Assistant Director, Athletics Communication

Texas A&M University System • College Station, TX

2d • Onsite

About The Position

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.

Requirements

• 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.
• 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.
• Demonstrated writing and interview skills.
• General knowledge of editing photos/digital images.
• Basic knowledge of website management.
• Travel and ability to work nights, holidays and weekends as required.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree.
• Previous experience in a collegiate sports information/athletics communications office.
• Extensive feature writing experience.

Responsibilities

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

Benefits

• 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
• Free exercise programs and release time
• 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

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level