Comms / Marketing Specialist

The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training. The above hiring range represents the University's good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.

Position Summary

Columbia University Irving Medical Center seeks a creative, detail-oriented, and digitally proficient Communications and Marketing Specialist to support initiatives for the CUIMC Office of Communication's mission in collaboration with clinical departments.

This role contributes to communicating the impact of CUIMC's clinical services, research, and education through engaging storytelling and multi-channel marketing efforts. The ideal candidate has strong writing skills, a solid understanding of digital platforms, and the ability to manage multiple assignments in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

The responsibilities will include the following :

Essential Duties :

Content Development & Messaging

Drafts and assists with editing content for diverse audiences, including patients, faculty, researchers, students, peers / referring providers, and the broader health care community.

Coordinates with clinical leadership and communications colleagues to align content with departmental priorities and institutional objectives.

Contributes to materials, such as web copy, patient stories, service line features, provider bios, newsletters, and internal communications.

Supports content planning and review processes in collaboration with the central communications team, ensuring alignment with organizational messaging and acting as a liaison for basic content coordination needs.

Ensures all communications follow CUIMC brand voice, HIPAA requirements, and institutional messaging guidelines.

Creates engaging, high-quality content and graphics for departmental social media channels, ensuring consistency, brand alignment, and strategic coordination with related communications projects.

Digital Marketing

Assists the marketing team with implementing campaigns to support patient acquisition, faculty promotion, clinical program visibility, and research awareness.

Updates and maintains department websites using CMS tools (e.g., Sitecore, Drupal, Adobe) under guidance from senior staff.

Help prepare and distribute email marketing campaigns, including audience segmentation, formatting, and scheduling, using tools such as Salesforce Marketing Cloud or Mailchimp.

Contributes to the development of social media content calendars and scheduling; monitor audience engagement and flag items for follow-up.

Supports the development and scheduling of social media content calendars under the guidance of communications leadership; monitors audience engagement trends and flags declines for follow-up, while proactively identifying potential calendar conflicts and applying industry best practices to optimize audience reach and engagement.

Applies foundational SEO practices to improve content visibility and assist with SEM initiatives.

Helps maintain provider profiles, including bios, specialties, expertise, headshots, and locations.

Tracks and reports on assigned project expenses to ensure budget adherence.

Provide basic brand guidance and content assistance to departmental stakeholders.

Analytics & Performance Tracking

Collect data on campaign and channel performance using analytics tools (e.g., Piwik Pro Analytics, social media insights, CRM dashboards).

Prepare summary reports and highlight observations for senior staff review.

Assist with benchmarking research and trend tracking to inform future content and marketing activities.

Project Management

Serve as a point of contact for day-to-day communications and marketing requests within assigned department(s).

Prepares concise summary and project status reports with key observations, communicating findings and deadlines clearly to senior staff for review and decision-making.

Work closely with clinical faculty and staff to gather information, approvals, and materials for communications projects.

Coordinate project timelines and deliverables with internal teams, including editorial, digital, marketing, design, and media relations.

Assist with drafting press releases and coordinate with CUIMC Office of Communications for media review and distribution.

Other

Stays informed about emerging trends in healthcare marketing, digital communications, and academic medicine.

Participates in communications projects and initiatives as assigned by senior staff.

Performs other duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in education and experience, plus three years of experience.

Preferred Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Minimum of a Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in Marketing, Communications, Public Health, Journalism, Public Relations, or a related field.

3 years of marketing and communications experience, preferably in health care, academic medicine, or higher education.

Strong writing, editing, and storytelling skills, with the ability to adapt complex information for general audiences.

Experience contributing to digital marketing campaigns.

Familiarity with CMS platforms, web analytics tools, SEO / SEM, social media management tools, and email marketing software.

Basic skills in graphic design or multimedia tools (e.g., Canva, Adobe Creative Suite).

Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to work collaboratively with diverse teams.

Ability to manage multiple projects and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.

Experience working in a health care, academic medical center, or higher education setting.

Understanding of health marketing, service line promotion, or patient engagement strategies.

Familiarity with CRM or marketing automation tools (e.g., Salesforce, Marketo, HubSpot)

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.