Marketing and Communications Associate

Job Summary

Caltech/IPAC's Communication and Education (ICE) team is seeking a Marketing and Communications Associate. This full-time position is for a candidate with a solid understanding of the Caltech environment, astronomy in general, and the ability to develop and lead communications and engagement campaigns for the traditional media, science community and/or the general public.

IPAC, part of the Physics, Math, and Astronomy Division at Caltech (www.caltech.edu), provides science operations, user support, data and archive services, and scientific vision to maximize discovery with observatories both in space and on the ground. The ICE team works with researchers at IPAC, JPL and international partnerships to develop, document and communicate mission stories and general science education via press releases, imagery, audio, video, and VR experiences. IPAC has stories to tell, and we invite you to be a part of the team that finds and tells these stories!

Essential Job Duties

• As Marketing and Communications Associate, you will work collaboratively in an active, creative, and strategic environment with ICE team members, as well as scientists and project members from the missions and projects with IPAC involvement.
• In your role, you will serve as the Media Representative for IPAC and be the prime point of contact for the traditional and online media.
• You will lead IPAC's social media for the general public, and coordinate with the lead for social media for the science/technical community.
• This role offers the possibility to use your vision, strategic planning skills, technical acumen, and science knowledge to define and create a vision for communications campaigns to engage and inform the general public and/or the science community.
• Your campaigns will be developed and implemented for a variety of platforms: press releases, digital communications, social media, in-person outreach and educational events and activities, written features, multimedia and more.
• Your experience with evolving social media platforms will enable you to plan, develop, and create fun, engaging and informative campaigns around science content themes and educational experiences.
• You will collaborate with ICE team members to develop multimedia products for different areas of science education, outreach, and communications. The media will incorporate a blend of graphics, and live-action / interview videos and animations. These will visually communicate complex scientific ideas in clear and concise ways, to help people to understand and be engaged by astronomy and the sciences.
• You will develop written communications in the form of features, discovery announcements, biographies and more.
• This is a full-time on-site position within an active, creative, and strategic team.
• The ability to receive feedback as well as work both independently and in a close-knit team environment are essential.

Basic Qualifications

If you have the following background, then we want to hear about your interest in joining our team:

• Bachelor or advanced degree in physics or astronomy.
• At least one year of science writing experience for technical and general public audiences.
• Experience as a media representative, developing press relations and media relations.
• Multimedia development and general graphic design, UI/UX development, knowledge of Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Final Cut Pro, or other similar tools.
• Experience and demonstrated success on social media platforms: Brand development, platform architecture design, and content creation, utilizing understanding of best practices and strategies.

Preferred Qualifications

Beyond these basic qualifications, there are a set of skills and experiences which will add to your ability to contribute to the roles and responsibilities of an IPAC/ICE Marketing and Communications Associate. The following might give you a head-start here, but even if these do not describe you or your experience, we would still like to hear from you:

• Familiarity with NASA Astrophysics missions and research.
• Undergraduate or graduate degree (completed or on-going) in Science Communication.
• Ability to multitask and work independently on non-routine, complex projects.
• Experience working with scientific data sets and research, and experience working with scientists to develop content for the general public.
• Strong teamwork, collaboration, verbal, and written communication, along with demonstrated creativity and problem-solving capabilities.
• A passion for science communication.
• A passion for science communication.

Submission Documents

• Required: Resume.
• Optional: writing sample. Graphic design sample. Social media experience.