Communications Officer

Position Focus :

The Communications Officer will serve as a strategic communications partner to the Department of Neurosurgery, working closely with the department chair and other leadership team members to develop and produce content promoting their research, education, and clinical programs and services to internal and external audiences.

Reporting to both the Senior Director of Finance & Administration for the Department of Neurosurgery and the Senior Director of Yale School of Medicine (YSM) Executive and Internal Communications, this individual will play an integral role in increasing the visibility of Yale’s nationally ranked and top-rated neurosurgery programs and in informing and inspiring faculty, staff, trainees, and students.

More specifically, the role will lead the creation, implementation, and execution of a dynamic communications strategy for the Department of Neurosurgery, developing, writing, and managing the distribution of a variety of communications for both external and internal audiences, including the Neurosurgery website, digital and social media platforms, intranet pages, department emails and newsletters, and other materials.

On an ongoing basis, the role will also measure and evaluate the strategic impact of all communication efforts and adjust / fine-tune planning as needed.

Additionally, the Communications Officer will play an active role in YSM’s community of communicators, contributing to ongoing discussions, sharing ideas and best practices, and assisting in community-wide planning, process improvement, and asset management.

Essential Duties

1. Manages relationships with external media sources. Pursues media coverage creatively and aggressively. Responds to inquiries from national and international news media, student media, the University community and the general public.

2. Enhances the overall quality of media relations for key stakeholders by preparing them for media interviews. Manages relationships with key campus stakeholders with a high degree of professionalism, judgment and understanding of stakeholder goals.

3. Creates compelling story ideas and narratives; produces content for both external and internal channels; writes copy and social media posts and manages content.

4. Plans social media strategies for key University communications and programs. Monitors University social media assets for negative comments or misinformation.

5. Supports short- and long-term communication planning with insights into audiences, channels and culture; coordinates with other communications professionals to achieve institutional goals;

leads the communications process within developed standards and protocols. 6. Supports effective response strategies, often in crisis situations requiring 24 / 7 attention and intense media / public scrutiny, and articulates the University’s position via personal interviews or written responses.

7. Produces multimedia content and manages the work of graphic and web designers, student interns, printers, video producers and photographers.

8. Manages communication plans for all stakeholders by understanding the significance of campus initiatives and / or academic work;

creates compelling stories and messages to translate the significance through language that is clear and accessible for public awareness.

9. Develops and maintains regular contact with media representatives in multiple disciplines. 10. Maintains the Yale brand and graphic identity standards;

supports and maintains standard operating procedures; contributes to digital asset management. 11. May perform other duties as assigned.

Required Education and Experience

Bachelor’s degree in English, Journalism, Communications or related field and five years of experience in public relations, journalism, television, corporate communications or agency work or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Demonstrated experience in developing communications for a range of media and working with creative professionals in design, photography or video.

Required Skill / Ability 1 :

Independent self-starter with outstanding written (editing / writing), verbal, and organizational skills. Ability to produce high-quality, up-to-date content for websites, newsletters, announcements, brochures, reports, and other media for a variety of audiences.

Required Skill / Ability 2 :

Demonstrated ability to develop, execute, and measure the success of comprehensive communication plans. Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to develop relationships with leadership, faculty, and other departmental stakeholders to develop content for distribution / publication.

Required Skill / Ability 3 :

Proficiency with web / intranet content management systems and HTML editing tools, social media platforms (including Brandwatch), survey building tools, Microsoft Office Suite, Canva (or other image creating / editing software), and electronic mailing list software applications (Listserv).

Required Skill / Ability 4 :

Significant demonstrated ability with, or very strong interest in science and medicine content. Knowledge in developing, disseminating, and maintaining web content, and in gathering and extracting from analytics to inform content decisions.

Preferred Education, Experience and Skills :

Familiarity with desktop publishing and layout programs such as Adobe’s Creative Suite and ability to identify and learn new technology, including YSM’s content management platform (which is called Beatrix).

Weekend Hours Required?

Occasional

Evening Hours Required?

Occasional

Drug Screen

Health Screening

Background Check Requirements

All candidates for employment will be subject to pre-employment background screening for this position, which may include motor vehicle, DOT certification, drug testing and credit checks based on the position description and job requirements.

All offers are contingent upon the successful completion of the background check. For additional information on the background check requirements and process visit "Learn about background checks" under the Applicant Support Resources section of Careers on the It's Your Yale website.

COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement

The University maintains policies pertaining to COVID-19. All faculty, staff, students, and trainees are required to comply with these policies, which may be found here :

Posting Disclaimer

The intent of this job description is to provide a representative summary of the essential functions that will be required of the position and should not be construed as a declaration of specific duties and responsibilities of the particular position.

Employees will be assigned specific job-related duties through their hiring departments.

EEO Statement :

University policy is committed to affirmative action under law in employment of women, minority group members, individuals with disabilities, and protected veterans.

Additionally, in accordance with Yale’s Policy Against Discrimination and Harassment, and as delineated by federal and Connecticut law, Yale does not discriminate in admissions, educational programs, or employment against any individual on account of that individual’s sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, age, disability, status as a special disabled veteran, veteran of the Vietnam era or other covered veteran.