Assistant Athletic Director for Strategic Communications

Job Description

1. Media Relations. Develop and implement a media relations plan for 15 intercollegiate athletics programs based upon national standards and in alignment with WSU’s mission. Serve as point person for all media inquiries. Provide media relations advice and training for athletes, coaches, and athletic staff. Develop, direct, and implement a production schedule for all athletic department publications. Develop publications such as game notes programs, game programs and sport media guides. Coordinate all photography needs for department. Work closely with athletics and university administration in crisis situations. Serve as primary coordinator of any necessary crisis communications for the Winona State Athletic department. The position serves on the WSU Athletic Hall of Fame committee and is responsible for collecting the nominations and organizing the list of eligible members.

2. Website and Social Media. Develop, supervise, and maintain the WSU Athletics website and social media activity – using digital storytelling as a way to build the Winona State Athletics brand. Oversee the daily operation of the website, including primary responsibility for writing, editing, and updating all content, as well as writing stories and news releases for other media outlets. Ensure a website contains up-to-date essential information for prospective student-athletes, parents, alumni, and fans. Post press releases on the site and send them via e-mail to regional and national media outlets. Manage all aspects of the department’s presence on multiple social media platforms. Utilize desktop publishing programs, including Word, Xcel, InDesign and Photoshop to create publications for distribution to media and fans. Oversee the staff assigned to assist with postings. Oversee the maintenance of the on-line Sports Network weekly and post-game media coverage. Maintain all statistical information and complete timely submission of all required information to the NCAA, regional committees, the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Athletic Conference sports information office, and any other necessary media venues.

3. Supervise, schedule, and evaluate all sports information staff. Supervises a graduate assistant and several student interns within the athletic department office, the stats team for home events and several student interns who promote the department through media (video, radio, etc.). Also oversees game workers during home events, including public address announcers, scoreboard operators and other event staff. The position is responsible for the selection and training of student interns for the office, student interns for visual and audio communication, and for the gameday stats team. This individual will develop a daily work plan for the student workers, graduate assistant, and interns. The work plan will set priorities and indicate work assignments. The work plan will be reviewed and amended on a regular basis.

4. Develop and maintain the sports information budget. Participate in budget planning to effectively utilize funds available for marketing and branding for individual student-athletes, teams, and the overall department, athletic archiving, and website enhancements.

5. Perform other duties as assigned by supervisor. To ensure the smooth functioning of the department and maintain the reputation of Winona State University, additional duties may include but are not limited to professional development and campus committee membership.

Salary Range: $47,607 - $93,342; Commensurate with qualifications and experience

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree journalism, mass communications, communication studies or related degree.
• Two (2) years of experience in athletic media relations or sports information.
• Experience using statistical athletics software including Stat-Crew and NCAA Genius.
• Knowledge of budget preparation and maintenance.
• Strong oral, written, interpersonal and electronic communication skills. Must be able to communicate effectively with internal and external university constituencies.
• High degree of creativity and initiative with strong editing and design skills.
• Experience using social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, X, and others
• Demonstrated ability to supervise and manage staff.

Preferred Qualification

• Master’s degree.
• Experience with Leadership training and development.
• Experience in training, teaching, or facilitation.
• Conflict resolution experience.
• Knowledge of comprehensive student activities program including programming, student organizations, and leadership development.
• Knowledge of NCAA and Northern Sun Conference rules and policies.
• Excellent PC based computer skills with proficiency in Microsoft Office 365 applications, desktop publishing, knowledge of applicable HTML (website technology).