Senior Strategist, Digital Marketing and Advertising

University of Ottawa

  • Canada
  • $90,987-114,932 per year
  • Permanent
  • Full-time
  • 22 hours ago
Follow us onJob Type: EmployeeDuration in Months (for fixed-term jobs): 12Job Family: Communications and Advisory Services# of Open Positions: 1Faculty/Service - Department: Student Affairs, Marketing and Public Relations CommunicationsCampus: Main CampusUnion Affiliation: SSUODate Posted (YYYY/MM/DD): 2025/09/04Applications must be received BEFORE (YYYY/MM/DD): 2025/09/15Hours per week: 35Salary Grade: SSUO Grade 11Salary Range: $90,987.00 - $114,932.00About Student Affairs:Student Affairs is at the very heart of the student experience at the University of Ottawa. We recruit the very best future students, support them throughout their university years and leave them well-prepared for fulfilling careers and future studies. Our team of more than 600 dedicated staff provides the services that keep students happy, well and thriving as they pursue their ambitions. We help them apply and enrol for courses, we oversee 11 residences and an award-winning Dining Hall, we organize fun events, we provide extensive recreation program opportunities and varsity sports activities, we run an innovative career development and experiential learning program and much more!There’s nothing more rewarding than helping future generations reach their full potential at a world-class university. With our wide variety of career opportunities and professional development pathways, we’re sure that you’ll enjoy the experience as much as our students do.Position purpose:As a member of the Student Affairs Marketing and Communications team, the Senior Strategist, Digital Marketing and Advertising serves as the department’s resident expert in digital marketing and advertising for Student Affairs. In this role, they are responsible for leading the development and execution of digital marketing and advertising strategies that promote Student Affairs services, including the recruitment of national and international students.With a strong focus on innovation, data-informed decision-making, and audience engagement, the incumbent leads the development, execution, and continual optimization of comprehensive digital marketing and advertising strategies that align with business objectives while enhancing uOttawa’s visibility and reputation. The Senior Strategist oversees the work of a team of colleagues and manages relationships with internal and external partners to ensure consistency, effectiveness, and brand alignment across all campaigns and platforms.In this role, your responsibilities will include:Provides expert strategic counsel to Student Affairs, faculties, and central communications teams on digital advertising and marketing initiatives. lead cross-institutional working groups and collaborate with executive leadership to develop integrated marketing strategies that support key priorities, including national and international student recruitment. Acting as a representative for Student Affairs on university-wide committees and task forces, the incumbent ensures that recruitment and branding objectives are reflected in broader institutional plans. Contribute to corporate brand positioning by overseeing strategic messaging and content development.Develop, and oversee large-scale, multi-channel paid media campaigns, ensuring significant institutional investments are optimized to achieve measurable recruitment goals. The incumbent advises on media mix, audience targeting, and platform selection, and leads the technical implementation of campaigns across various digital platforms such as Meta Ads Manager, Google Ads, and StackAdapt. Design and execute content strategies, both paid and organic, targeting prospective and current students across multiple channels to maximize engagement and impact.Leads the end-to-end planning, coordination, and execution of digital marketing initiatives aligned with Student Affairs’ recruitment and retention objectives. Manage day-to-day project operations, including overseeing internal teams and external agencies or vendors, tracking progress, resolving issues, and allocating resources to ensure campaigns are delivered on time and to the highest quality standards.Helps define marketing priorities, establish timelines, and implement performance tracking mechanisms. They maintain strong working relationships with digital marketing partners across faculties and departments, facilitating consistent communication and strategic alignment. Serving as a key liaison, the incumbent ensures smooth coordination between Student Affairs Marketing and the broader university community to advance shared goals.Conducts research on emerging digital marketing trends, platform innovations, and best practices to identify growth opportunities. They lead data-driven optimization of marketing strategies and budgets by leveraging advanced analytics and performance metrics. Responsible for overseeing campaign measurement and reporting, the incumbent implements A/B testing frameworks to continuously improve messaging effectiveness and creative performance. They regularly provide strategic insights and recommendations to senior leadership to drive innovation and maximize impact.Develops, manages, and monitors budgets allocated to digital marketing campaigns and initiatives, ensuring compliance with institutional policies and financial controls. They adjust spending and resource allocation based on campaign performance data and evolving strategic priorities to ensure optimal use of funds.What you will bring:Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, digital media or a related field or an equivalent combination of education and experience.Minimum of seven (7) years of progressive experience in digital marketing strategy and advertising campaign management in a complex, multi-stakeholder environment.Minimum of two (2) years of cross-functional team leadership experience.Bilingualism (French and English) required – both oral and writtenStrategic thinking and planningLeadership and team developmentExcellent written & verbal communication skillsInnovation and initiativeResults-driven with strong problem-solving and analytical skillsClient-focused with excellent interpersonal and communication abilitiesStrong project management and organizational skills in a fast-paced environmentHighly creative with experience in identifying target audiences and devising digital campaigns that engage, inform and motivateDemonstrate experience leading and managing SEO/SEM, email marketing, social media and advertising campaigns (Display, Native, Out-of-home, Social, PPC, etc.)Expert-level knowledge of digital marketing channels, platforms and tools (e.g., PPC, Google Ads, Meta Ads Manager, StackAdapt, CRM, etc.)Demonstrate ability to program, configure, and launch digital marketing campaigns in advertising platforms (e.g., PPC, Google Ads, Meta, StackAdapt, LinkedIn).Experience with campaign tracking setup, tag management systems, and data flow across digital marketing stacks (e.g., UTM parameters, Google Tag Manager, conversion APIs).Advanced proficiency in website and analytics tools (e.g. Google Analytics, Tag Manager, Data Studio, Siteimprove, SEMrush, CMS (Drupal) and other web publishing tools).Experience managing six- and seven-figure advertising budgetsDemonstrated experience with content strategy, digital storytelling, and user journey optimizationUnderstanding of WCAG accessibility standards and privacy laws related to digital communicationsKey Competencies at uOttawa:
Here are the required competencies for all or our employees at uOttawa:Planning: Organize in time a series of actions or events in order to realize an objective or a project. Plan and organize own work and priorities in regular daily activities.
Initiative: Demonstrate creativity and initiative to suggest improvements and encourage positive results. Is proactive and self-starting. Show availability and willingness to go above and beyond whenever it is possible.
Client Service Orientation: Help or serve others to meet their needs. This implies anticipating and identifying the needs of internal and external clients and finding solutions on how to meet them.
Teamwork and Cooperation: Cooperate and work well with other members of the team to reach common goal(s). Accept and give constructive feedback. Able to adjust own behaviour to reach the goals of the team.The University of Ottawa embraces diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We are passionate about our people and committed to employment equity. We foster a culture of respect, teamwork and inclusion, where collaboration, innovation, and creativity fuel our quest for research and teaching excellence. While all qualified persons are invited to apply, we welcome applications from qualified Indigenous persons, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, women and LGBTQIA2S+ persons. The University is committed to creating and maintaining an accessible, barrier-free work environment. The University is also committed to working with applicants with disabilities requesting accommodation during the recruitment, assessment and selection processes. Applicants with disabilities may contact hrtalentmanagement@uottawa.ca to communicate the accommodation need. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.Note: if this is a union position: The hiring process will be governed by the current collective agreement related to the union affiliation noted above; you can click to find out more.If this is a front-line position with responsibilities to interact with students, selected candidates must be rated at the Low Advanced proficiency level or higher for both oral comprehension and reading comprehension in their second official language. The rating is determined by a proficiency test designed by the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute.Prior to May 1, 2022, the University required all students, faculty, staff, and visitors (including contractors) to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as defined in Policy 129 – Covid-19 Vaccination. This policy was suspended effective May 1, 2022 but may be reinstated at any point in the future depending on public health guidelines and the recommendations of experts.

University of Ottawa