Senior Director, International Media Relations

Position Title : Senior Director, International Media Relations

Location : Special Olympics Headquarters, Remote, Outside of United States

Department : Brand, Communications & Content

Reports to (supervisor) : Vice President, International Media Relations and Communications

Salary Range for US Based Staff : $103,992 - $122,343

FLSA Status : Exempt

Company Summary :

Founded in 1968, Special Olympics is a global movement to end discrimination against people with intellectual disabilities. We foster acceptance of all people through the power of sport and programming in education, health, and leadership. With nearly four million athletes and Unified Sports® partners and one million coaches and volunteers in more than 170 countries, Special Olympics delivers more than 30 Olympic-type sports and nearly 50,000 games and competitions every year. Learn more at SpecialOlympics.org.

Position Summary :

The Senior Director of International Media Relations serves as the lead strategic media advisor to the sport, health, and global youth and education teams, specifically driving storytelling and content opportunities to capture the attention of national, regional and international media.

Our ideal candidate has international media relations experience regularly pitching and securing stories in multiple geographic areas and has a keen understanding of how to improve an organization’s public presence through various channels including paid, owned and earned media. Working background as a journalist or producer is preferred.

The Senior Director of International Media Relations closely collaborates with each programmatic area communications lead as well as each Regional Communications Team member to :

• Develop and execute a global external public relations strategy that supports the strategic objectives and broader organizational goals.
• Constantly mine for potential news angles and data to support opportunistic storytelling and establishes an ongoing pipeline of content to pitch for media outreach.
• Identify proactive earned media moments and pitch / place breakthrough stories for targeted audiences in broadcast, print, online and new media.
• Help develop global external media strategy for international events including World Games, Unified Cups, Regional Games, etc.
• Draft communications materials, including but not limited to media strategies, key messages, press releases, statements, question and answer documents and owned assets.
• Provide high-level briefing materials and talking points to Special Olympics spokespeople.
• Collaborate across the geographically- and functionally matrixed organization to ensure consistent branding and messaging specific each programmatic area.
• Promote a culture of high performance and continuous improvement that values learning and a commitment to quality. Must have attention to detail and be a critical thinker.
• Continually develop contact list of journalists and media outlets, covering all media – print, TV, radio, web etc. – and a successful process of communicating and maintaining regular contact and close collaboration with the media to communicate the Special Olympics story to a wider audience.
• Help establish new and maintain existing relationships on behalf of Special Olympics.
• Coordinate queries from journalists and the media in general and responds to their information requests.

The Senior Director for International Media Relations helps support global external awareness efforts and requires working collaboratively across the marketing & communications department, and Special Olympics program staff supporting seven SO regions (Africa, Asia Pacific, East Asia, Europe / Eurasia, Latin America, and Middle East / North Africa, North America).

Primary Responsibilities :

Required Qualifications :

Desired Qualifications :

For USA based staff : Special Olympics offers full-time employees a generous and comprehensive benefits package, which includes : medical, dental, vision, HSA, FSA, life insurance, disability, retirement, legal resources, and PTO.

Special Olympics provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.