Position Summary

The Berkeley Media Studies Group (BMSG), a program of the Public Health Institute, is committed to helping public health professionals and community advocates engage the news media strategically to advance healthy public policies.

The Communications Assistant will work closely with and be supervised by the Senior Manager of Communication and Digital Strategy.

This is a fully remote regular full-time position that is expected to work 40 hours / week (100% FTE).

The Communications Assistant will assist BMSG’s communication team with a range of duties from writing and editing to website maintenance to social media support.

• One core responsibility will be to create and disseminate concise news digests (to see examples, sign up here) that BMSG shares with staff, clients, and advocates around the country to keep them updated on topics related to health equity and racial justice, including affordable housing and homelessness;
• climate change and environmental racism; reproductive justice; junk food marketing to Latinos, African Americans and other communities of color;

soda regulation; tobacco control; the overdose epidemic; and the prevention of sexual, domestic, and community-level violence.

This position is a great opportunity to build your research and media skills and learn about the connection between news, our democracy, and public health.

The Communications Assistant will receive training from BMSG’s Senior Manager of Communication and Digital Strategy and learn how BMSG’s Research, Media Advocacy Training and Communication teams operate.

They will support BMSG’s strategic communication plan across both traditional and digital platforms.

Full pay range for this position : $27.57 to $39.31 per hour. The typical hiring range for this position is from $27.57 (minimum) to $33.

44 (midpoint) per hour. The starting wage is determined based on the candidate’s knowledge, skills, experience, as well as budget availability.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Provide support for BMSG’s communication team :

Contribute to BMSG’s daily monitoring by scanning news coverage of public health issues in traditional and digital formats (e.

g., newspapers, blogs, and video) and compiling the news coverage in concise digests (30%)

• Using a health equity lens, provide additional writing and editing support by contributing to blogs, news releases, reports, social media posts, web copy, and other content as needed (15%)
• Promote BMSG’s brand and support its dissemination efforts, including by maintaining the organization’s social media presence on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other channels (20%)
• Help maintain BMSG’s website by uploading and formatting pages and posts, updating existing content, and ensuring content is accessible and categorized correctly in WordPress (10%)
• Help refine the communication team’s infrastructure and administrative tools (e.g., content calendar, event calendar, press list, etc.

to aid in efficient function (10%)

• Provide web and graphic design creative support (5%)
• Attend weekly meetings with the Senior Manager of Communication and Digital Strategy (5%)
• Complete other tasks as assigned (5%)

Minimum Qualifications

• At least one year of relevant communication experience.
• Associate’s degree is required, or you can substitute with two additional years of related experience.

Other Qualifications

• Strong interest in and familiarity with public health, media, and communication, and a commitment to racial and social justice.
• Excellent written, verbal, and visual communication skills ability to write clearly and succinctly for a variety of audiences, often under deadline pressure.
• Strong attention to detail, ability to take initiative, and good organizational skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively with other staff members.
• Experience with social media management platforms (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Hootsuite) and email marketing tools (e.g., Constant Contact).
• Working knowledge of basic HTML is preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree in communication, journalism, English, marketing / business administration, public health, or related field is preferred.

PHI / Berkeley Media Studies Group is an equal opportunity employer and an inclusive organization. People of diverse backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.

PHI WORKFORCE MANDATORY COVID-19 VACCINATION POLICY

Per the PHI Workforce Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination Policy, it is a condition of employment for all domestic based employees to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19, unless they are granted a reasonable accommodation under applicable law.

New hires need to provide proof of full vaccination prior to their start date or apply for an exemption / accommodation within three business days after their start date.

Depending on the circumstances, new hires who do not comply with this Policy, or who cannot be reasonably accommodated, will either have their employment suspended or terminated.

Candidates who are non-compliant will have their offers rescinded.

EEO Statement

The Public Health Institute is committed to a policy that provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, pregnancy, medical condition including genetic characteristics, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identification and expression, sexual orientation, and to make all employment decisions so as to further this principle of equal employment opportunity.

To this end, the PHI will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, pregnancy, medical condition including genetic characteristics, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identification and expression, sexual orientation, and will take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are offered employment and employees are treated during employment without regard to these characteristics.

Last updated : 2024-05-20