Job no: 516976
Work type: Staff Full-Time
Location: Main Campus (Gainesville, FL)
Categories: Communications/Public Relations/Marketing
Department:19011700 - EG-DEVELOPMENT

Public Relations Specialist II

SCIENCE & TECH PR & NEWS STORIES: Produce high-quality communication materials to an informed audience comprising of top level leaders of the engineering communities, including deans, department chairs, federal grant agents, and industry leaders on the (a) scientific breakthrough, (b) professional accomplishments, and (c) scholarly events led by faculty at the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering directly related to engineering research, education and service that will enhance the overall reputation of the college. Direct deliverables of this include (a) influencing the reputation and ranking of the college by opinion-leaders of engineering colleges (deans, department chairs, senior faculty members) with successful news and PR publications; (b) publishing in high impact media targeting the academic science and engineering community such as ASEE and its affiliated platforms (e.g. IEEE); (c) publishing in high impact consumer tech platforms such as Wired, Company, Pop Sci, WaPo (Tech), NYT (Sci & Tech section), Time (Tech), Newsweek (Tech & Time), SF Chronicle (Biz & Tech), CNN (Tech News), Yahoo (Tech, Finance), MSN (Sci & Techn); and (d) publishing in regional and local news channels such as Orlando Sentinel, Tampa Bay Times, Herald Tribune media group (Sarasota, Manatee) and press and cable networks in Greater Florida and Gainesville.

ADVANCEMENT CONTENT: Develops, and implements content strategies in order to promote fundraising, stewardship, and alumni engagement activities to ensure all investors are thanked appropriately and timely. The position works collaboratively to advance HWCOE’s fundraising goals by developing stronger connections with alumni and donors through impactful, accessible and SEO optimized storytelling. Duties and responsibilities include: (a) writing and/or editing marketing and promotional materials such as brochures, flyers, web articles, videos, donor acknowledgement materials and documents and communication materials for special events and other special projects; (b) developing any written templates for stewardship communication pieces; (c) assist in the assembling of content for the college’s internal and external bi-monthly enewsletters; (d) assists with planning and coordinating communication campaigns and activities with University Advancement Communications. The incumbent is also responsible for ensuring all written materials produced by the college adheres to AP style and proper grammatical standards.

MEDIA RELATIONS: Work to meet the needs of professional journalists, reporters, and editors in the news media by scouting and pitching stories and connecting them with HWCOE faculty experts in an expeditious manner. Escort news media members during on-site visits and respond to media requests.

COLLEGE MARKETING: Produce high-quality marketing materials by repurposing published or pitched communication materials into postcards, fact sheets, brochures, paid advertising and college’s own online news channels by collaborating with other members on the college MARCOM team, including the Graphic Designer, Webmaster, Social Media Specialist, departmental communicators.

CENTRAL COMMUNICATIONS LIAISON: Engage with University Relations and Advancement Communications to ensure that college communications fully integrates with UF central communications.

SUPPORT: Support the Director of Marketing and Communications in all matters related to news, information and communication to all stakeholders including college all faculty and staff, alums, industry personnel, and student groups.

$55,000 - $62,000; commensurate with qualifications and experience

Master's degree in an appropriate area; or a bachelor's degree in an appropriate area and two years of relevant experience.

- At least five years directly related professional work experience
- Professional writing and media relations experience
- Proven leadership and collaboration skills
- Strong journalistic interviewing skills
- Demonstrated proficiency in writing about engineering and technology topics
- Proficient in a team setting and in a minimally supervised environment
- Ability (when engaging with faculty in news and marketing writing up work) to make appropriate marketing and journalistic recommendations to the faculty (alongside the Director), including the appropriate content type (e.g., direct mailers or press news stories), platform (college website, social media, or other public domains), word count, messaging, and target audience
- Ability to synthesize information from multiple sources
- Ability to see the “big picture” aside from details gathered from the field
- Ability to engage the target audience to the extent that a positive perception of the college may be formed
- Ability to prioritize and manage a diverse and time-sensitive workload under deadline pressures
- Aptitude for interpreting engineering and technology research and news information
- Aptitude for convincingly positioning the college to an informed audience that is apt to make a positive recommendation to fellow academic and professional peers about the college in terms of ranking and nomination
- Natural curiosity for “how things work”
- Appreciation of “problem solving”
- Willingness to learn more about engineering, its science, and applications
- Detail-oriented
- Conviction in fact-finding and validating news and stories
- Result-driven
- Go-getting attitude when pursuing leads for stories
- Passion for seeing stories “to the finishing line” (final publication)

In order to be considered for this position, applicant must upload a cover letter and resume with application.

Application must be submitted by 11:55 p.m. (ET) of the posting end date.

This position has been reposted. Previous applicants are still under consideration and need not reapply.

No

Advertised: 23 Jun 2021 Eastern Daylight Time
Applications close: 03 Jul 2021 Eastern Daylight Time