Communications Specialist/Manager - Office of Strategic Communications

LLNL•Livermore, CA

7d•Hybrid

About The Position

We have an opening for a Communications Specialist/Communications Manager to support the Office of Strategic Communication’s (OSC’s) executive communications team. You will support initiatives gathering input from senior leaders in the Director’s Office (DO) on integrated communication strategies and deliverables for key institutional priorities. Your work will be performed in collaboration with colleagues in OSC, the DO and throughout LLNL. We are seeking an exceptional writer/editor, problem solver and trusted colleague with experience in strategic communications and the ability to communicate with executives confidently and succinctly. You will work with all levels of management, program leaders, scientists, and administrative staff. In this role, you will communicate initiatives, programmatic strategies, and highly complex scientific and technical information to a wide range of audiences. This position will be in the Technical Information Department matrixed to OSC within the DO. This position may offer a hybrid schedule, which includes the flexibility to work from home one or more days per week, after a probationary period. The specifics of the hybrid schedule, including the exact number of days required in the office and virtual work options may vary based on the needs of the team and the organization. The position will be filled at either level based on knowledge and related experience as assessed by the hiring team. Additional job responsibilities (outlined below) will be assigned if hired at the higher level.

Requirements

Ability to secure and maintain a U.S. DOE Q-level security clearance, which requires U.S. Citizenship.
Bachelor’s degree in English, communications or journalism or the equivalent combination of education and experience in an area of scientific or technical communication.
Experience in executive communications, as well as in planning, developing, organizing, and writing technical content effectively across various types of communication platforms.
Project management experience leading complex production and technical writing and editing assignments.
Significant editing/writing experience in multiple scientific or technical areas using broad-based professional technical editing/writing skills including advanced knowledge of and experience using style conventions, professional principles, and technical communication practices and standards including having work edited and integrating editorial feedback.
Advanced written and verbal communication skills; experience collaborating and communicating with all levels of an organization, including senior managers, clients, team members, peers, and stakeholders to meet organizational/ programmatic objectives.
Ability to handle classified, unclassified, sensitive and confidential issues with tact, diplomacy and discretion.
Demonstrated self-starter, comfortable multitasking with ability to work to deadlines and respond to tight schedules in a rapidly changing environment and attend to intense details with high consequence of error.
Effective interpersonal skills and ability to work independently under minimal direction with significant latitude in determining and planning activities to reach objectives, and ability to work within a team environment.
Experience with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel), Adobe Creative Cloud software suite, and familiarity with website design, and content management systems.
Significant experience in executive communications.
Experience developing and managing budgets.
Significant experience identifying and implementing technology solutions to meet requirements.
Advanced knowledge of and experience using style conventions, professional editing/writing skills in a wide variety of scientific areas and experience working with highly visible and sensitive technical content.
Expertise in the theory and techniques of high-quality technical communication for print, multimedia and web-based publications.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree in English, communications or journalism.
Advanced experience in scientific or technical communication and familiarity with UX principles, user research and user testing.
Understanding of LLNL’s mission of enabling U.S. security and global stability and resilience by empowering multidisciplinary teams to pursue bold and innovative science and technology.

Responsibilities

Develop original content, provide writing and editing services, and help create and coordinate a full spectrum of communication products (news releases, presentations, administrative memos, reports, external reviews, social media, stakeholder briefings and multimedia content (web copy).
Collaborate and interact with all levels of administrative, management, scientific and technical staff and team members to understand, define, develop and establish objectives to form editorial requirements for complex projects.
Interpret complex technical ideas or strategies into clear, accurate, relevant and compelling written and visual communications appropriate to target audiences with an emphasis on impact and effectiveness.
Work with LLNL senior leaders to develop communication materials that recognize the viewpoint of stakeholders and ensure their consistency with Laboratory goals and strategies.
Partner with managers, team members and peers to define communication strategies, messaging, audiences and key deliverables for a variety of complex and specialized projects to meet programmatic objectives.
Assist with communications planning for short and long-term projects by developing deliverables for high-level strategic communications, managing complex project schedules, tracking resources and coordinating work with others.
Coordinate complex documents or projects with multiple authors who may be affiliated with other government, international or commercial entities.
Contribute to the evaluation and implementation of new tools, technologies, and processes; help develop/track metrics and process improvement methods.
Oversee all aspects of print, multimedia and web-based publishing from concept through scheduling, writing, editing, review, production, printing and distribution, and/or web publishing; adhere to style guides and standards for communication products and serve as final quality check for all production assignments.
Perform other duties as assigned.
Provide consultation and planning support to senior managers in the development of highly complex communication materials and presentations that recognize the viewpoint of stakeholders and ensure consistency with Laboratory goals and strategies.
Act as a communication liaison in ensuring effective and timely communications with internal and external stakeholders.
Work with senior management and subject matter experts to devise and lead strategic communication plans and projects, which may require working with individuals affiliated with other government, academic, or commercial entities.
Serve as a resource to programmatic staff, subject matter experts, authors, and technical reviewers regarding technical communications techniques, processes, and cost-effective alternatives to producing a variety of products, including manuscripts, reports, presentations, social media, and web-based content.
Use creative, independent thinking to solve complex problems.
Serve as an expert-level communications resource and subject area expert.
Work under consultative direction toward goals and objectives for projects, which frequently have significant impact, high visibility, and high consequence of error.