Director, Strategic Communications - College Park, United States - American Physical Society

American Physical Society

Verified Company

College Park, United States

3 weeks ago

Posted by:

Mark Lane

beBee recruiter

Description

Director of Strategic Communications & Public Relations

The American Physical Society (APS) is a nonprofit membership organization devoted to advancing and diffusing the knowledge of physics through its outstanding research journals and scientific meetings, as well as its education, outreach, advocacy, and international activities.

APS represents 50,000 members, including physicists in academia, national laboratories, and industry in the United States and throughout the world.

Position Summary:

The Director of Strategic Communications and Public Relations, reporting to the Chief Experience and Engagement Officer (CXO), spearheads APS's strategic communication, media, public relations, and crisis response endeavors.

This entails developing and executing impactful strategies in line with APS's objectives, leading integrated communication, public relations, and brand initiatives, and ensuring messaging resonates with members while adhering to APS's core values.

Collaborating closely with Marketing and Brand leaders, the director ensures consistency across strategies.

Moreover, they oversee media interactions, forge partnerships, and navigate crisis communications, all while managing the departmental budget and actively contributing to APS's managerial cohort.

Beyond these responsibilities, the role extends to coordinating crisis management efforts, conducting simulations, and refining crisis plans. This multifaceted role also encompasses team leadership, performance evaluation, and cultivating a culture of continual improvement within the department.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Communications & Public Relations:

Lead development and execution of integrated communications, public relations, and brand strategies aligned with APS's goals, mission vision and values.
Promote APS's social media and public relations presence, ensuring impactful messaging that enhances engagement.
Collaborate with the Director of Marketing and Head of Brand to create and maintain alignment across communication, brand, and marketing strategies.
Manage the creation and editing of various communication materials, including press releases, editorials, white papers, annual reports, magazine features, enewsletters, and event materials, for consistency and quality.
Collaborate with APS Board Members and Executives to develop strategies, PR/media programs, and presentations.
Collaborate with outside agency partners as necessary.
Drive awareness of news and issues impacting the APS community, ensuring accurate representation of the organization's views.
Coordinate media responses and outreach efforts, including press releases.
Develop and maintain partnerships with media outlets to increase coverage of APS programs.
Collaborate with the Executive Office, Human Resources, and other departments as needed to develop corporate strategies and communications.
Oversee the creation of various communication materials, ensuring excellence and consistency.
Serve as an active member of APS's core management team, assisting with internal and external communications as needed.
Coach on message alignment and consistency, serve as spokesperson, manage requests for comment or appearance,
Draft messages in the appropriate voice, train new spokespersons, and offer asneeded message preparation and practice.
Leverage key performance data insights on corporate communications.
Develop and manage the annual department budget in partnership with CXO.

Reputation Management:

Coordinate crisis management team activities and serve as a strategic advisor to senior leadership.
Socialize and update crisis management plans, develop training training and ongoing education.
Conduct crisis simulation exercises and engage in scenario planning for potential crises.
Assist in repairing vulnerabilities across the business.
Provide updates to senior management on crisis readiness issues encountered.
Ensure appropriate crisis planning and support for events and meetings.
Coordinate with legal and insurance teams as necessary.
Collaborate with IT and legal teams on data protection and privacy efforts, ensuring compliance with regulations.
Implement continuous evaluation and improvement mechanisms for crisis strategies.
Lead afteraction reviews and foster a culture of crisis preparedness.
Coordinate with internal communication and HR teams to ensure efficient information flow during crises.
Ensure crisis management practices comply with regulations as needed.
Monitor media coverage to inform crisis response strategies.
Oversee the use of digital communication tools and ensure readiness of digital platforms for hightraffic scenarios.
Assist in planning for crisisrelated SEO efforts and strategic ad campaigns.
Work with social media leads to addressing or escalating online items as needed.
Monitor emerging trends in crisis management.
Conduct regular risk assessments and update crisis manag