Temporary Public Communications Specialist

As a Public Communication Specialist III – Steps4Growth for Steps4Growth, a 23.7 million grant funded by the Economic Development Administration (EDA), you will play a crucial role in crafting and executing communication strategies to enhance our brand image, engage with stakeholders, and promote our products/services to participants, educational partners and industry partners. You will write for the program’s website and social media pages including Linked In. You will also assist in crafting media talking points and report narratives as needed. It may require travel to events across North Carolina to be able to write articles and take photographs. You will be responsible for ensuring all marketing materials to be published are approved by the proper channels and have requisite releases for identifiable persons in published materials. You will be responsible for developing the brand identity guidelines of the STEPs4GROWTH program and ensuring all brand identity guidelines for NC A&T State University are adhered to in relation to the program.

Key Responsibilities:
1. Content Creation: Develop compelling written and visual content for various communication channels, including websites, social media, press releases, and marketing collateral.
2. Social Media Management: Manage and grow our social media presence by creating and scheduling posts, responding to comments, and analyzing engagement metrics.
3. Media Relations: Cultivate and maintain relationships with journalists, bloggers, and influencers to secure media coverage and mentions for the organization.
4. Internal Communication: Assist in developing and executing internal communication strategies to ensure employees are informed, engaged, and aligned with company goals.
5. Public Relations: Draft press releases, statements, and other materials to communicate key messages to the media and the public.
6. Event Promotion: Promote company events, webinars, and conferences through various communication channels to increase attendance and engagement.
7. Brand Management: Uphold and reinforce our brand identity across all communication materials and platforms.
8. Market Research: Stay up-to-date with industry trends, competitors, and emerging communication tools to provide recommendations for improvement.
9. Analytics and Reporting: Monitor and analyze the effectiveness of communication strategies using analytics tools and make data-driven recommendations for improvement.

Communication: 60%
• Plans, develops, manages, and implements a cohesive STEPs4GROWTH strategic brand according to NC A&T, University Relations and the College of Engineering Communication standards & policies.
• Plans, develops, manages, and implements communication plan with KPIs related to STEPs4GROWTH outreach, community engagement, and workforce development activities and events.
• Manages STEPs4GROWTH marketing, communication, and event materials and content.
• Travels and represents as needed in meetings with stakeholders, including state and federal agencies, industrial partners, sub awardees and other collaborators.
• Researches, collects, and analyzes data to help devise strategies for the best outreach and communications practices
• Identifies outreach opportunities by maintaining active communication with other businesses and our community.
• Attends meetings to stay abreast of upcoming activities and to support as necessary to ensure compliance with NC A&T, federal, and grant policies.
• Identifies areas of improvements based on performance metrics and develops plans to adjust as needed.
Administrative:

Percentage of Time: 25%
Manages STEPs4GROWTH events, travel, and honoraria for students, visitors, and advisory board members.
Ensures Procurement activities related to marketing, communications and activities are compliant with Federal grant and NC A&T guidelines. Disseminates STEPs4GROWTH content and materials.
Reviews and responds to incoming media requests and routes properly.
Provides communication status reports to Director and PI

Data/Information Management: 15%
• Creates, maintains, and updates a list of media contacts and fosters STEPs4GROWTH relationships.
• Creates, collects, and analyzes graphs, charts, and other data visualizations within prescribed timeframes for grant reports, proposals, and stakeholder meetings.
• Creates and maintains a visual asset library of photographs and video materials.
• Ensures the collection and storage of any required release forms for media

North Carolina A&T University is a public high research activity land grant university that enrolls over 13,300 students. The College of Engineering with over 2,300 students, has ABET accredited B.S programs in Architectural Engineering, Bioengineering, Biological, Civil, Chemical, Computer, Electrical, Industrial and Systems, and Mechanical Engineering and a B.S. program in Computer Science accredited by the CAC Accreditation Commission of ABET, (http://www.abet.org), On the Graduate level, the College has a8 Masters of Science Degree programs and 5 Doctoral programs. Additional information about the College and the University can be found at www.ncat.edu/coe. 
The Ph.D. in Computational Data Science and Engineering is an interdisciplinary graduate program designed for students who seek to use advanced computational methods to solve problems involving big data, extensive computations, and complex modeling, simulation, optimization and visualization.

The M.S. in Data Science and Engineering is an interdisciplinary graduate program designed for students who seek to use computing and data science and engineering to solve problems involving big data, extensive computations, and complex modeling, simulation, optimization and visualization.

The mission of the Department of Computational Data Science and Engineering is to graduate professionals who (a) have expertise in developing novel computational methodologies and products, and/or (b) have extended their expertise in specific disciplines (in science, technology, engineering, and socioeconomics) with computational tools.
Research in Computational Data Science and Engineering includes: big data and computational statistics, AI and Machine Learning, internet of things, large and complex systems, intelligent transportation and infrastructure systems, remote sensing, autonomous vehicles, virtual and augmented reality, e-commerce, image and video processing, scientific and interactive visualization, high-performance computing, scalable algorithms, bioinformatics, and multi-scale multi-physics engineering systems.

To be considered for employment, an electronic application must be completed and submitted. Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of completing an electronic application. Applicants seeking Veteran’s Preference must upload a DD 214 Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty to their application during the application process. Final candidates are subject to criminal and sex offender background checks. North Carolina A&T State University participates in E-Verify to confirm work authorization in the United States. Federal law requires all employers to verify the identity and employment eligibility of all persons hired to work in the United States. North Carolina A&T State University is an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer. No one who applies or seeks employment will be denied admission to or employment at North Carolina A&T State University on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, disabling condition, veteran status, political affiliation, genetic information or sexual orientation and sexual identity.

Additional Information

Work Hours – 8:00 – 5:00 Mondays – Fridays. May include some evening or weekend hours if special events are occurring. Additional details regarding the position will be discussed with candidates selected for an interview.

Only applicants who meet the minimum qualifications for a temporary opportunity will be considered. To enhance consideration, applicants are encouraged to upload all relevant certifications, licenses, training records, and other professional credentials at the time of application.

Please Note: Applicants who wish to be considered for temporary opportunities after the posting has expired must submit a new application to the subsequent posting.

N.C. A&T employees are generally required to reside in North Carolina, within a 2-hour commuting distance of their assigned duty station.