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Primary Purpose of Organizational Unit
Our Office of Communications provides services in media relations, writing, social media, design, photography and video. We also provide consultation for marketing and branding internal and external communications.
Position Summary
The Public Communications Specialist supports the communications mission of the Gillings School of Global Public Health, the top public school of public health in the U.S. and #2 overall. This role implements communications and marketing strategies that strengthen the School’s reputation, with a particular focus on:
1. partnering with the dean to produce executive communications, and
2. elevating the visibility of Gillings faculty by strategically supporting nominations to prestigious professional organizations such as NAM, NAS and NAE.
Working within the School’s communications and marketing team, this individual also translates and disseminates high impact research and academic programs and contributes to internal communications across the School.
Executive Communications: The Specialist develops internal and external communications on behalf of the dean and Dean’s Office, producing deliverables for faculty, staff, students, alumni, donors, public health leaders, prominent scientists, and strategic partners in business and industry.
Strategy, Impact and Reputation Management: A core responsibility is managing and innovating a key strategy for reputation management. The Specialist identifies faculty who have made significant public health contributions and matches them with competitive, high level awards. While faculty are the primary focus, students and staff are also in scope.
This role manages and collaborates with the School’s Nominations Committee to identify strong candidates and align them with appropriate awards. The Specialist guides development of persuasive nomination packages, coordinating with the dean, department chairs, the University’s Office of Research, leaders at other universities, and staff at sponsoring organizations. After awards are secured, the Specialist promotes achievements across web, social media, executive communications, and outreach to alumni and donors.
More broadly, the Specialist consults on and helps implement communications that elevate schoolwide strategic initiatives in public health practice, research, academics, and global health. This includes independently and collaboratively developing compelling content articles, news releases, announcements, memos, and web content for internal and external audiences. The role requires effective liaison across committees, work groups, and individuals involved in these initiatives.
General Communications: The Specialist partners with communications and marketing colleagues to maintain a unified approach to Gillings brand guidelines across the School and university. This includes applying standards for voice, copy, and imagery using AP style, Adobe Creative Suite, and WordPress. The role requires communicating complex information to both general and academic audiences and adapting content across genres.
The position manages multiple specialized projects that span mission areas and involve numerous stakeholders. The Specialist must navigate a fast paced, responsive environment with overlapping timelines and priorities, interfacing with faculty, students, staff, and high level external partners.
This individual is responsible for identifying emerging issues, solving problems independently, and exercising sound judgment while consulting with team members and leaders when appropriate.
Minimum Education and Experience Requirements
Bachelor’s degree in a discipline related to the area of assignment; or equivalent combination of training and experience. All degrees must be received from appropriately accredited institutions.
Preferred Qualifications, Competencies, and Experience
Three years of compensated writing/editing experience for an educational institution, with skill in understanding how to make a persuasive case in writing for internal and external audiences; the ability to handle several projects at once; and the flexibility to change priorities as needed.
