Administrative Support Specialist

This position will be responsible for a variety of administrative and professional functions, including assisting the director in communicating about the programs and priorities of the college; understanding the college's programs and activities; resolving situations that arise based on significant knowledge of the college and director's priorities; presenting ideas clearly and effectively in writing; demonstrating ability to independently research and draft letters, email blasts, social posts and other forms of communication; demonstrating ability to compile, assimilate, organize and analyze printed and electronic information; tabling and meeting the public at college events; processing and tracking purchase orders; scheduling and tracking state vehicle usage; processing travel and other expense reports; researching, ordering and delivering merchandise; and facilitating time reporting and leave requests. This position makes significant use of Constant Contact, Powerpoint, Canva, MS Word and Excel, in addition to other university platforms.

Primary Function of Organizational Unit:

Agricultural Communications is the central communications and marketing arm of the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CAES).

Our role is to support Extension outreach, the research agenda and to develop a robust marketing support system for academic studies, and the CAES in its role to carry out the strategic priorities of the university and the college. We work to develop relationships with all constituents both internal and external to CAES and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University through timely and accurate communications.

Primarily, we:

• Support the mission and strategic direction and priorities of the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CAES) and the university,
• Collaborate with CAES and university leaders to determine the broad messages to be conveyed to internal and external audiences through public communications, through digital media, including the college website and social media, in the mass media, and through our publications,
• Convey messages that provide evidence that agriculture is a dynamic, rapidly changing industry and that it embodies all the occupations connected with the research, production, processing, marketing, and distribution of farm-related products,
• Build CAES pride through proactive branding, marketing, communications, and public relations initiatives,
• Provide communications services to our Cooperative Extension network and our Ag Research colleagues; and marketing support services, marketing communications, recruitment and enrollment marketing and communications, video and photographic, creative services, and print production and distribution support and services to connect our current students, prospective students, alumni, the community, families and friends to the college and the university, and
• Support the advocacy for college needs and priorities—to local, state, and federal funding agencies.

The Agricultural Communications team and its extended partners are committed to implementing innovative business solutions to improve our day-to-day operations and customer service.

Agricultural Communications offers support and services in:

• Publications
• Educational Media
• Graphic Design
• Marketing
• News and Media Relations
• Photography and Visual Communications
• Video and Multimedia Production
• Web and Social Media Development

Requirements:

High School Diploma or equivalency and one year of related office experience; or equivalent combination of training and experience.

Preferred:

Bachelor's or technical degree and 3-5 years of office experience.

Working knowledge of Constant Contact or a similar email marketing platform; Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel and PowerPoint); Canva and Zoom are essential.

Knowledge of Adobe Creative Cloud and Facebook livestreams are bonuses.