Communications Manager

US Rowing Association•West Windsor, NJ

17d•$70,000 - $75,000•Remote

About The Position

The Communications Manager leads USRowing's public relations, media relations, editorial programs, and has day-to-day oversight of USRowing.org. This role is responsible for the writing and editing of press releases, feature stories, athlete profiles, and long-form content across USRowing's platforms. The Manager will also own the relationships and storytelling with national, regional, and sport-specific media, and serve as USRowing's lead media contact and a key point of contact for athletes, coaches, and staff around media engagement, supporting clear communication and a consistent, high-quality editorial standard across all team deliverables. The position also provides on-site media support at our owned regattas, and at National Team training centers, camps and events, while working closely with the Marketing and Communications team to ensure coverage, storytelling, and partner and member communications are compelling, accurate, and aligned with USRowing's organizational goals.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in communications, journalism, public relations, sports information, or a related field.
Minimum of 6–8 years of experience in communications, public relations, media relations, journalism, or sports information, including at least 1–2 years coaching, leading, or managing others, vendors, or freelancers.
Exceptional writing and editing skills, with demonstrated command of AP style and experience producing press releases, feature stories, and athlete profiles.
Proven media relations and pitching track record: placing stories with national, regional, or sport media outlets, and managing reporter relationships over time.
Experience with media operations at live events, including credentialing, interview scheduling, and on-site facilitation.
Experience producing and maintaining press kits, athlete bios, and media databases.
Comfort with sensitive communications, and exposure to crisis or issues-management support.
Working familiarity with content management systems and digital publishing; comfort adapting editorial content for web, email, and social formats.
Data fluency: comfortable tracking coverage results and content performance, and using analytics to sharpen storylines and pitches.
A passion for rowing or the power of sport in general.

Nice To Haves

A rowing background is highly preferred.
Preferred software experience: HubSpot, Canva, Craft CMS, Meta Business Suite, all major social media platforms, Monday.com (or other project management platforms)
Bonus not required: hands-on marketing experience (email marketing, social campaign execution, or partnership marketing) that would allow the Manager to support the Director and Social Media and Content Associate with their workloads when needed.

Responsibilities

Write, edit, and distribute press releases, competition previews and recaps, compelling feature stories, athlete profiles, media kits, and long-form content for USRowing.org and other digital platforms.
Own day-to-day oversight of content on USRowing.org, including copywriting, editing, and page building.
Own and uphold AP style and USRowing’s brand voice across press materials, feature content, and team deliverables; serve as the department’s editorial standard-bearer.
Review and edit copy produced across the team — including social captions, email copy, and web content — raising the standard of accuracy, depth, and craft.
Develop and maintain the editorial calendar for National Team and organizational storytelling in partnership with the Director of Marketing and Communications and the Social Media and Content Associate.
Own the National Team communications calendar across the high-performance cycle, including selection events, World Cups, World Championships, and the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Serve as USRowing’s primary media contact; build and maintain productive relationships with national, regional, and sport-specific media.
Manage inbound media requests to support the placement of stories: athlete features, team storylines, selection and results coverage, and human-interest narratives that elevate the National Team and organization.
Oversee media operations at competitions, including credentialing, media availability, interview scheduling, and on-site facilitation.
Maintain and continuously improve athlete and media databases, press kits, and athlete bios that make National Team coverage easy for media to access.
Prepare athletes and staff for media engagement, and coordinate with the Chief Marketing Officer on sensitive or crisis-adjacent communications.
Facilitate and coordinate on-demand National Team athlete appearances and autograph signings at events.
Coach and develop interns and where necessary freelance personnel, raising the standard of accuracy, depth, and craft across all team deliverables.
Support the Social Media and Content Associate with social content and real-time coverage, and the Director with email, SMS, web, and campaign workloads, when capacity allows.
Translate the Chief Marketing Officer’s strategy into actionable editorial and communications plans with clear owners, deadlines, and measures of success.
Balance short-term execution with long-term process improvements, building proactive systems and planning that keep multiple storylines and campaigns moving reliably.