Assistant Director, Media
Global Impact Group
Job posting information
Job type: Staff
Salary range: $10,834 to $13,105 per month
Location: Seattle, WA; Remote eligible within USA
Date posted: March 18, 2024
As a UW employee, you have a unique opportunity to change lives on our campuses, in our state and around the world. UW employees offer their boundless energy, creative problem-solving skills and dedication to build stronger minds and a healthier world.
UW faculty and staff also enjoy outstanding benefits, professional growth opportunities and unique resources in an environment noted for diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits and natural beauty.
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) is an independent research center at the University of Washington (UW). Its mission is to deliver to the world timely, relevant, and scientifically valid evidence to improve health policy and practice. IHME carries out a range of projects within different research areas including the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors (GBD); Future Health Scenarios; Cost Effectiveness and Efficiency; Resource Tracking; and Impact Evaluations.
IHME is committed to providing the evidence base necessary to help solve the world’s most important health problems. This requires creativity and innovation, which are cultivated by an inclusive, diverse, and equitable environment that respects and appreciates differences, embraces collaboration, and invites the voices of all IHME team members.
About the team
The Global Impact Group (GIG) serves IHME’s vision of all people living long lives in full health through innovative communication and collaboration. GIG explains, amplifies, and delivers research findings of the most critical health challenges across a range of channels to reach its target audiences, working with scientists and decision-makers to strengthen the evidence base of research, allowing them to take informed action. Within GIG, the Media team promotes IHME’s research, faculty, staff, and its products through media outreach, stakeholder engagement, and multimedia content that’s timely, newsworthy, and engaging to a broad range of audiences.
POSITION PURPOSE
IHME has an opening for an experienced Assistant Director, Media. The primary purpose of this position will be to manage the Media team, develop and execute strategies to drive global media coverage of IHME’s work, and create opportunities for data-driven storytelling.
The Assistant Director, Media works in close collaboration with IHME leaders and researchers to expand stakeholders’ understanding of and trust in IHME’s research and data by increasing earned media globally and maximizing the production of owned media, including IHME’s Global Health Insights (GHI) podcast, newsletter, videos, and blogs.
This requires strong people management skills and project management skills, knowing how to support and develop a high-achieving team and supervise work from idea generation through completion. The person in this role will direct strategic relationship cultivation with a wide range of journalists and media outlets covering local, national, and international topics to reach the public and audiences including policymakers and other leaders in government, the private sector, nonprofit organizations, health-related organizations, and donors. The Assistant Director, Media will also manage relationships with external communications firms and consultants as needed. This position oversees the development of owned media platforms along with earned media and should be comfortable coming up with creative ideas, approaches, and strategies to develop and expand those platforms. The Assistant Director, Media is responsible for overseeing the identification, creation, and dissemination of information that forms the basis of high-quality stories that demonstrate the policy-relevance of IHME’s research and data in clear and compelling ways. In collaboration with an agile team, they must strategize on creative tactics for media outreach and uptake and use analytics to measure and analyze the impact of that outreach and uptake. This position reports to IHME’s Director of Communications and manages a small team of media professionals.
Media strategy
- Strategically manage and expand IHME’s network of global media contacts, key opinion leaders, policymakers, and other stakeholders; proactively identify opportunities for new relationships and strengthen relationships with journalists to disseminate IHME’s evidence-based research effectively and seek to impact global health policy.
- Ensure inquiries and requests from journalists for findings and interviews with experts in IHME’s research network are handled in a timely and professional way.
- Oversee and provide media training to faculty and staff to help them prepare for on-camera and off-camera interviews with journalists and for podcasts, respond to tough questions, and shape the narrative with key messages.
- Develop and execute creative strategies to build owned media platforms, including podcast and newsletter.
- Brainstorm topics, angles, guests, questions, and overarching messages for podcast and video blog and assisting with podcast production.
- Manage relationships with communications firms and external consultants, identifying appropriate candidates and managing RFP processes when necessary.
- Communicate collaboratively and effectively with other members of GIG, as well as other faculty and staff, key communications staff at UW and UW’s School of Medicine, and other stakeholders to engage IHME’s growing research network in working with the media to explain research findings.
- Design IHME-led trainings for journalists in how to use Global Burden of Disease data and data visualizations.
- Serve as a spokesperson for IHME.
- Maintain confidentiality of sensitive information.
Team management
- Supervise employees, to include hiring and training, assigning work hours, managing workflow, priority setting, contributing to professional growth and performance development, resolving complaints, and providing course-correcting guidance when necessary.
- Create and manage work plans for team members, hold regular check-ins to monitor work progress, answer questions, and troubleshoot as needed.
- Provide direction, coaching, and support, ensuring team members have the clarity and guidance needed to be accountable for their work.
- Ensure the team delivers to the highest standards of the organization.
- Ensure the team works effectively and collaboratively with other teams within GIG and groups throughout IHME; promote cross-organization teamwork.
- Assess and map project deliverables to resource needs.
- Advise on short- and long-term team structure including providing input on recruitment's.
- Identify and foster opportunities to advance individuals’ knowledge and abilities.
Writing, outreach, and analytics
- Work with faculty and staff to transform complex research into compelling and policy-relevant messages that are comprehensible to targeted non-scientific audiences.
- Oversee the development of all outreach products including press releases, media advisories/alerts, media pitches, messaging briefs, fact sheets, info-graphics, podcast, blog, and newsletters.
- Manage development and maintenance of a calendar of media outreach opportunities as well as speaking opportunities and conference participation opportunities.
- In all avenues, communicate to diverse audiences in a language and manner that connects with their interests while explaining in clear terms IHME’s work and mission.
- Manage compilation and reporting of KPIs (key performance indicators) and creation of reports and slides for IHME’s Senior Management Team, Board, Independent Advisory Committee, faculty, staff, funders, partners, and collaborators.
Knowledge command
- Develop in-depth familiarity with media organizations and journalists around the world, including their political and cultural contexts.
- Regularly review the landscape of international media coverage on a range of population health, global development, and other health-related topics including business, economics, and technology to identify ways for IHME’s work to be woven into the global dialogue.
- Present summaries of research, implications, and opportunities to multiple audiences, including audiences from local government and donors.
- Recognize, assess, and address risks and crisis situations that could potentially affect IHME’s reputation and brand.
Bachelor’s degree in journalism, communications, or related field plus 10 to 15 years of experience in a role or roles in media relations, public relations, or a combination of work in journalism and communications with internal and external stakeholders and influential organizations and individuals.
- Previous experience managing and leading a team is required.
- Exceptional management and leadership capabilities, with a proven track record of supervising and developing the work of staff members, freelancers, and working with external vendors.
- Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to foster productive relationships with colleagues at all levels of the organization including senior leadership, external partners, and the Institute’s third-party service providers.
- Professional maturity with an ability to work both independently and collaboratively to achieve objectives, displaying good judgment and strong decision-making skills.
- Ability to take technical and highly scientific research and make it relevant, clear, and concise for the public.
- Superb time management skills and demonstrated experience managing multiple work streams, managing evolving priorities, and helping team members to prioritize projects accordingly.
- Adaptable, comfortable with change, and an ability to contribute a solutions-oriented mindset.
- Committed to a focus on accountability and delivering results while able to meet ongoing deadlines including those that are time sensitive.
- Creative, with highly developed strategic thinking capabilities along with ability to set and execute strategy.
- Project management experience and the ability to develop ideas into well thought out projects.
- Excellent communications skills, both written and oral.
- Outstanding organizational skills, attention to detail, commitment to accuracy and high-quality work.
- Aptitude for public speaking before large and small audiences.
- Commitment to working to alongside others at IHME to illuminate the health impacts of systemic racism and to work within IHME to make our organization more diverse and inclusive. See IHME’s DEI statement here: https://www.healthdata.org/about/careers/dei.
- Substantive knowledge of public health research and policy, data science, and other related research fields.
- Prior experience transforming statistical information into compelling written and spoken content targeted at a general audience.
- Proficiency in more than one language to help build a global, multilingual team.
- This position leads a global team and works with a global network of stakeholders, as such evening and weekend work may be required to fulfill job duties.
- Travel may be required up to 30% of the year, both domestic and international.
- Office is located in Seattle, Washington. This position is eligible to work fully remote; work schedule required to overlap 50% of IHME Office hours between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Pacific Time.
- Valid passport or the ability to obtain one is required.
Application information
The application process may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process. These assessments may include Work Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others. Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select “Apply to this position”. Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your “My Jobs” page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your "My Jobs" page to take when you are ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.
Committed to attracting and retaining a diverse staff, the University of Washington will honor your experiences, perspectives and unique identity. Together, our community strives to create and maintain working and learning environments that are inclusive, equitable and welcoming.
The University of Washington is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.
To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 or [email protected].
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) is an independent research center at the University of Washington (UW). Its mission is to deliver to the world timely, relevant, and scientifically valid evidence to improve health policy and practice. IHME carries out its mission through a range of projects within different research areas including the Global Burden of Diseases (GBD), Injuries, and Risk Factors; Future Health Scenarios; Cost Effectiveness and Efficiency; Resource Tracking; and Impact Evaluations. Our vision is to provide policymakers, donors, and researchers with the highest-quality quantitative evidence base so all people live long lives in full health.
IHME is committed to providing the evidence base necessary to help solve the world’s most important health problems. This requires creativity and innovation, which are cultivated by an inclusive, diverse, and equitable environment that respects and appreciates differences, embraces collaboration, and invites the voices of all IHME team members.