Sr Media Relations Specialist

Northeastern University•Boston, MA

3d•Onsite

About The Position

Northeastern University is seeking a Senior Media Relations Specialist with a proven ability to secure press coverage in top-tier news organizations. This role involves building and maintaining relationships with journalists, identifying newsworthy stories within the university, and leveraging these connections to gain media attention for Northeastern's research, global programs, and innovations. The specialist will work with faculty and staff to develop compelling narratives and pitch them to strategic media outlets both domestically and internationally. A key aspect of the role is staying informed about current media trends and aligning them with university experts. The position requires strong writing skills for creating talking points and statements, and familiarity with AI tools to enhance media relations efforts, including monitoring, idea generation, and outreach, while maintaining editorial judgment and ethical standards. This is a full-time, on-site position based in Boston, requiring responsiveness to news as it breaks, including potential after-hours, weekend, and holiday work. The position is part of Northeastern’s award-winning Communications team, which includes enterprise social media, a daily news organization (Northeastern Global News), digital strategy and execution, photography, and video. The Senior Media Relations Specialist should be familiar with using AI tools for to enhance all media relations efforts including media monitoring, idea generation, trend analysis, content development, and media outreach—while applying strong editorial judgment and ethical oversight. The position is based on the Boston campus and is fully on site, five days a week. The news industry runs 24/7. Crisis and opportunity often present themselves outside of normal business hours. The Senior Media Relations Specialist is expected to be responsive and reliable when action needs to be taken. As is the case for every member of the Communications team, after-hours work, including weekends and holidays, is routinely required.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree
Proven experience (4–6 years) working with local, domestic, and international media and successfully landing stories
Demonstrated ability to build and maintain successful relationships with members of the press
Excellent writing and verbal communication skills
Strong interpersonal skills
Ability to work well both independently and collaboratively in a fast‑paced environment
Ability to critically evaluate information and assess news value
Ability to take initiative
Ability to think creatively
Experience dealing with crisis situations
Speed and accuracy
Sense of humor

Nice To Haves

Experience using AI‑powered tools (e.g., media intelligence platforms, generative AI writing assistants, predictive analytics tools) to support media monitoring, content development, and strategic outreach is strongly preferred
Understanding of AI ethics and the ability to evaluate AI‑generated content for accuracy, transparency, and university alignment

Responsibilities

Serving as a liaison between the university and the news media
Cultivating relationships with members of the media
Developing and executing press strategies for announcing news
Proactively pitching and landing news stories about the university in local, domestic, and international top‑tier press
Maintaining an in‑depth knowledge of the university’s strengths and goals and finding new, creative, and compelling ways to tell stories through various media
Using AI‑powered media monitoring and sentiment‑analysis tools to identify emerging trends, reporter interests, and opportunities for timely off-the-news expert commentary
Handling and tracking media requests
Writing pitches and other material
Collaborating with the Communications team’s daily news operation
Fostering positive working relationships with members of the university community
Contributing to digital and social media efforts
Keeping abreast of higher education issues and trends, as well as global and national current events and campus activities
Participating in major media events and other duties as assigned
Experimenting with and evaluating new AI tools that can enhance media relations efficiency, insight generation, and storytelling