Communications Specialist

Job Description

Undergraduate Academic Affairs (UAA) shapes, advances, and stewards a world‑class undergraduate academic experience for students at the University of Washington. Staff, faculty, and students in UAA deepen and enrich the learning experience for all undergraduates, recognizing and supporting the unique learning path of each individual student and committing each academic program to excellence in learning and teaching.

Note:
Applications will be reviewed beginning January 22nd.

The UAA communications team, working out of the dean’s office, focuses its communication efforts on humanizing the UW undergraduate academic experience; being a resource and as‑needed partner to UAA programs for their communications needs; supporting UAA’s advancement priorities; deepening and expanding the equity lens we use in our communications work.

The UAA communications team has an outstanding opportunity for a Communications Specialist to join their team.
Funding for this position is approved through June 30, 2027, and may be extended with additional funding.

The Communications Specialist serves as the lead writer and content manager for much of Undergraduate Academic Affairs’ (UAA) external communications and select internal communications coming from the dean's office. UAA is a central unit supporting nearly the entire undergraduate student population on the Seattle campus, engaging students throughout their academic journey. This position collaborates with colleagues to increase awareness about and grow constituents’ relationships with UAA through clear, creative and compelling communications, predominantly written.

This role requires excellent writing, storytelling and editing skills, sound judgment and the ability to explain complex ideas in an accessible and engaging way across platforms, including web, social media, e‑newsletters and print.

As lead writer, the specialist helps shape UAA’s voice and produces a range of original content, including student profiles, program news, alumni updates and feature stories. They also edit submissions from colleagues across UAA units to ensure clarity, consistency and alignment with UAA’s messaging goals.

As content manager, the specialist oversees the full content lifecycle — from idea through publication and promotion — for UAA’s e‑newsletters. This includes planning, editorial calendar management, stakeholder coordination and collaborating with designers and staff to bring projects to completion on schedule. Additional responsibilities include maintaining website content using Word Press and ensuring messaging remains current and aligned with UAA priorities.

The specialist manages multiple projects with competing deadlines and collaborates with a range of internal and campus partners. Success in this role depends on the ability to work independently; be effective at a local, unit level aligned with broader, institutional goals; and understand the bigger picture within a large, complex organization.

They also lead the content strategy and day‑to‑day operations of the UAA dean’s office social media channels — providing guidance on best practices, monitoring engagement and identifying opportunities to elevate UAA’s visibility through strategic and compelling storytelling.

• Develop story ideas for UAA’s print and digital publications, aligning with institutional and unit goals, audience interests and current events.
• Research and develop topics and story ideas, conduct interviews with students, faculty, administrators, alumni and external constituents, and use sound editorial judgement to gather and verify information. Write a range of content, including feature stories and articles, long‑form narratives, news announcements, student and alumni profiles and interviews. Additional content may include event promotions, website copy, blog posts, social media content, fact sheets, donor communications and other materials as needed.
• Serve as the primary manager, writer, content creator, moderator and scheduler for UAA’s social media channels.
• Collaborate with UAA programs and other University units, such as colleges, schools, academic departments…