention to detail, and commitment to quality;

Proof-read, restructure and edit website content submissions;

Select, crop, and edit photos with appropriate aspect ratios and focal points as necessary for responsive, visually appealing website design; size according to optimal website performance standards.

Required Qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, design, computer programming, or related field, and/or the equivalent level of training and experience;

Substantial demonstrated experience organizing and publishing content in a CMS (Drupal and/or Wordpress preferred), working within templated, branded sites, and with distributed content;

Demonstrated experience with web standards, web accessibility, web analytics, and web security;

Demonstrated knowledge of basic CSS and HTML ;

Demonstrated experience creating written web content, and strong editing skills to spot and correct errors;

Demonstrated experience designing custom Google Analytics reports; experience with Google Tag manager; deep understanding of directly managing website analytics;

Demonstrated experience in web information architecture, web design, and clearly organizing complex web content;

Ability to work effectively with stakeholders and communicate abstract ideas in simple terms;

Excellent attention to detail; organized and process-oriented;

Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, Google Docs, and social media.

Preferred Qualifications:
Demonstrated communications experience (typically 1-3 years), with preference given for experience supporting websites;

Knowledge of graphic design, photography, information technology, and computer programming; mastery of Adobe Creative Suite a plus;

Knowledge of function and purpose of crops, aspect ratios and focal points in the context of responsive design.

Special Instructions to Applicants
For full consideration, applicants must apply for position number 03205z at https://jobs.gmu.edu/ ; complete and submit the online application; and upload a cover letter, resume, and a list of three professional references with contact information.

For Full Consideration, Apply by:
05/16/2022