Responsibilities
The Senior Public Information Officer/Writer serves to inform key audiences, including external and internal audiences, about the science and research news of the UCLA Health Sciences and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
This position works with UCLA Health faculty and staff to identify newsworthy scientific story ideas and vet research developments across the basic and translational science fields with an emphasis on cardiology, pulmonology, OB/GYN, and emergency medicine to prioritize and create promotional strategies using press releases, research alerts, editorials, essays, blog posts and other forms of content for external audiences and the general public.
Responsibilities include staying abreast of the research landscape at DGSOM/UCLA Health, building connections with researchers, developing story ideas about neuroscience and basic science at UCLA Health Sciences, researching existing and emerging scientific literature and trends to identify newsworthy angles, and writing compelling content to bring those topics to life in an engaging manner.
The Senior Public Information Officer/Writer must have a strong understanding of science and its impact and be able to translate complex scientific studies into lay-friendly language.
They must be able to engage researchers and clinicians, conduct interviews and follow-up as necessary, and maintain relationships to create and build trust and credibility as a foundational aspect of supportive promotion.
They must also understand how to engage the general public, identifying the elements most likely to resonate with a broad audience while also effectively communicating scientific advances and relevance.
Strong organizational skills and the ability to self-manage to execute multiple projects on deadline are a must.
This position will work closely with a team of media specialists to identify and develop strategies for projects, initiatives, and research developments to increase awareness among the public and news media.
Position must have a consistent attention to detail, be enthusiastic about explaining science and have demonstrated experience in doing so.
Qualifications
Outstanding written and oral communications skills.
Demonstrated record of successful national, regional and local media relations planning, implementation and placement.
Extensive media contacts at key local, California and national media.
Ability to work with researchers to get buy-in for presenting their work honestly effectively and with maximum impact for a broad readership
Able to identify priorities for what to cover and manage a large number of requests.
Demonstrated reporting and writing skills that meet journalistic codes and are suitable for publications, newspapers, magazine and broadcast on radio and television and social media.
Demonstrated skills in journalistic writing and interpreting medical and scientific information for general readers.
Demonstrated ability to anticipate public events that can be used to advance institutional objectives.
Demonstrated ability to successfully coordinate multiple ongoing tasks and responsibilities of varying degrees of complexity simultaneously.
Demonstrated skill in creating and managing a comprehensive media relations plan, including handling a high volume of media inquiries often with simultaneous deadlines.
Demonstrated ability to work as part of a team and to lead the team in certain projects
Demonstrated ability to respond effectively to changing priorities.
Thorough knowledge and understanding of current events, issues and developments in the subject areas of health care and medical research.
Knowledge of other issues facing assigned beat areas.
Ability to serve rotating on-call duties 24/7 and work nights and weekends, when needed.
Demonstrated record of implementing new technologies and new communication tools; including use of both still and video cameras.
Preferred
Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution of higher education strongly preferred
Minimum of 5 years full-time experience on the staff of a newspaper, radio, TV station, in-house PR team or PR agency .
Ability to speak and write in multiple languages.
Preferred
Demonstrative ability in crisis and disaster communications, including experience preparing background material on crisis matters and conducting media training.
Preferred
UCLA is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected Veteran status.