Media Relations and External Communications Officer

**Position description**:
Reporting to the Director of Marketing and Communications, the Media Relations and External Communications Officer will play a crucial role in enhancing the university’s reputation and promoting the university’s achievements and initiatives with a wide range of external audiences. This position also oversees the production of the Record, a magazine for Mount Allison alumni and friends, published three times annually with a circulation of over 19,000.

**Responsibilities**

Media Outreach
- Proactively build and maintain relationships with journalists, editors, and other media professionals
- Pitch university stories, research findings and events to local, national, and international media outlets
- Respond to media inquiries promptly and professionally.
- Meet with internal student newspaper to build relationships with student reporters at the Argosy

Media Monitoring
- Coordinate and schedule media interviews, working with representatives from various fields and offering coaching to help them prepare and feel confident for media engagements
- Monitor media coverage of the university and its competitors
- Prepare regular media reports to assess the effectiveness of media relations efforts
- Regularly update Mount Allison’s list of media list of contacts

Crisis Communication
- Serve as a spokesperson during crisis situations, working closely with the Director of Marketing and Communications
- Work collaboratively with the Director of Marketing and Communications and the Communications Officer to develop and implement crisis communication strategies and processes

Event Support
- Collaborate with event organizers to promote university events through media channels
- Coordinate media attendance and coverage for key university events
- Maintain the University’s event calendar, in partnership with the Booking and Event Assistant to ensure campus events are properly communicated to the University and surrounding communities in collaboration with the Communications Officer
- Serve on University-wide committees as required including the annual President’s Speakers Series committee, bringing high-calibre, international speakers to campus related to a specific theme each year

University Publications
- Assistant Editor of the Record — Mount Allison magazine for alumni and friends with a circulation of over 19,000. Project manager for this publication, leading the development of three issues annually. Duties include working with the alumni office and other University departments and contacts, writing and editing content, and working with designers, photographers, and printers/mail houses to produce the publication
- Assist with several additional publications, including the Mount Allison’s annual reputation piece, recruitment and fund-raising brochures, as well as online materials.
- In collaboration with marketing and communication colleagues, write web stories for mta.ca about students, faculty, and staff research or other initiatives.
- Provide proofreading, fact verification, copy-editing, events assistance, and writing support to others as required
- Other duties as may be helpful to other Departments (e.g Athletics and recreation assistance with media relations)

**Qualifications/skills**:

- Bachelor’s degree in communications, public relations, journalism or a related field.
- 4-5 years of experience in media relations, public relations, or journalism; crisis communication experience is an asset
- Familiarity with the higher education sector is advantageous
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build and maintain relationships with senior leaders and media professionals
- Ability to work well independently with limited supervision
- Ability to work to tight deadlines
- High level of accuracy

At Mount Allison, we are committed to ensuring your interview experience is as comfortable and accessible as possible. If you require any accommodations or adjustments during the interview process, please do not hesitate to inform us. Your needs are important to us, and our dedicated team is here to support you.

We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.