Assistant Director, Athletics Communication

Job Title

Assistant Director, Athletics Communication

Agency

Texas A&M University

Department

Athletic Director

Proposed Minimum Salary

Commensurate

Job Location

College Station, Texas

Job Type

Staff

Job Description

Who We Are

Texas A&M Athletics department is committed to building champions through academic achievement, athletic excellence, and national recognition of student-athletes, teams, and programs. We are a proud member of the Southeastern Conference, with more than 650 Texas A&M student-athletes competing at the NCAA Division 1-A level in 20 varsity sports.

What We Want

The Assistant Director, under general supervision, serves as liaison between the Athletics Department and the media (print, radio, television and other electronic media). Responsible for writing original press releases, lay out and production of media guides and game notes, supervision of student assistants, compilation of statistics, and disseminating information to various media. Liaises between sports and media to arrange interviews and other media requests for assigned sports within the 21 intercollegiate sports.

What You Need To Know

Salary: Commensurate based on selected candidates experience.

Cover Letter/Resume: A cover letter and resume are strongly recommended and will help in our review. You may upload them on the application under the CV/Resume section.

Other Details: Travel and a bility to work nights, holidays and weekends as required.

Qualifications

Required Education & Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Six years of experience in related field such as media relations, sports information, communications, public relations or journalism.

Preferred Education:

• Master’s degree.

Preferred Experience:

• Previous experience in a collegiate sports information/athletics communications office.

• Extensive feature writing experience.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Sports statistical and desktop publishing knowledge.

• Creative writing ability.

• Knowledge of StatCrew, NCAA LiveStats, and Adobe Creative Suites.

• Ability to multi-task and work cooperatively with others.

Preferred Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Demonstrated writing and interview skills.

• General knowledge of editing photos/digital images.

• Basic knowledge of website management.

Responsibilities

MEDIA LIAISON

• Writes releases, feature stories and advisories that offer a unique and distinct view of Aggie Athletics to capture audience attention. Distributes these documents to all news and information media. Responsible for maintaining accurate and up-to-date information on 12thMan.com for assigned sports.

WRITING & RESEARCH

• Researches information to fulfill media requests and to provide positive, accurate narratives regarding Texas A&M’s athletics teams, students, coaches, and staff. Helps amplify the coverage of all sports programs and Texas A&M Athletics with the production of feature stories and extended coverage of teams’ success. Staff Writer assists with event coverage from a writing standpoint and provides up-close coverage in postseason success.

COMMUNICATIONS LIAISON

• Supervises the scheduling of assigned sport’s coaching staff and student-athletes as the result of media requests for interviews, media shoots and other public events. Facilitates communications between internal and external units in the Athletics Department.

SUPERVISION

• Provides encouragement and effective communication with regard to supervision of student assistants. Supervision of these assistants is expected during office hours, media activities, game days and compilation of statistics for assigned sports. In addition to student sport assignments, Staff Writer is responsible for teaching student staff feature writing skills and assigning features to grow students’ abilities.

SOCIAL MEDIA

• Leads, develops and executes social media strategy to actively engage fans, student-athletes, potential student-athletes and key stakeholders on all social media platforms. Participates in establishing the direction of social media execution, including creativity and compelling content.

GAME OPERATIONS

• Serves as a key component of game operations for all Texas A&M sports teams, including preparation of media work areas, interview areas and arranging statistical crews. Assists talent for radio and television productions at home and away events as requested.

MEDIA PUBLICATION

• Creates the layout and production of media guides, game notes and game programs for assigned sports using desktop publishing, Adobe Suite and other programs.

INFROMATION MAINTENANCE

• Maintains, posts and monitors all of Athletics’ external resources, including 12thMan.com, paying particular attention to the message of the primary sports represented. Works cooperatively with staff photographers, videographers and other resources to maximize the history and legacy of Texas A&M Athletics.

COMPLIANCE

• Maintains continual and thorough familiarity with all applicable NCAA, Conference, and University rules and regulations. Establishes and ensures communication and enforcement of rules and regulations concerning student-athletes: conduct, appearance, road games, punctuality, and other areas as deemed appropriate.

Why Texas A&M University?

We are a prestigious university with strong traditions, Core Values, and a community of caring and collaboration. Amenities associated with a major university, such as sporting and cultural events, state-of-the-art recreation facilities, the Bush Library and Museum, and much more await you. Experience all that a big city has to offer but with a reasonable cost-of-living and no long commutes.

• Medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, life and AD&D, flexible spending accounts , and long-term disability insurance with Texas A&M contributing to employee health and basic life premiums

• 12-15 days of annual paid holidays

• Up to eight hours of paid sick leave and at least eight hours of paid vacation each month

• Automatic enrollment in the Teacher Retirement System of Texas

• Health and Wellness: Free exercise programs and release time

• Professional Development: All employees have access to free LinkedIn Learning training, webinars, and limited financial support to attend conferences, workshops, and more

• Educational release time and tuition assistance for completing a degree while a Texas A&M employee

• Living Well, a program at Texas A&M that has been built by employees, for employees

Our Commitment

Texas A&M University is committed to enriching the learning and working environment by promoting a culture that respects all perspectives, talents & lived experiences. Embracing varying opinions and perspectives strengthens our core values which are: Respect, Excellence, Leadership, Loyalty, Integrity, and Selfless Service.

Instructions to Applicants: Applications received by Texas A&M University must either have all job application data entered or a resume attached. Failure to provide all job application data or a complete resume could result in an invalid submission and a rejected application. We encourage all applicants to upload a resume’ or use a LinkedIn profile to pre-populate the online application.

All positions are security-sensitive. Applicants are subject to a criminal history investigation, and employment is contingent upon the institution’s verification of credentials and/or other information required by the institution’s procedures, including the completion of the criminal history check.

Equal Opportunity/Veterans/Disability Employer.