Communications Operations Associate

Responsibilities

• Independently coordinate the Public Affairs team's day-to-day workflow, maintaining an up-to-date Asana task tracker and editorial/production calendar for releases, newsletters, campaigns, and other deliverables.
• Track assignments, owners, approvals, dependencies, and deadlines; anticipate competing demands, identify bottlenecks, and help resolve routine conflicts before they delay work.
• Coordinate handoffs among communications staff, policy colleagues, volunteers, and outside contractors; follow up proactively and close the loop on outstanding tasks.
• Document and improve repeatable workflows, checklists, templates, and team systems.
• Provide proactive administrative and scheduling support to Public Affairs leadership and the broader team, coordinating meetings and interviews across multiple calendars and participants.
• Manage invitations, meeting links, reminders, agendas, shared materials, notes, and action items as needed; follow through on next steps.
• Organize shared files, contacts, and distribution lists; prepare materials and handle routine logistical requests with accuracy and discretion.
• Anticipate routine needs, recognize when competing requests require a decision, and raise issues promptly with the appropriate colleagues.
• Triage incoming press inquiries, acknowledge or route them promptly, assess urgency and deadlines, and maintain complete records of requests and follow-up needs.
• Coordinate interviews and volunteer expert availability; help ensure reporters receive approved materials and timely responses.

Requirements

• At least 1 year of relevant experience in communications operations, administrative support, project coordination, media relations support, nonprofit operations, or a similarly detail-intensive role; two or more years preferred.
• Highly productive in remote working environments.
• Interest in environmental justice, US environmental and health policy, the work of EPA, and enthusiasm for EPN's mission.
• Familiarity with Google Docs and Spreadsheets.
• Exceptional organization, accuracy, follow-through, and confidence managing multiple simultaneous priorities in a fast-moving environment.
• Demonstrated ability to triage competing requests, set appropriate priorities, anticipate problems, and move routine work forward independently while recognizing when to seek guidance or escalate.
• Clear, professional written communication; careful proofreading; and sound judgment when handling reporter inquiries, external requests, and sensitive information.
• Proficiency with calendars, spreadsheets, shared documents, and contact databases; comfort using task-management tools and learning new publishing and distribution systems.
• Ability to work independently in a remote team, follow up constructively across roles, ask clarifying questions early, and communicate when deadlines or priorities conflict.

Preferred

• Experience with Asana, MuckRack, or comparable media databases or platforms (preferred).
• Experience with design tools such as Canva and basic web or document layout (preferred).

Benefits

• The Environmental Protection Network is a fully remote virtual environment. We think about our compensation as a package of total rewards that starts with a competitive salary.
• Work-Life Balance: - Employees are encouraged to balance a 40-hour work week with a flexible work schedule and core hours of 11 AM-4 PM ET.
• - 11 paid Federal Holidays and other paid days when the office is closed, including:
• - The work day before or after July 4.
• - The day before and after Thanksgiving.
• - The week of December 25th and the week of Jan 1st (FY27- December 20th-December 31st).
• - Organization-wide non-meeting days on all major holidays that fall outside of the federal calendar (our staff can submit these to our calendar based on religious or cultural holidays).
• - 3 weeks (120 hours) of paid time off (inclusive of sick, personal days, and vacation).
• - 5 days of annual disaster relief time off in the event of a natural disaster impacting you or your family (does not carry over or pay out upon exit).
• - 5 days of annual bereavement (does not carry over or pay out upon exit).