Overview and Responsibilities

Saint Mary's University of Minnesota is seeking candidates who are eager to contribute to its Lasallian Catholic mission of awakening, nurturing, and empowering learners to ethical lives of service and leadership. We invite individuals to help transform lives through education, inspired by the Catholic Intellectual Tradition’s quest to understand the human experience through faith and reason and its embrace of all who are dedicated to learning from one another through authentic conversations in search of the truth. We are especially interested in and give preference to candidates who demonstrate a vision to create and nurture initiatives that will advance our mission within the scope of their duties and who will foster a culture of dialogue that, with respect for all people, supports the search for meaning and purpose in pursuit of excellence.

Job Summary

Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota is a private, nonprofit, Lasallian Catholic university serving students across Minnesota and beyond through career-focused undergraduate, graduate, and online programs.

The Enrollment Marketing Department is seeking a Senior Content Manager to lead content strategy, prioritization, and governance for academic and enrollment content across the university, with a digital-, mobile-, and AI-first focus.  This role ensures that program messaging, student storytelling, and content development are aligned with enrollment priorities and institutional positioning.

This individual serves as the central point of coordination across Marketing, Communications, and Development, and leads the effort to ensure collaboration among stakeholders to ensure content is strategically developed, efficiently executed, and effectively leveraged across channels.

Reporting to the Senior Director of Marketing, this role is responsible for managing complex departmental and individual relationships and collaboration, as well as crafting a cohesive and evolving plan, not just producing content.  They must also be highly organized, a strong relationship builder, responsive, persuasive. Key partners include academics and admissions/recruitment among others. 

Salary Range: $75,000-$85,000

Main Duties & Responsibilities

Content Strategy & Prioritization

• Establish and manage content priorities aligned to enrollment goals
• Build upon the institution’s foundational brand assets to determine what content is developed, when, and for which audiences
• Balance competing demands across the Undergraduate College and our Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs.

Program Messaging & Content Governance

• Own messaging architecture across 80+ academic programs
• Ensure consistency across:
• Program pages
• One-sheets
• Brochures
• Admissions communications
• Define and maintain institutional proof points and differentiation
• Establish and manage content revision cycles 

Editorial Leadership

• Design and lead a mechanism to coordinate content calendar and content creation, such as a centralized editorial council
• Identify priority stories and content needs, consulting with other stakeholders
• Maintain and manage the editorial calendar, consulting with other stakeholders
• Coordinate cross-functional content planning and distribution

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Serve as primary liaison between:
• Marketing
• Communications
• Development
• Academic leadership
• Enrollment Leaders
• Athletics
• Align storytelling and content across teams
• Reduce duplication and improve efficiency

High-Impact Content Development

• Lead development of high-priority content, including:
• Program landing pages
• Campaign messaging
• Key recruitment materials
• Progress to empowering others to produce content in all its forms.

Quality Control & Performance Alignment

• Ensure content meets brand, voice, and strategic standards
• Optimize content based on engagement and conversion data using data from analytic tools such as G4 and Hotjar.

• Serve as brand ambassador to ensure all messaging created by marketing is on brand (tone, style, messages) and that created by others (e.g. external partners, divisions and departments) aligns as well. This will involve regular auditing. 
• Create and manage content calendar - look ahead planning for content across channels and in coordination with larger content calendar managed by executive director, communications.

Qualifications

Travel

• Willingness to travel periodically to Winona required.

Experience and Education Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required, preferably  in English, Communications, Marketing, Journalism, or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience in content strategy and execution within marketing, advertising, or higher education required.
• Website content production experience required; knowledge of WordPress preferred.
• Be able to work on-site on the Minneapolis Campus 4 days a week.
• Knowledge of AP style is a plus.

Essential Knowledge & Skills

• Exceptional writing and editing skills across digital and print formats, with knowledge of AP style and ability to align with brand voice and tone
• Proven ability to develop compelling, conversion-focused content across channels, including web, advertising, social, email, and long-form storytelling with strong headline and copywriting skills. (Writing samples will be required as part of the interview process.)
• Experience managing content within a CMS (e.g., WordPress) and familiarity with web publishing best practices
• Strong understanding of performance metrics and analytics (e.g., Google Analytics/GA4), with the ability to optimize content based on data and insights
• Demonstrated success operating in complex, multi-stakeholder environments and leading cross-functional initiatives
• Strong project management skills, with the ability to prioritize, make decisions, and manage competing demands.  Experience using Wrike is preferred.
• Collaborative, partner-oriented mindset with strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Experience using scorecards, reporting, and continuous improvement frameworks to evaluate performance
• Ability to leverage AI tools to enhance content development and efficiency

Physical Demands

• Sedentary work. Sedentary work involves lifting no more than 10 pounds at a time and occasionally lifting or carrying articles like docket files, ledgers, and small tools. Although a sedentary job is defined as one which involves sitting, a certain amount of walking and standing is often necessary in carrying out job duties. Jobs are sedentary if walking and standing are required occasionally and other sedentary criteria are met.

Physical Hazards – Health and Safety Concerns

• General office environments
• Ergonomics
• Noise

Application Requirements

Apply online at https://www.smumn.edu/about/offices-services/human-resources/employment-opportunities/ and include a cover letter, resume, and contact information for three professional references.

Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota believes inclusion and human dignity contributes to a robust academic and work environment and is critical to achieving the University's mission in an increasingly diverse society. Individuals with expertise and diverse skills from underrepresented groups are especially encouraged to apply. Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. The successful candidate must support, respect, and advance the mission of Saint Mary's University as a Lasallian Catholic institution.

Saint Mary’s offers a comprehensive benefit package including health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, flexible spending, retirement pension plan, and both undergraduate and graduate tuition remission plans.

All offers of employment are contingent upon the successful completion of a criminal background check.