Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

Overview

Join our dynamic team at Utah State University Athletics as the Assistant Athletics Director for Communications (Public Relations Specialist II). This leadership role will be directly responsible for coordinating the publicity and promotion efforts of Utah State Athletics. Reporting to the Associate Athletics Director for Media Relations, you'll play a pivotal role in shaping the narrative of our athletic programs both locally and nationally.

 

The position coordinates the publicity and promotion of Utah State Athletics, including press releases, publications, statistical information, community interest stories and maintenance of the Athletics website. This position produces and integrates digital and visual graphic content, manages social media channels, and serves as a liaison between the Athletic Department and local media as well as the Mountain West and NCAA. The position supports the department’s efforts to provide alumni, fans, prospective students, and the public an increased awareness of Utah State’s athletic programs. Evening and weekend work required as necessary with some travel expected.

Responsibilities

The range of responsibilities for this position includes customer service, social media integration, graphic design, photography, overseeing statistical software and web site issues, game-day management, writing, editing, proactive media pitching, the facilitation of interview requests and archiving, travel to select events, and supervising interns and student assistants, along with other duties as assigned.

 

Essential Functions:

• Serve as the media contact for men’s basketball as well as the primary media contact for two or three additional Olympic sport programs.
• Assist in all aspects of running an efficient and effective operation with a primary focus on digital media and content creation, including the management of assigned social media accounts.
• Use social media to promote individual teams and USU Athletics with graphics, video and unique messaging.
• Develop and execute creative content plans for assigned sports.
• Provide content for Utah State Athletics website (utahstateaggies.com) and social media pages.
• Maintain a high level of professionalism on and off the field toward student-athletes, coaches, administrators, and members of the community.
• Collaborate with external groups to create and execute digital content and communication strategies to grow the Utah State Athletics brand, amplify athletic events and programs, and broaden outreach to all current and potential constituents (students, parents, staff, alumni and community).
• Work with external and internal units to develop and implement efficient communication methods to advance the visibility of the department.
• Develop and foster positive relationships and generate unique story ideas for local, national and hometown media.
• Tabulate official statistics for assigned sports with the use of NCAA Genius Live Stats and StatCrew.
• Attends athletic events of assigned sports (home and away) as required.
• Maintains historical records and statistics for assigned sports.
• Manages award nomination/selection processes for assigned sports.
• Produces media guides/record books and other publications for assigned sports.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree and two years of experience in collegiate athletic media relations or a related field.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree and four years of experience in collegiate athletic media relations or a related field.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Excellent verbal, written and interpersonal communication skills.
• Experience running social media accounts.
• Strong writing, editing and design (print and web) skills.
• Must have a solid understanding of the benefits of social media.
• Working knowledge with photography and understanding content creation.
• Working knowledge of web site management, specifically Sidearm, and multimedia production.
• Ability to develop and maintain relationships with coaches, student-athletes, staff, fans and alumni.
• Ability to solve problems, make decisions, multitask, and prioritize ongoing and new projects successfully.
• Proficiency in Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, InDesign, Premier Pro, etc.).
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, Publisher and PowerPoint.
• Proficiency in NCAA Genius Live Stats and StatCrew.
• Ability to work independently as well as lead projects.
• Ability to meet short deadlines.
• Ability to work evenings and weekends, and be able to tr