Student Recruitment Specialist

Job Purpose:

The Student Recruitment Specialist at MBZUAI plays a key role in attracting top-tier students from national and international markets. This position involves executing strategic recruitment initiatives, managing relationships with key university partners, leveraging marketing and communications tools, and ensuring seamless event planning and execution. The role requires expertise in data analysis, outreach strategies, and administrative efficiency to support MBZUAI’s enrollment goals.

Key Responsibilities:

Marketing and communications

• Cooperate with Marketing and Communications to design, execute, and continuously evaluate and improve recruitment marketing strategy in key markets.
• Develop, maintain, and continuously evaluate social media channel promotion in key markets including LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, WhatsApp, and Telegram including selecting effective opinion leaders in each market and determining the most efficient communication methods.
• Contribute to storytelling regarding student recruitment, briefing Marketing and Communications about objectives, events, and achievements of MBZUAI faculty members & students that are likely to appeal to target students.
• Monitor the MBZUAI events calendar, identifying and arranging opportunities for Student Recruitment’s attendance and participation at relevant internal and external events.
• Coordinate electronic direct mailing sent via the CRM, ensuring communications and campaigns conform to MBZUAI marketing and communications standards, and regulatory requirements.
• Design, manage, analyze, and report on student recruitment surveys in collaboration with Marketing and Communications.

University Partnerships & Outreach

• Develop and maintain good relations for the benefit of MBZUAI student recruitment with key contacts at target universities and institutions, including careers offices, faculty members, and student organizations.
• Plan and execute recruitment trips and faculty road shows to select high-ranked universities or research institutions to present MBZUAI’s value proposition and encourage applications from target students.

Data management, analysis, and reporting

• Utilize the student recruitment CRM to prepare timely and accurate data reports for management.
• Analyze recruitment data to inform applicants and initiated prospects.
• Analyze recruitment data to inform future strategy and continuous improvement.

Administration

• Draft and prepare reports, briefings, and presentations in a timely manner utilizing the full suite of MS Office products, incorporating data visualizations, ensuring all outputs serve intended operational and strategic purposes, and that outputs align with MBZUAI marketing, branding, and communications standards.
• Provide high-level administrative support including arranging travel, formulating meeting agendas, recording minutes of meetings, and creating and maintaining administrative systems that enhance the operational efficiency of the department.
• Provide efficient and effective financial administration support for Student Recruitment, including managing purchase requests, invoices, and reimbursements; tracking budget; and bringing variances and anomalies to the prompt attention of the line manager in a timely manner.
• Administer the Undergraduate Research Program (UGRIP), ensuring that attendees remain engaged with MBZUAI following participation, and are appraised of the opportunities for future study at MBZUAI.

Events

• Design, plan, and organize recruitment trips, webinars, and other events for student recruitment.
• Develop events proposals and plans including budgets, timelines, and logistics plans, ensuring events serve their intended purpose, and comply with relevant MBZUAI policies including budgeting, procurement, resource allocation, and security policies.
• Coordinate with Marketing and Communications to ensure event promotion reaches the intended audience and is consistent with MBZUAI branding and communications standards.
• Coordinate with General Services to ensure physical and attendee security at events, including that requisite arrangements are made for the security of VIPs and special guests.
• Oversee event logistics including venue preparation, materials sourcing, catering, and—in consultation with Information Technology—audio-visual requirements, ensuring services are delivered according to plan to achieve seamless running of MBZUAI events.
• Represent Student Recruitment at events including meeting, welcoming, and thanking guests in a courteous and professional manner.
• Manage the financial and contractual requirements associated with events, ensuring vendor and supplier agreements clearly stipulate deliverables and conform with MBZUAI procurements requirements; and that the cost of events does not exceed budget.
• Oversee the performance of events staff and volunteers, ensuring efficient and effective execution of events.
• Manage post-event evaluation and analysis, creating reports for management that measure and identify successful outcomes and areas for improvement.

Other duties

• Perform all other duties as reasonably directed by the line manager that are commensurate with these functional objectives.

Academic Qualifications:

• A minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, public relations, or other relevant discipline.
• A Master’s degree is preferred.

Professional Experience:

Essential

• At least four years’ experience in marketing & communications, preferably in a university or other academic institution.
• At least two years’ experience recruiting students to a university, preferably to graduate-level STEM courses.
• Strong connections with top universities or research institutions in key target markets.
• Demonstrable experience producing high-quality communications and social media content in a business environment.
• Superior computing skills, particularly with MS Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook, and with data analysis software.
• Experience in managing databases and optimizing the utility of CRM systems to achieve operational objectives.
• Proficiency in quantitative and qualitative data analysis, analytics, and reporting.
• Demonstrable knowledge and understanding of continuous quality improvement.
• Excellent written communication skills with competency in high-level report writing and presenting visualizations of findings and recommendations.
• Experience managing meeting and events logistics and administration, and hosting organization visitors including senior executives and officials.
• Proven ability to identify key stakeholders who are central to the success of an initiative.
• Proven record of managing complex projects, office administration, meeting deadlines, and achieving results.
• Demonstrated success operating in a multicultural environment and adapting systems and processes to meet diverse expectations and needs.
• Exposure to and understanding of Middle Eastern business and cultural practices.

Preferred

• Dual- or multi-language speaker.