Senior Communications Specialist

VISION: Transform the university through the power of generosity.

MISSION: Unite donor passions with university priorities to elevate the impact of Oklahoma State University.

DEPARTMENT PURPOSE: The Marketing and Donor Experiences team, which falls within the Development team at the Oklahoma State University Foundation, contributes to the mission by collaborating with internal and external partners to provide strategic, integrated marketing, communication, creative services and special events expertise to achieve our mission of serving Oklahoma State University and providing our donors with impactful, dynamic and engaging experiences.

PRIMARY PURPOSE: The Senior Communications Specialist will help execute the Marketing and Donor Experiences department’s strategic goal of creating effective materials that inspire, solicit and steward donors. This position prioritizes storytelling to complete and/or contribute to writing assignments that include publications, news releases, speaking points, development materials, advertising and more. This position plays a leading role in the production of STATE Magazine and distribution of news releases. This position works closely with the Senior Director of Communications to identify ways to publicize giving impact, donor and student stories, events and fundraising and stewardship messages through a variety of mediums.

KEY AREAS OF FOCUS:
Editorial Writing and Content Creation (50%)

• Create compelling impact stories for print and digital publication to inspire, solicit and steward donors.
• Write engaging articles to be published in STATE Magazine and other university publications.
• Serve as the Foundation’s primary manager and editor-in-chief of content for STATE Magazine, which publishes three times a year. Duties include planning, writing, production, review of all content and representing the Foundation at all STATE planning and strategy meetings. Maintain consistent communication with internal and external partners to ensure a smooth magazine production process.
• Conduct interviews with donors, students, university officials, faculty and other relevant personnel in person, over the phone and via email.
• Work with the creative services team to conduct interviews for use in videos.
• Effectively and courteously communicate with donors to coordinate interviews, receive approvals, answer questions and gather information and photos.
• Research gifts, donors, university information and other subjects via internal databases and external sources.
• Edit other colleagues’ work for grammar and consistency, ensuring effective communication.
• Utilize Microsoft Copilot and other approved AI tools to enhance research, content development, editing and workflow efficiency while ensuring content aligns with Foundation standards and objectives.

 
Public/Media Relations and Events (30%)

• Serve as the department’s primary handler of news releases, including writing and coordinating public/media relations outreach for gift announcements and special events.
  • Coordinate with Brand Management to plan news release distribution to media outlets and okstate.edu.
• Write and put together event speaking points for multiple sources.
• Write advertisement copy for various publications and distributions.
• Write email copy for various purposes including solicitation and stewardship.
• When necessary, write and gain approval on quotes from Foundation and university representatives.
• Participate in the execution of major events and initiatives, including Women for OSU, donor society events, major gift announcements, specific campaigns, groundbreakings and other special projects.
• Leverage Microsoft Copilot and other approved AI tools to support communications planning, content creation and information gathering while maintaining accuracy, consistency and adherence to organizational guidelines.

 
Development Communications (20%)

• Create persuasive fundraising materials for development use, including personalized proposals, cases for support, brochures, one-sheeters, etc.
• Collaborate with development partners to ensure materials will be effective for the desired outcome.
• Conduct research and review online, archived or provided information and materials to gain background on donors and giving areas.
• Use Microsoft Copilot and other approved AI tools to assist with research, content development and project support to improve efficiency and effectiveness in donor-facing communications and fundraising initiatives.

Other duties as assigned.

JOB COMPETENCIES AND EXPERIENCE:
Education & Certifications-

• Bachelor's degree in journalism, marketing, public relations, or related field.

Experience-

• A minimum of 3-6 years of related professional experience and/or training is required.
• Experience in the following areas is preferred: strategic planning, content creation and management, email marketing, social media marketing and digital storytelling.
• Advanced writing, editing, interviewing and research skills are necessary.
  
• Attention to detail in written, visual and oral communications.
• Ability to manage own workload, make routine decisions and problem-solve independently.
• Work under pressure of multiple deadlines while maintaining high degree of accuracy.
• Understanding of current and emerging digital market trends is critical.
• This person also must have excellent interpersonal communication skills, as the communications specialist may lead a team dealing with digital strategy.
• Must be able to work professionally and cooperatively with internal and external partners to build a collaborative work environment.
• Experience in leading content development initiatives including developing, deploying and optimizing a multi-channel content strategy.
• Ability to analyze large quantities of data and convey the most important pieces of this data to colleagues, donors and web audiences is essential.
• Strong computer skills are a must.
• Proven sense of humor and ability to have fun.

Organizational Competencies-

• Effective Communication: Able to present effectively to large groups of individuals; is clear, articulate and direct in sharing and providing feedback; develops communication plans to ensure effective transparency and involvement throughout the organization; able to present complex issues appropriately for a target audience; maintains communication with all staff and stakeholders.
• Execution & Initiative: Drives a high performance culture, having the ability to differentiate performance and demonstrate managerial courage; maintains focus on organizational priorities and sets challenging performance goals for units; invest personal energy and time in building buy-in among key influencers in advance of critical decisions; seeks to ensure that strategic initiatives are effectively executed and communicated to relevant audiences within the organization; encourages an environment in which results surpass activity and teamwork surpasses results; able to remain focused on only mission-related initiatives.
• Teamwork/Interpersonal Skills: Builds cohesive teams of people across OSUF based on strong personal trust and relationships; motivates the organization to increase employee engagement levels; constantly assesses and builds team morale; seeks out relationships with experts as a means of obtaining information about best practices and skills vital to departmental and organizational success; maximizes personal networks in different parts of the organization, campus & community partners, and effectively uses contacts to achieve unit results.
• Problem Solving/Judgment: Oversees the development of guidelines, principles and approaches; appropriately applies risk management practices, including the escalation of risk issues, and recognizes and undertakes opportunities for others to learn from inevitable mistakes, and incorporates experience in future decisions; able to anticipate problems/challenges and required strategy for a situation; makes connections among previously unrelated ideas and looks beyond the first right answer.
• Adaptability/Flexibility: Plays an active role in implementing change; encourages others to challenge the status quo; able to quickly adapt and lead during changing circumstances; foresees potential breakdown in the establishment/development of change and proactively recommends modifications to maintain standards of deliverables; anticipates specific reasons underlying resistance to change and proactively implements approaches to address potential concerns; remains active, visible and engaged throughout all stages of change management.
• Courage & Conviction: Takes responsibility for departmental outcomes regardless of success and learns from all results; creates a departmental environment where failure is seen as an opportunity for learning.
• Donor Centered: Uses donor and university feedback to improve service and feed into the business planning; builds performance-based business relationships by identifying and meeting donor needs rather than simply relying on social or affiliated relationships.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: Ability to communicate effectively in person, by phone, and via video conferencing. Requires frequent repetitive motions when operating computers, telephones, and standard office equipment. Ability to sit or stand for extended periods while working at a computer, attending meetings, or participating in events. Ability to travel locally, regionally, and occasionally nationally for donor visits, meetings, and university events, which may include walking on campus and navigating varied environments. Requires a valid driver’s license. Availability to work occasional evenings and weekends to support fundraising events and donor engagement activities. Ability to occasionally lift, carry, push, or pull materials over 20 pounds.