Director of External Communications | TTU Athletics

Cookeville, Tennessee, The overall purpose of this position is to lead the external communications efforts for Tennessee Tech Athletics. This position will demonstrate competency in establishing relationships with key stakeholders and serve as the primary liaison between the athletics department and various publics, including media, alumni, digital followers, student-athletes, fans, corporate partners and sponsors, community at-large, and the university community. These relationships will be critical in ensuring optimal coverage, attention, brand recognition, and publicization for external audiences. The employee will utilize existing knowledge to craft a strategy around storytelling efforts and immerse themselves in Tennessee Tech Athletics on a conference, community, college, and national level. With a strong emphasis on brand awareness, broad-reaching messaging, recruiting, and retaining student-athletes and providing entertainment to all consumers of Tennessee Tech, this position is critical in supporting storytelling for these areas. This role requires collaborative work and sport-specific media plan leadership across the department, including coaches, senior leaders, and campus entities. Tennessee Tech is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. Responsibilities External Communications Act as the primary public facing contact Manage and coordinate Communications staff Host press conferences, media, and other constituents at TTU events Coordinate and direct annual Golden Wings Awards night Coordinate radio broadcasts Maintain institutional knowledge of each Tennessee Tech sports program Design and produce publications and other media such as ticket applications, media guides, record books Primary media contact for specific sport programs In conjunction with Communications staff, compile and maintain statistics for recordkeeping and compliance Instruct student-athletes in how to engage and talk with outside media   Tennessee Tech Sports Immersion Engage with all members of the TTU sports teams to learn the student-athletes’ personalities, talents and abilities, exploit coaches’ strengths for public consumption, identify sport influencers and engage to broaden the message and identify and target audiences that can amplify the strategies of elevating the sport publicly Capture and Create Content Capture content in support and in alignment with the TTU strategic plan Content can be in all forms – video, visual, graphic, written etc. Tennessee Tech Media Plan Creation In conjunction with the TTU Athletics External staff, create, manage, and communicate a media plan. The media plan will highlight on a scheduled basis the flow of information, how communication will occur, frequency of messaging, types of required content and intended audiences Budgeting and Strategy Manage External Communications budget, track expenses and evaluation communications effectiveness via feedback and data to improve future work Minimum Qualifications Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution 5 years of professional experience within collegiate athletics, professional sports, or a related field Ability to learn all facets of a sports program – including personnel, trends, participants, national landscape, and critical audiences Experience in social media platforms to tell story on behalf of a sports team Ability to thrive in a flexible, fast-paced and dynamic work environment Familiarity with NCAA rules and regulations   The University offers a competitive benefits package. Benefits include the accumulation of two vacation days per month, one sick leave day per month, and thirteen University holidays. Other benefits include medical and life insurance (shared cost with the university), retirement, optional 401k, and educational benefits.