Communications Coordinator

USA Fencing — Communications Coordinator

 

Position title: Communications Coordinator

Reports to: Director of Communications

Note: Priority will be given to applications received by March 28, 2023

Based: Remote or Colorado Springs, Colo.

 

Work in the exciting, fast-paced, collaborative world of sports at USA Fencing, the national governing body for the Olympic and Paralympic sport of fencing in the United States.

 

As Communications Coordinator, you’ll help tell the story of USA Fencing through our athletes at all levels, including clubs, grassroots, veteran, senior, junior, youth and parafencing athletes. With your top-notch writing skills and customer service focus, you’ll inform, inspire and entertain both our current members and prospective members of USA Fencing.

 

You’ll create and share compelling athlete profiles, top-tier event coverage and helpful explainers for the USA Fencing website and our social media channels. You’ll travel to USA Fencing events, delivering on-the-ground social and website coverage that will engage those who can’t be there themselves. Finally, you’ll share fencing stories through website updates and membership e-newsletters designed to provide transparency to our loyal members. You’ll report to the Director of Communications as part of an upbeat, fun communications team.

USA Fencing particularly encourages applications from diverse individuals with relevant experience as detailed below.

 

Primary Duties

●      Manage updates to the USA Fencing website, including staff contributions, page layout and design.

●      Deputize for, and collaborate with, the Director of Communications in respect of strategies to aggressively market the sport of Fencing, and engage USA Fencing’s current membership.

●      Write feature articles on athletes, clubs and key constituents of USA Fencing.

●      Engage with the communications, membership, events and development departments to brainstorm new initiatives, such as club outreach, event promotion, donor relations and promotion of member benefits. 

●      Publicize upcoming events, athlete achievements, competition results and other newsworthy subjects.

●      Maintain lists of national and hometown media contacts.

●      Track media coverage weekly for senior, junior, cadet, veteran and Paralympic national team members as well as pertinent club news.

●      Serve as a resource for hometown media outlets.

●      Promote athlete, coach and club recognition programs, including maintaining positive relationships with athletes, coaches, agents, alumni.

●      Assist with updating usafencing.org and social media channels — primarily Instagram and Facebook.

●      Maintain athlete and coach bios, including updating domestic and international event results.

●      Maintain a communications calendar, in collaboration with the Director of Communications

●      Provide excellent customer service to USA Fencing members, USA Fencing coworkers, external partners and media contacts.

●      Serve as the primary USA Fencing communications contact at, at least, three USA Fencing national tournaments per season.

●      Serve as the primary USA Fencing communications contact, when designated, for international events and multi-sport Games events (e.g. Pan American Games, Paralympic Games or similar).

●      Other duties as assigned.

 

Required Experience and Competencies

●      A commitment to a positive work culture, providing outstanding customer service to internal and external stakeholders. USA Fencing utilizes a team culture contract to support this work.

●      A commitment to integrity in your work, and your work relationships. A further commitment to DEIB, Athlete Safety, Anti-Doping and Integrity in Sport.

●      Bachelor’s degree in journalism or communications — or equivalent relevant experience.

●      1-3 years of experience in journalism, sports information, media relations or a related field (collegiate experience, such as at a college newspaper, can be counted toward this requirement).

●      Experience managing email distribution applications (i.e. MailChimp, Constant Contact).

●      Excellent interpersonal and communication skills. Demonstrated skills in verbal and written communications.

●      Experience managing front facing public communication websites.

●      Strong experience with managing, engaging and growing social media.

●      Strong writing skills with examples of published work. Ability to edit work with precision for spelling and grammar. Familiarity with Associated Press Style guidelines. Ability to adjust writing style to meet project needs.

●      Demonstrated skills in Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Suite and/or Canva.

●      Ability to prioritize projects, manage time efficiently, handle details and follow several projects simultaneously to conclusion. 

●      Ability to distill complex topics into reader-friendly chunks.

●      Willingness to serve as a strong No. 2 on a collaborative communications team.

●      Hold a current, valid passport, with eligibility to work in the United States of America.

 

Preferred Experience and Competencies

●      Experience working in or covering the Olympic and Paralympic movement, or similar sports organization. (Experience covering fencing is helpful but not required.)

●      Established relationships with media contacts, specifically those that cover the Olympic/Paralympic movement.

●      Ability to edit, produce and engage video content.

 

Location and Travel

The role is remote-based, or may be based in Colorado Springs, Colo. If remote, the role will require occasional travel to USA Fencing headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo. USA Fencing’s priority is recruiting the right individual over location factors.

 

In addition to occasional trips to Colorado Springs, you’ll serve as the primary, on-the-ground communications contact at three to five USA Fencing national tournaments each season. Further travel may be required and agreed within the Comms department.

 

Total travel requirements:

–       Five to seven domestic trips per year, each approximately five nights long.

–       One or two international trips per year, ranging from five to 14 nights.

–       Further travel may be required and agreed within the Comms department

 

Work Schedule

This is not your standard 9 to 5. Remotely covering fencing tournaments around the world — a responsibility you’ll share with the Director of Communications — will require some evening and weekend work, but a healthy work-life balance will be prioritized and is a core value of USA Fencing’s management team.

 

About USA Fencing

USA Fencing is the National Governing Body (NGB) for the sport of fencing in the United States. Its mission is to grow and promote the sport of fencing in the United States, honor its rich traditions and achieve sustained international success.

 

USA Fencing is an equal opportunity employer committed to increasing the diversity of its community. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, age, religion, gender identity or expression, disability, or sexual orientation. To learn more about USA Fencing’s diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging efforts, please visit our DEIB page at: https://www.usafencing.org/deib.

 

Starting Salary Range

$55,000–$60,000 annually, commensurate with experience.

 

This is a full-time exempt position.

 

Benefits Offered

●      Unlimited PTO

●      15 holidays per year (including an office closure between Christmas and New Year’s Day)

●      401(k) retirement plan

●      Medical, dental and vision insurance, employer-paid mental health coverage.

●      Employer-paid life insurance

●      Professional development opportunities and training.

●      A monthly cell phone stipend, for work use.

 

Application Process

●      We are looking to find the right person quickly. Applications received by March 28, 2023, will be given priority.

●      Applicants must submit a cover letter, resume and three published writing samples, including:

○      One profile of an athlete or similar prominent figure.

○      One example of live event coverage (that is, a story published within 24 hours of the conclusion of a sports competition or similar live event)

○      One writing sample of the candidate’s choosing.

○      Additional multimedia work samples, such as social media graphics or videos.

■      Such examples can be fictional (that is, created specifically for the application), in the event an individual has no current work example of the above or is prevented from submitting for intellectual property reasons.

●      Interview process will consist of evaluation of work samples, and likely two rounds of interviews, one of which may be in-person and include a writing exercise.

 

Please provide cover letter, resume and work samples. Please apply HERE.

 

The above is intended to describe the general content of and requirements for the performance of this job. It is not to be construed as an exhaustive statement of duties, responsibilities or physical requirements. Nothing in this job description restricts management’s right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

USA Fencing