Assistant Director, MBA Communications and Events

Special Instructions to Applicants: All interested applicants should attach a resume in the Supporting Documents section of the application, preferably in a PDF format to avoid any formatting issues.

About Rice:

Boasting a 300-acre tree-lined campus in Houston, Texas, Rice University is ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has a 6-to-1 undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio, and a residential college system, which supports students intellectually, emotionally and culturally through social events, intramural sports, student plays, lectures series, courses and student government. Developing close-knit, diverse college communities is a strong campus tradition, which is why Rice is highly ranked for best quality of life and best value among private universities.

Rice is also a wonderful place to work. Rice faculty, staff and students share values that are essential to our success as a healthy community. Those values guide our decisions and behaviors and shape Rice's culture. They come through in the way we treat each other and the welcome we extend to our visitors. These values can be recalled simply by our name - RICE - Responsibility, Integrity, Community and Excellence.

Position Summary:

Rice Business is a globally recognized, top-ranked graduate business school distinguished by its rigorous academic standards and a full portfolio of MBA programs, including Full-Time, Professional (Weekend and Evening), Hybrid, and Online modalities.

The Assistant Director of MBA Communications and Events role within the Rice Business MBA Recruiting and Admissions Office (RAO) is primarily responsible for executing communications, marketing, and event operations that support MBA recruitment and admissions efforts across all program formats. The position operationally focused on implementing complex and cyclical communication campaigns through Slate and project manager of recruiting and admissions events of various sizes and modalities.

This role oversees the execution of external communications and marketing materials directed toward prospective MBA students as they navigate the application and enrollment journey. Additionally, the Assistant Director manages the operational planning and logistics for recruiting and admissions events.

The role is responsible for carrying out the strategy established by the Assistant Dean of Recruiting and Admissions, using data insights and CRM tools to support targeted communication and marketing efforts throughout the prospective student journey. In addition, the Assistant Director provides operational support across CRM and admissions functions and serves as an internal resource on program-specific communication and event needs across all program modalities. The Assistant Director works closely with all Rice Business stakeholders, with more consistent collaboration with the CRM Lead and Rice Business Marketing and Communications team to ensure communications are delivered accurately, consistently, and effectively across channels and audiences.

As part of the operations function within Recruiting and Admissions, the position collaborates extensively with all RAO team members to support campaign deployment, event coordination, and applicant engagement initiatives. The Assistant Director also serves as a project manager for complex recruiting and admissions events, ensuring timelines, stakeholder coordination, and execution details are managed efficiently and with excellence. The Assistant Director is an internal Subject Matter Expert (SME) for all program formats, ensuring specialized needs and unique market nuances are addressed with precision through event execution and communication campaigns.

Ideal Candidate Statement:

The ideal candidate for this position is a sophisticated and experienced communicator and a driven professional who thrives in a fast-paced, goal-oriented environment with a proactive approach to professional responsibilities. This person has a firm grasp of graduate management education and impressive organizational skills to manage competing priorities and high-volume workflows. This person is committed to operational excellence, is service-oriented, collaborative, and resourceful. The candidate is forward-thinking and able to work autonomously.

Workplace Requirements:

Rice Business primarily delivers residential classes and activities taking place almost daily between 7 am and 10 pm. We value a highly collaborative and community-based culture, with expectations to provide in-person support and services to all members of our community. Remote work options are limited. Most employment activities are required to be performed in-person and on-campus. This in-person approach is central to the successful achievement of our research and academic missions.

This position is exclusively on-site, necessitating all duties to be performed in-person at McNair Hall on a 5-day in-office schedule with an 8:30am - 5:00 pm workday. Remote work opportunities will be assessed and approved on an as-needed basis following the successful conclusion of the probationary period

This position does include a high volume of professional events occurring both nights and weekends and may include travel both domestically and internationally as needed.

Business professional attire is often required, with the flexibility to shift to business casual on non-event, external-facing interactions.

Per Rice policy 440, work arrangements may be subject to change.

Hiring Range: Commensurate with experience

• Exempt (salaried) positions under FLSA are not eligible for overtime.

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree

• No substitutions permitted

• Two or more (2+) years of higher education, event management, and/or marketing experience

• In lieu of the experience requirement, additional related education above and beyond what is required may be substituted on an equivalent year-for-year basis.

• Skills:

• Strong oral and written communication skills

• Strong organizational and creativity skills

• Familiarity with graduate business education processes and programs

• Strong analytical problem-solving and interpersonal skills, e.g., professionalism, collaboration, etc.

• Strong CRM and computer skills, specifically Microsoft Suite, e.g., Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Preferences:

• Experience working in marketing and communications
• Experience project managing events in Higher Education
• Higher Education Experience
• Familiarity with Slate or a comparable CRM system
• Familiarity with Enrollment management
• Experience working within the graduate business education landscape

Essential Functions:

• Develops and manages communication campaigns, specifically drip campaigns, as prospective students navigate the application and enrollment journey.
• Writes, designs, and coordinates production of communication and marketing materials essential to the recruiting and admissions efforts - with guidance from Marketing and Communications to ensure brand alignment and cohesiveness
• Quality control ownership for the successful delivery of all communications to prospective students across all program modalities via SLATE, working in close collaboration with the CRM lead
• Develops and maintains the Recruiting and Admissions content calendar, targeted communications, and RAO webpages.
• Coordinates Social Media coverage and content with Marketing and Communication to ensure consistent visibility of MBA programs for prospective students.
• Guides event planning and execution of recruiting and admissions events, including CRM event set up and associated communications, registration forms, and event execution, working in collaboration with the Recruiting and Admissions ADs who lead major recruiting events.
• Develops newsletters for stakeholders on a bi-annual basis minimally
• Creates presentation decks on behalf of Rice Business Recruiting and Admission ADs for consistency and operational efficiency.
• Coordinates all CRM lead gen sources from 3rd party vendors/organizations to ensure applicant pipelines are nurtured and healthy.
• Recommend creative and innovative marketing, communciation and event strategies to maintain a robust candidate pipeline
• Responsible for annual refresh for drip campaigns across all program modalities.
• Performs all duties as assigned.

Additional Functions:

• Participates in university-wide and / or organization-wide initiatives and cross-functional teams to establish the organization as a strategic partner and thought leader
• Represents Rice at professional associations and meetings ensuring our efforts are aligned with the evolving needs of the global business workforce
• Maintains relationships with other departments in Rice Business and across campus
• Recommends improvements as needed and based on findings
• Produces creatively designed reports related to impact and success throughout the recruiting cycle on an as needed basis, working in close collaboration with CRM
• Offers ad hoc support to the Assistant Directors of Recruiting with events and communication needs
• Commit to continuous learning related to graduate management education trends and competitive market landscapes to leverage this knowledge to ensure Rice Business's firm position within the market.
• Act as a proactive guardian of the Rice Business brand. This involves identifying potential misalignments in messaging or aesthetics and possessing the initiative to propose and implement strategic solutions to maintain brand integrity.
• Provide comprehensive support for the full lifecycle of recruitment and yield events. From meticulous pre-event planning to premiere execution, ensuring every event reinforces our commitment to excellence.

Rice University HR | Benefits: https://knowledgecafe.rice.edu/benefits

Rice Mission and Values: Mission and Values | Rice University

Rice University is committed to ensuring Equal Employment Opportunity and welcoming the fullness of diversity into our candidate pools. Rice considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, genetic information, disability, or protected veteran status. Rice also provides reasonable accommodations to qualified persons with disabilities. If an applicant requires a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process, please get in touch with Rice University's Human Resources Office via email at facstaffada@rice.edu for support.

If you have any additional questions, please email us at jobs@rice.edu . Thank you for your interest in employment with Rice University.