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POSITION SPECIFICS​

Penn State’s Office of Strategic Communications, the University’s central public relations and marketing division, is seeking a seasoned executive communications professional and speech writer to lead strategic messaging and speechwriting support for the University’s provost and provide as-needed briefing materials and messaging for other Penn State senior executives, in particular the Senior Vice President for Research.

This is a hybrid position that requires occasional evening and weekend hours.

The ideal candidate will have significant experience in higher education and/or executive communications, exceptional writing skills, and the ability to produce clear, compelling, and astute copy on a wide array of topics. Reporting to the Assistant Vice President for Media and External Engagement, the Assistant Director of Executive Communications and Coordination will serve as a trusted advisor and provide key communications support for the provost and other key executives, helping to advance leadership priorities at one of the world’s leading public research universities.

In addition to crafting persuasive and articulate speeches, this individual will produce a variety of content, including PowerPoint presentations, talking points, news stories, scripts, blogs, op-eds, and remarks. This role is also responsible for conducting extensive research on engagements the provost and other senior executives will attend, including providing Information about invited guests, event locations, event purpose and significance, and audience expectations. Additionally, this role will monitor the external media landscape to provide timely situational awareness and strategic insights to executive leadership, including preparing reports and recommendations that inform messaging and engagement decisions. The successful candidate will be a strong relationship-builder who is able to provide feedback and communications advice to executive leadership, possesses outstanding organizational skills, and can operate independently.

Key responsibilities include:

• Fulfilling the speech writing/messaging needs of Penn State’s provost and other senior executives, including coordination with the Provost’s Chief of Staff
• Writing and editing speech-rela