Web Specialist and WordPress Manager

The Web Specialist and WordPress Manager will lead management and continuous improvement of the university web properties to drive enrollment, engagement, and alumni relations; serve as the primary WordPress owner, sru.edu content governance lead, and accessibility steward for all public-facing web properties; and collaborate with marketing, academic units, enrollment, IT, and campus partners to translate institutional goals into measurable web outcomes. Duties include: • Maintain and enhance the University WordPress environments and scale operations based upon the greatest needs of the University: Manage updates, plugins, templates and themes. • Build and maintain modular page templates, block patterns, and reusable dynamic content components to speed content creation/syndication and ensure storytelling, user experience, and brand consistency remain at the forefront of decision making and development. • Author, edit, and optimize high-impact content for target audiences (prospective students, families, alumni, donors, media) with an emphasis on clear calls-to-action and SEO/GEO/AEO best practices. • Implement and monitor analytics, A/B tests, and conversion funnels to improve inquiry, application, and engagement metrics; generate monthly performance reports and action plans. • Enforce web content governance: train content owners, manage editorial calendar, run content audits, and maintain metadata and taxonomy for discoverability. • Ensure WCAG AA accessibility compliance and mobile-first design across templates and content; coordinate remediation with content authors and colleagues where needed. • Provide tiered support: triage requests, advise campus units on content strategy, and execute priority builds or fixes when staffing is limited. • Lead small-scale web projects (microsites for campaigns, landing pages for recruitment, event hubs) from scoping through launch and post-launch analytics. • Assist with creating a content refresh calendar on the primary sru.edu website as well as a governance plan for a highly distributed authorship. Help develop and manage standard operating procedures for compliance and storytelling goals. Skills desired: • Web Content Strategy & User Experience (UX): Understanding how students, families, alumni, and donors navigate digital spaces and what drives engagement and conversion. • WordPress Architecture & Development: Deep knowledge of custom theme development or template customization, plugins, advanced custom fields or blocks, custom post types, security hardening, and performance optimization. • Accessibility & Compliance Standards: Familiarity with WCAG, ADA, and higher education digital compliance expectations, including PASSHE security and content governance requirements. • Analytics & SEO: Knowledge of Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Google Search Console, , search optimization, and data driven decision making to improve recruitment and donor engagement. • Brand & Messaging Standards: Understanding how digital content supports institutional reputation, enrollment marketing, and philanthropy storytelling. • Front End Development: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, responsive design, and the ability to troubleshoot and optimize site performance. • Content Management & Editing: Ability to create, edit, and manage high impact content that supports enrollment pipelines and donor cultivation. • Project Management: Coordinating timelines, stakeholders, and priorities across marketing, admissions, advancement, and IT. • Vendor & Stakeholder Communication: Translating technical needs into clear, actionable language for non-technical teams and leadership. • Strategic Thinking: Connecting digital experience decisions to enrollment goals, donor engagement, and institutional reputation. • Rapid Response: Updating critical content quickly—especially for admissions deadlines, emergency communications, and advancement campaigns. • Problem Solving: Diagnosing issues, preventing outages, and ensuring the website remains stable, secure, and high performing. • Cross Functional Collaboration: Working seamlessly with admissions, advancement, marketing, IT, and executive leadership. • Continuous Improvement: Staying ahead of digital trends, accessibility requirements, and security expectations to keep the institution competitive. • Ethical use of AI to increase speed and improve accuracy. The Web Manager and WordPress Developer is expected to: • Operate at the intersection of strategy, technology, and storytelling. • Balance rapid tactical execution (urgent campaign pages, admissions deadlines) with medium-term platform improvements (architecture, accessibility, performance). • Manage cross-unit stakeholders with varying technical skills and competing priorities, negotiating compromises that protect brand and functional outcomes. • Maintain stability of the WordPress ecosystem and be capable of managing standard and custom implementations. • Independently drive analytics-informed recommendations and to explain technical implications to non-technical leaders to secure buy-in and resources. *Minimum Qualifications • Associate’s degree in related field (i.e., Digital Media, Communications / Marketing, Journalism, Web Design, Computer Science) or similar. • Ability to leverage WordPress and related technologies to deliver compelling digital experiences. • Strong understanding of WordPress and its integrations to create engaging content and enhance the user experience. • Working knowledge of HTML, CSS, responsive design, accessibility standards, and web issue resolution. • 2+ years in a role with CMS ownership, Editorial workflow coordination, Cross?functional collaboration (content, design, UX, SEO). • Successful performance in an on-campus interview. *Preferred Qualifications • Bachelor’s degree or professional certification. • Familiarity with SEO best practices and SEO tools such as Yoast, Google Search Console, SEMrush, Ahrefs, Moz, Screaming Frog, or similar. • Experience using Google Analytics 4 basic dashboards or other analytics platforms for web, with the ability to make data0informed recommendations. • Strong oral and written communication skills, with a comprehensive understanding of content lifecycle management and web governance. • Adobe Creative Suite experience.