Director of Media Relations

Appointment: Regular, full-time (1.0 FTE) position.

Work Location:
This position is based in Tacoma, WA, and is hybrid eligible (minimum of 3 days on-site) after a successful evaluation period.

Please note that we generally do not sponsor applicants for work visas for staff positions. Therefore, we generally require applicants for staff positions to be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis.

Position Summary:

The University of Puget Sound seeks an experienced Director of Media Relations to serve as a news strategist, storyteller, and campus spokesperson, working both proactively and reactively to build brand awareness and safeguard institutional reputation. This is a writing-heavy position that balances strategic storytelling with clear, informative communications on timely or emerging topics. This role elevates the university's regional and national profile by pitching compelling academic, student, faculty, and alumni stories to targeted media outlets. Additionally, this position leads crisis and issues management communications while drafting clear internal messaging to ensure alignment across the campus community.

The Director of Media Relations reports to the Associate Vice President for Marketing & Communications within Marketing & Communication and the Division of University Relations.

Essential Job Functions and Responsibilities:

Major Responsibilities:

• Proactive media pitching and earned media strategy (30%)
  • Identify, write, and pitch compelling feature stories, academic achievements, student success stories, and faculty expertise to local, regional, and national news outlets.
  • Identify faculty members who are thought leaders on specific topics; maintain a public-facing list of faculty and their areas of expertise; establish relationships with these individuals, provide regular media training, and identify opportunities to showcase faculty scholarship and expertise.
  • Build and cultivate relationships with journalists, editors, producers, and higher education reporters.
  • Develop customized pitch strategies and manage institutional expert directories to position faculty as thought leaders on breaking news items.
  • Track, analyze, and report on earned media coverage metrics to measure impact against institutional goals.
• Crisis communications and issues management (20%)
  • Support the implementation of the university's crisis communications protocol.
  • Serve as an essential member of the campus emergency response team, offering real-time strategic counsel to senior leadership and campus partners during high-stakes incidents.
  • Monitor media channels, social media, and industry trends to detect, anticipate, and mitigate emerging reputational risks.
  • Serve as the primary university spokesperson for media inquiries, arranging and overseeing on-campus broadcast visits, interviews, and press briefings.
• Campus and internal executive messaging (20%)
  • Oversee and draft official campus-wide email announcements regarding campus updates, observances, special events, policy changes, emergency alerts, and leadership transitions.
  • Provide strategic counsel and advice to leadership on communications best practices, tone, timing, and framing for sensitive, campus-wide, or high-stakes announcements.
  • Partner with Cabinet leadership, General Counsel, Campus Security, Technology Services, Human Resources, Academic Leadership, and other campus leaders to maintain voice, tone, and clarity across internal touchpoints.
  • Prepare key talking points, holding statements, and internal Q&A documents to align leadership and front-line staff during sensitive issues.
• Writing and content production (20%)
  • Produce high-quality, AP Style-aligned written deliverables under tight deadlines, including press releases, media advisories, feature articles, holding statements, and official university responses.
  • Author comprehensive internal talking points for complex institutional issues, policy shifts, or unexpected occurrences.
  • Draft op-eds, leadership statements, and executive quotes for distribution to targeted publications.
• Strategic support and other duties (10%)
  • Provide communications and media support for major institutional events, such as Commencement or high-profile speaker engagements.
  • Serve on designated university committees, working groups, and task forces as needed.
  • Participate in cross-departmental strategic activities and carry out special projects or additional duties as assigned to support broader university goals.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

This position may supervise regular, temporary, or student staff.

Skills, Knowledge, & Abilities:

• Proven ability to build trust, navigate organizational matrix structures, and foster authentic, cooperative relationships with colleagues at all levels of the university.
• Demonstrated capability to lead collaborative efforts with internal communications groups across campus.
• Superior verbal and written communication skills; comfortable presenting to senior leadership, faculty, external partners, and donors.
• Strong writing and editorial capacities, with outstanding research and analytical skills; ability to clarify complex subject matter quickly and concisely.
• Judgment on how to handle nuanced, difficult topics under public scrutiny; judgment to handle confidential or sensitive information with discretion.
• Outstanding public speaking skills.
• Demonstrated capability to lead collaborative efforts with internal communications groups across campus.
• Strong strategic and tactical thinking aptitude.
• Superior organization skills and exceptional attention to detail.
• Ability to think critically and solve problems; ability to work independently and in team settings.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in Public Relations, Media Relations, English, Journalism, Communication, or a related field.
• Five years' comprehensive experience in strategic communications, marketing, media relations, and/or internal communications.
• Demonstrated writing capability across AP-style news writing, strategic pitching, holding statements, and executive briefing materials.
• Proven track record of managing crisis situations, developing reactive statements under pressure, and advising senior executives.
• Ability to respectfully work, communicate and provide leadership within a diverse campus community

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree from an accredited college or university in a relevant field.
• Familiarity with the higher education landscape.
• Existing relationships with higher education media and regional/national press outlets.

Compensation and Benefits:

Career Framework Information:
Job Family: Marketing and Communications
Level: C4
Pay Grade: 8

The anticipated range for this position is $76,949 ($37.05) to $83,490.00 ($40.20), or up to $95,292.39 (45.81) annually for an experienced candidate in this role. Decisions about starting salaries are made based on the extent and relatedness of the candidate's education and experience and on internal equity and market considerations.

Puget Sound offers a generous benefits package for eligible staff employees, including:

• Medical, dental, and vision
• Life insurance and long-term disability
• Employee Assistance Program
• Retirement plan options and 403(b) contributions
• Paid vacation, sick leave, floating holiday, campus holidays and bonus holidays
• Education benefits, such as full tuition for eligible employees and their families
• Access to university facilities and entertainment (fitness center, pool, library, concerts, lectures and more!)

Please note:
-Positions that work less than .75 FTE (1,560 hours per year) do not qualify for long-term disability or education benefits.
-Positions that work less than .50 FTE (1,040 hours per year) will accrue paid sick leave but are not eligible for additional benefits.
-Temporary positions that work at least .50 FTE (1,040 hours per year) will be eligible for benefits.

For more information on Puget Sound's exempt staff benefits package, visit: Summary of 2026 Benefits for Staff Members in Exempt Positions.pdf - Google Drive

For more information on Puget Sound's non-exempt staff benefits package, visit: Summary of 2026 Benefits for Staff Members in Non-Exempt Positions.pdf - Google Drive

For the Campus Holiday and Bonus Day Schedule, visit: https://www.pugetsound.edu/human-resources

Application Deadline:
Review of applications will begin immediately. Search and selection procedures will be closed when a sufficient number of qualified candidates have been identified.

Required Documents:

• Resume
• Letter of Interest
• 3 Professional References (At least 2 supervisors)
• At least 3 writing samples of news releases and/or feature stories

Applications submitted without the required attachments will not be considered.

All offers of employment are contingent on successful completion of all required background checks.

University Diversity Statement

We Acknowledge:

• The richness of commonalities and differences we share as a university community.
• The intrinsic worth of all who work and study here.
• The investigation and reflection enhance that education upon multiple perspectives.

We Aspire:

• To create respect for and appreciation of all persons as a key characteristic of our campus community.
• To increase the diversity of all parts of our university community through a commitment to diversity in our recruitment and retention efforts.
• To foster a spirit of openness to active engagement among all members of our campus community.

We Act:

• To achieve an environment that welcomes and supports diversity.
• To ensure full educational opportunity for all who teach and learn here.
• To prepare citizen-leaders effectively for a pluralistic world.

Puget Sound is committed to an environment that welcomes and supports diversity. We seek diversity of identity, thought, perspective, and background in our students, faculty, and staff. To learn more please visit: https://pugetsound.edu/about-puget-sound-0/mission-core-values/institutional-equity-diversity

The University of Puget Sound is an equal opportunity employer.