Director of Communications

Job Posting Title:

Director of Communications

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Hiring Department:

Educational Psychology

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Position Open To:

All Applicants

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Weekly Scheduled Hours:

40

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FLSA Status:

Exempt

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Earliest Start Date:

Feb 01, 2025

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Position Duration:

Expected to Continue Until Jul 31, 2026

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Location:

AUSTIN, TX

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Job Details:

Purpose

This position is part of the National Disability Center of Student Success to be funded by the Institute for Education Sciences. The period of grant funding is from 8/1/2023 until 7/31/2028. The position will be renewed each year contingent on continued funding. This is a full-time position with limited travel to on campus meetings and events. The work schedule is 9 am - 5 pm, Monday through Friday, with flexibility where needed to fit the schedules of all members of the leadership team.

Responsibilities

• Provide communications and outreach strategy and planning across the entire Center. Includes participation in leadership team meetings and implementation of key strategies.
• Oversee communications and outreach activities including the website, online resource development, media outreach, social media, online events, and related research translation dissemination.
• Train, oversee, and assist staff, students and consultants in the production and maintenance of communications and outreach platforms.
• Create and maintain up-to-date standard operating procedures and training materials to reflect current and best practice in communications and media relations. Assist leadership team with trainings and content for regular staff meetings to ensure the team is completing tasks and activities according to the project timelines.
• Provide evaluation team with stakeholder usage data and insights as needed for internal formative review and evaluation.
• Structure and use project management tools (e.g., Trello) to facilitate and delegate work to team members.
• Complete other related tasks as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in applied social science field such as social work, psychology, public health, or related field, plus a minimum of five years’ experience working within higher education settings.
• High proficiency with written and spoken English, including editorial skills for pubic dissemination of information across multiple platforms.
• Experience working with large federal grant funded projects, particularly at launch to expansion stages.
• Experience with strategy at the highest levels of project management and implementation.
• Experience with research translation in the areas of disability and postsecondary outcomes.
• Experience managing staff, consultants, and students in their contributions to communications and media products.
• Experience working with a project with many moving parts, high stakes deadlines, and large stakeholder audiences.
• Ability to multitask and manage multiple projects; demonstrated attention to detail and time management, as well as alignment to overall project goals.
• Facility with project-related software, communications platforms, and related tools.

Relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with research and with coordinating long term projects.
• Experience supervising and managing teams.
• Demonstrated familiarity with US Department of Education funded projects.
• Ability to engage community partners and people with disabilities in outreach.

Salary Range

$88,000 + depending on qualifications

Working Conditions

• Work in Office
• Use of manual dexterity
• Repetitive use of a keyboard at a workstation
• Pushing, pulling, and moving up to 30 pounds

Required Materials

• Resume/CV
• 3 work references with their contact information; at least one reference should be from a supervisor
• Letter of interest

Important for applicants who are NOT current university employees or contingent workers: You will be prompted to submit your resume the first time you apply, then you will be provided an option to upload a new Resume for subsequent applications. Any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) will be uploaded in the Application Questions section; you will be able to multi-select additional files. Before submitting your online job application, ensure that ALL Required Materials have been uploaded. Once your job application has been submitted, you cannot make changes.

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