Strategic Communication Outreach Specialist

Venesco•Mc Lean, VA

16h•Hybrid

About The Position

This is the senior strategic communications seat on a Federal highway research program. You develop and execute integrated communication strategies and marketing initiatives that promote national research initiatives and grow the readership of the agency's flagship quarterly magazine. The role blends high-level strategic planning with hands-on execution — you will write, edit, design social graphics, run campaigns, analyze the results, and then adjust. You translate complex highway and surface transportation research into narratives that land with both technical stakeholders and the general public. If you have taken a publication or program from a modest audience to a substantially larger one and can show the numbers behind it, this is your role.

Requirements

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Communications, Marketing, Public Relations, Journalism, or a closely related field.
6 to 10 years of progressively responsible professional experience in strategic communications, digital marketing, and public affairs.
A demonstrated track record of developing social media campaigns that substantially increased subscriptions or readership — be prepared to show the metrics.
Demonstrated experience conducting market research and audience analysis to shape messaging.
Hands-on content creation experience: writing, editing, and producing graphics for digital and print channels.
A USDOT badge is required, which means a favorable HSPD-12 / PIV background check at the low risk / non-sensitive level — a National Agency Check with Inquiries including fingerprinting, covering the past five years.

Nice To Haves

Experience in a Federal environment.
Knowledge of transportation research, specifically highway and surface transportation.
Experience with GovDelivery, Granicus, or comparable Government email marketing and subscription platforms.
Experience marketing a periodical, journal, or magazine.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute comprehensive outreach strategies and promotional campaigns.
Manage multiple simultaneous projects tailored to distinct audiences across varied media outlets, adapting messaging for each demographic.
Create and maintain a stakeholder engagement plan, gathering and analyzing stakeholder data to guide strategy and strengthen brand positioning.
Lead all marketing to increase magazine subscriptions and digital readership.
Manage quarterly promotional cycles, provide branding support, and coordinate with authors to promote feature stories.
Deliver four social media content calendars each year — one per issue — covering all agency social channels with text and graphics for each post.
Generate high-quality content: writing, editing, and designing graphics for social media, web pages, and electronic newsletters.
Manage periodic research e-newsletters and mailing lists through the agency's email marketing service, designing and populating templates, sending, and reporting on analytics.
Develop and upload social media toolkits and build comprehensive social media strategies.
Conduct market research and reader surveys to refine outreach strategy.
Measure and evaluate campaign and social media effectiveness using analytics, and drive data-informed adjustments.
Report on reach, engagement, and impact — web page counts, clicks, responses, and agreed measures for each activity.
Provide staffing and marketing support for tradeshows, conferences, and internal and external events, including the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting.
Develop event-specific materials and strategies to engage attendees and grow subscriptions.
Facilitate engagement with State departments of transportation, industry partners, transportation committees and organizations, businesses, and interest groups.
Advise on messaging, tactics, and audience engagement methods, supplying current creative insights, industry trends, and best practices.
Support internal communication strategies that build employee engagement and alignment.