Director of Athletics Communications

Job Summary

Full-time, 40 hours per week, year round position, salary commensurate with experience and qualifications

The Director of Athletics Communications serves as the primary liaison between the news media and Amherst's student-athletes and Athletics personnel for the College's 27 varsity sports. The Director is responsible for maintaining the Athletics website and social media accounts; serving as the site coordinator for all home athletics events; coordinating live digital coverage of select athletics events; and creating and producing various materials, including the official football program. The Director also is responsible for compiling and statistics, per NCAA rules, for all of the teams. The Director supervises one full-time sports information staff member and two student interns.

The Director takes appropriate actions to support a diverse workforce and participates in the College's efforts to create a respectful, inclusive, and welcoming work environment.

Key Responsibilities

Amherst College Athletics Website, Media Relations & Social/New Media

• Produce and post post-game recaps and results immediately following each athletics contest during the academic year
• Produce and post feature stories and miscellaneous press releases when applicable
• Maintain photographs, statistics, rosters, schedules, results, historical records, archives and bios for each of Amherst's 27 varsity teams
• Publicize ahead of time and help run webcasts; compile live statistics
• Serve as liaison to media and respond to general media queries and requests as well as coordinate coach/student-athlete interviews

• Inform local and national media of upcoming athletics events
• Pitch feature story ideas to local and national media
• E-mail game recaps, box scores, press releases and feature stories to all local media
• Contact student-athletes' local newspapers when outstanding athletic/academic achievements occur

• Post and edit content on Amherst Athletics' Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages
• Produce and maintain content on Amherst Athletics' YouTube page and NCAA Tournament Tumblr blog
• Record, edit and produce Amherst Athletics podcast with various coaches and student-athletes
• Contribute photos to the sports galleries on the College's Flickr account and help schedule photo/video assignments for Office of Communications' corps of student photographers/videographers
• Act as sports writer for the Amherst Alumni Magazine

Home Athletics Events

• Serve as the official statistician and press box/table manager for all applicable home athletics events
• Hire, train, supervise and schedule student workers who help with public address, scoreboard operation, tracking official NCAA statistics, distributing programs, and playing music at events
• Serve on the Games Committee during NESCAC and NCAA Championship events
• Organize post-game interviews with coaches and student-athletes when applicable
• Design, provide content and print programs for home athletics events
• Work with local printing company to design and produce Football Illustrated, a 50-page media guide/program, for each of the four home football games during the year (A significant amount of time during the late summer and fall is spent on Football Illustrated.)

Statistical Reports and Athletics Department Support

• File Weekly Statistical Reports to NESCAC and NCAA as required
• Work closely with NESCAC and the NCAA to submit statistics, nominate student-athletes for weekly and seasonal awards, and provide miscellaneous aid in order for the conference and national offices to maintain their respective websites
• Assist the Athletics Department in planning miscellaneous athletics events (e.g. senior banquet, special awards presentations)

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• Bachelor's degree
• 3 years of experience in the athletics communication field
• Strong written and verbal communications, problem solving and project-management skills
• Demonstrated experience in media relations
• Knowledge of and hands-on experience with social media
• Knowledge of basic photography and video editing
• Knowledge of NCAA Division III rules for varsity sports
• Knowledge of print production
• Familiarity with Microsoft Word, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, Audacity and Stat Crew (for baseball, softball, basketball, football, soccer, field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, volleyball and tennis)
• Cultural competency and ability to work in a diverse environment
• Leadership and supervisory experience, including demonstrated staff management skills
• Superior organizational and time-management skills, including ability to multi-task and function efficiently with very aggressive schedules/timelines
• Superior attention-to-detail, proofreading and editing skills
• Demonstrated creative abilities
• Ability to take initiative and work collaboratively
• Able to work a flexible schedule including frequent evenings and weekends to support events

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

Interested candidates should submit a cover letter, resume, and the names and contact information (e-mail and/or telephone number) for three professional references. Applications will be reviewed until position is filled.
Amherst College is an equal opportunity employer and encourages women, persons of color, and persons with disabilities to apply. The College is committed to enriching its educational experience and its culture through the diversity of its faculty, administration, and staff.
Amherst College, one of the premier liberal arts colleges in the nation, is located in Amherst, Massachusetts, a town of approximately 35,000 residents in the western part of the state. The college's community is composed of about1,800 students from 48 states, plus Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and 54 countries around the world, and about 1,000 staff and faculty. The college's scenic 1,000-acre campus includes a 500-acre wildlife sanctuary and the Book & Plow Farm ; three museums: Emily Dickinson Museum , Beneski Museum of Natural History and Mead Art Museum ; and multiple educational and cultural venues and resources through the Five College Consortium. The town of Amherst offers an amazing variety of coffee shops, restaurants and entertainment, and a very active outdoor life. Our vibrant campus, diverse community and beautiful surrounding, makes Amherst College and the Town of Amherst a great place to work, learn and live!



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