Assistant AD, Athletic Communications

Army West Point Athletic Association•West Point, NY

2d•Onsite

About The Position

As a member of the Army West Point Athletics Association Inc. (“AWPAA”) Business Development and Fan Experience leadership team, the Assistant Athletics Director for Athletic Communications provides strategic leadership for all athletic communications, media relations, storytelling, and public relations efforts across 30 NCAA Division I programs and more than 1,200 cadet-athletes. This position serves as the primary communications contact and strategic advisor for Army West Point Football and the Head Football Coach, while leading a team of communications professionals responsible for promoting and protecting the Army West Point Athletics brand. Through effective media relations, content strategy, and cross-functional collaboration, this role advances the priorities of the AWPAA Strategic Plan, The Fruits of Victory, enhances national visibility for Army Athletics, and supports meaningful engagement with fans, alumni, media, recruits, and key stakeholders. The Assistant Athletics Director, Athletic Communications position is a highly complex position responsible for managing the football team’s public relations campaign, creating internal and external awareness and interest in Army football, coordinating messaging with the United States Military Academy public affairs staff and managing six staff positions who are responsible for the public relations and social media campaigns for their respective sports. The level of decision making for this position is impactful. This position requires collaborative decision-making involving executive, communications, digital marketing, marketing, ticketing, social media, creative services, broadcast and coaching staff.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Journalism, Communications, Public Relations, Sports Management, or 4 years of relevant experience.
Demonstrated success in athletic communications, media relations, public relations, or sports communications, preferably at the NCAA Division I level.
Exceptional written, verbal, editing, and storytelling skills.
Strong knowledge of NCAA rules, Division I athletics, and sports media operations.
Experience managing media relations for high-profile athletic programs.
Proven ability to supervise, mentor, and develop professional staff.
Proficiency with NCAA Genius, StatCrew, PrestoSports, or similar statistical and communications platforms.
Advanced project management, organizational, and time-management skills.
Strong working knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite and digital content platforms.
Experience managing social media strategy and digital communications initiatives. (X, Facebook)
Ability to prioritize multiple projects and perform effectively under pressure.
Commitment to collaboration, innovation, and customer service.
Must be eligible to work in the United States of America, without sponsorship.
Must be eligible to work on a military installation, including a willingness to submit to a background screen.
Must possess a valid driver’s license.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in Communications, Journalism, Public Relations, Sports Administration, or a related field.
5 or more years of progressively responsible experience in Division I athletics communications or media relations.
Previous supervisory or management experience leading professional communications staff.
Experience serving as the primary communications contact for an FBS football program.
Demonstrated success securing national media coverage and managing high-profile communications initiatives.
Experience in military, governmental, or mission-driven organizations strongly preferred.
Crisis communications and reputation management experience.

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary media relations contact for the football program. Additionally, serve as the primary media relations contact for 1-2 other selected sports.
Provide game day support for football, men’s and women’s basketball, hockey, volleyball and men’s and women’s lacrosse.
Write, edit and ensure publication design and coordination, which includes but is not limited to the football media guide, the football game program and game notes.
Find compelling stories about cadet-athletes and pitch them to local, regional and national outlets.
Supervise six full-time Athletic Communications employees as well as available interns.
Generate publicity for all 30 AWPAA sports.
Ensure all athletic contests and events are covered from an Athletic Communications standpoint.
Oversee the writing of weekly press releases, compiling team statistics and records, and archiving and reporting them the respective leagues and NCAA as required.
Manage the Athletic Communications budget.
Assist with the daily maintenance of Army West Point’s website and all social media efforts.
Recruiting, interviewing, hiring, onboarding, training, and evaluating staff.
Establishing performance goals and conducting performance reviews.
Coaching and mentoring staff to support professional growth and advancement.
Managing workload distribution and departmental staffing plans.
Overseeing the communications internship program.
Recommending compensation, scheduling, and personnel actions in accordance with organizational policies.
Promoting a high-performance culture focused on teamwork, service, innovation, and continuous improvement.