Primary responsibilities include:

• Issues Management: Provides support for issues management, including crisis communications, to the Associate Dean of Communications for FAS, and in close coordination with HPAC. Provides crisis communications and media relations support to the communications leads across the major units of the FAS.
• Proactive and Responsive Media Relations: Serves as a spokesperson for the FAS. Manages a large day-to-day volume of media inquiries, working directly with reporters to manage stories. Initiates, cultivates, and maintains relationships with campus, local, regional, national, and international news media to actively pitch stories from within the FAS. Works with the Harvad Public Affairs and Communications (HPAC) team and FAS communication leads to ensure alignment with University media relations efforts. Manages incoming film requests for external groups wishing to conduct interviews and capture photos and videos on campus. Develops and maintains an editorial calendar of storytelling that highlights the work of the FAS with the news media. Given the nature of the 24/7 news cycle, this role requires availability outside of traditional work hours.
• Team Leadership: Assists in the development and maintenance of FAS-wide crisis communications plans and participates in training exercises with planning teams to develop external messaging for the FAS. Ensures coordination across internal and external messages and communications efforts and leads directly by influence.
• Strategic Communications Planning: Directly supports academic and administrative leaders across the FAS, in developing strategic communications plans in support of established internal and external FAS priorities. Provides media training and supports proactive story and op-ed placement for FAS senior leaders and faculty.
• Message Development: Writes and edits external messages, public statements, talking points, FAQs, media briefings, press releases, news, and feature stories, and more in support of the FAS. Works with the Director of Internal Communications to ensure internal and external messaging is in alignment with the FAS and HPAC priorities.

• Experienced media professional and strategic thinker with a demonstrated capacity for skillful management and multi-tasking, with good political judgment, excellent communication and interpersonal skills, proven crisis management abilities, an understanding of complex organizations, and a commitment to the mission of education, scholarship, and research.
• Experience in higher education, non-profit, government, or a decentralized organization desired. Successful track record as a leader and strategist in a large and complex organizational environment. Must have the proven ability to advise senior leaders effectively.
• Must have the ability to innovate, think strategically and conceptually, listen carefully as well as to influence and persuade others. The position requires an extremely high level of professionalism, sound and mature judgment, and collegiality.
• Must have excellent analytical, verbal, and written communication skills along with a high level of diplomacy, discretion, and problem-solving ability
• Proven success in developing collaborative relationships across diverse constituencies.
• Strong project management and organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities in a complex, decentralized environment are needed.