Engineering Communication Specialist

Engineering Communication Specialist

US-NJ-Princeton

Job ID: 2023-16571
Type: Full-Time
# of Openings: 1
Category: Communications and Public Relations

Princeton University

Overview

The Princeton University School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) seeks a talented science communicator to forge a communication strategy for the Princeton Materials Institute (PMI) and Princeton Bioengineering Initiative (PBI), two of the School’s prominent cross-disciplinary centers. Princeton Engineering is in a time of major growth, including significant investments in materials and bioengineering. Creative and strategic communications are critical to maximizing the impact of these initiatives.

This is a regular full-time position that is not contingent on external funding sources.

Reporting to the SEAS Office of Communications and working within a collaborative team across PMI and PBI, the Engineering Communication Specialist will craft a range of cohesive messages and delivery vehicles across traditional and digital media. The incumbent will work to advance the PMI and PBI strategic missions by promoting their research priorities, teaching activities and brands — all of which are also important for the School and University. The incumbent will act as liaison for PMI and PBI with broader campus communications networks. The incumbent will interact regularly and closely with faculty, postdocs, staff, administration and students.

Editorial duties will include reporting and writing brief news and feature items about research findings and awards or other accomplishments; writing profiles; managing and improving websites and materials; directing or producing video content; arranging and art-directing photo shoots; and creating, editing and managing social media content. This role potentially may require the skills and ability to manage and edit freelance writers. The successful candidate will be capable of making technical information exciting to a non-specialist audience, including broad non-scientific audiences. Specific to PMI, the incumbent will work directly with the Executive Director to engage a targeted range of academic and industrial audiences to convey highly technical analytical tools and applicability of such facilities to such targeted user bases.

The incumbent will work in a team environment with communication specialists serving other departments/institutes by sharing ideas and best practices and by collaborating and supporting each other’s work as opportunities arise. The incumbent must be extremely well organized, exhibit exceptional attention to detail and be able to troubleshoot and multitask.

Please include 3-5 relevant work samples of published writing that demonstrates your ability to convey technical information to a broad audience.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities include content strategy, content generation and curation, project management and social media account creation and management.

Content strategy:
Publicize the institutes research, news and events, partnerships, outreach and teaching. Evaluate the institutes inventory of existing content. Benchmark peer websites, newsletters and social media. Work with directors and staff to create workflows that efficiently harness faculty- and student-generated content and other sources of content. Work collaboratively with faculty and staff to produce high-quality written and visual content that promotes research and news, reaches key audiences that raise visibility and promotes each institutes’ accomplishments. Oversee visual communications (posters, banners etc.) in PMI and PBI areas.

Content generation and curation:
Report and write news items and other web content, or hire freelance to do so. Coordinate with the Office of Engineering Communications on the assignment, use and dissemination of longer research news and feature items. Monitor SEAS and departmental sites for related content and adapt and post to departmental sites as appropriate. With direction from the SEAS Communications Director, pitch news stories to media outlets and scientific journalists.
Plan and produce content for institute assets / capabilities – websites, presentations, posters (for University events), email announcements.

Project Management:
Oversee print and email publications (via platforms such as MailChimp), website design, annual reports, select multimedia projects, arrange photography and attend photo shoots to enhance web content, manage and direct work of external writers, videographers, graphic artists, web specialists and photographers. Sample projects include senior thesis videos, hallway media displays, departmental graphic identity, and photography archives. Manage and produce content for annual PMI symposium, assist PMI and PBI management for presentation material for external use. Manage the selection and procurement of marketing materials for PMI and PBI.

Social Media Management:
Develop and maintain social media platforms and manage institute websites to ensure up-to-date content and engagement with stakeholders.
Promote news stories on the PMI and PBI social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn). Monitor SEAS, PMI, and PBI faculty social media accounts and share/re-tweet relevant department news. Propose and develop PMI and PBI-related content for engineering school social media.
Prepare and distribute invitations, announcements, surveys and publicity material before, during and after annual PMI symposia on both website and across various social media platforms.

Institute Communications:
Assist the Directors in preparing communications for dissemination throughout the community; emails; speeches; video scripts; social media and related messages of advocacy.

Qualifications

Essential Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

3+ years of work experience

Writing – journalistic approach to making complex topics accessible and engaging to multiple audiences
Strategy – visionary approach to crafting and executing a communications strategy and content plan
Social media – experience managing, creating and/or editing content tailored for various platforms
Project management experience
Experience working in content management systems such as Wordpress or Drupal
Ability to work cross-functionally within broad materials science and bioengineering spaces
Ability to work independently while demonstrating a strong impulse toward collaboration
Extremely well organized

Please include 3-5 relevant work samples of published writing that demonstrates your ability to convey technical information to a broad audience.

Preferred Qualifications:

Directing / producing video content
Photoshoots / art direction
Management of freelancers
Science or Engineering degree

Princeton University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

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