Science Communications Coordinator

Topeka, KS (On-site)

$55K/yr – $60K/yrMid Level1+ years expInternship

Posted 6 weeks ago

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Job Summary

Own outreach storytelling for a science education audience, coordinating public information content, grant promotion and conference materials to boost KGS visibility.

  • Outreach Content Ownership: Write general-audience educational pieces, social content, press releases, and grant materials.
  • Grant & Event Promotion: Create promotional assets, museum exhibits, and organize project events tied to funded projects.
  • Conference & Storytelling: Oversee field conference materials and linked story map with guidebooks in collaboration with content teams.

Job Description

Responsibilities

  • 50% – Support outreach efforts by writing educational content specifically for general audiences such as the Educational Series and Research Spotlights publications, GeoKansas content, social media, press releases, grant applications, nomination packages for KGS scientists and staff. Solicit ideas for new Public Information Circulars.
  • 30% – Support grant funded projects and programs at the KGS by developing promotional and marketing material, writing press releases, museum exhibits, and organizing project specific events.
  • 15% – Support the Kansas Field Conference with field conference guidebook layout, formatting, and design. Work with the KGS Website Content Manager and Editor to create a corresponding story map with the Kansas Field Conference Guidebooks.
  • 5% – Other duties as assigned.

Requirements

  • Travel up to an accumulated two weeks per year to participate in meetings and other project-related activities.
  • Valid driver’s license to drive state vehicle by the time of hire.
  • Bachelor’s degree in geology, journalism, public relations, communications, or other related fields.
  • Minimum 1 year of relevant experience.
  • Strong communication skills as evidenced by application material.
  • Proficiency using Microsoft Office Suite applications and Adobe applications, specifically Adobe Illustrator, as evidenced by application material.

Preferred

  • Master’s Degree in geology, journalism, public relations, education, communications, or other related fields.
  • Experience with organizing and coordinating outreach program events as evidenced by application material.
  • Experience with designing and building museum exhibits as evidenced by application material.
  • Successful experience in a team environment as evidenced by application material.
  • Experience with writing press releases for a state agency as evidenced by application material.
  • Experience with graphic design as evidenced by application material.
  • Experience with designing promotional and marketing material in a variety of formats, including print, online, and hands-on learning materials as evidenced by application material.

Benefits

  • KU offers great benefits to employees with up to 176 hours of paid vacation earned per year, 96 hours of sick leave earned per year, nine paid holidays plus one discretionary day, a retirement program, medical & dental insurance, life and disability insurance, other benefit plan options, and State of Kansas discounts offered by various vendors.
  • KU also offers employees educational and professional development opportunities.
  • KGS at KU is a great place to work!
The University of Kansas logo

The University of Kansas

The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university and a center for learning, scholarship, and creative endeavor. KU is the only Kansas Regents university to hold membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU), a select group of North America’s leading research institutions.KU is the oldest and largest university in the state. Our 2024 enrollment reached 31,169, the highest in KU’s history, and more than 400,000 KU alumni work to better Kansas and the world each day.KU has 48 ranked academic programs, houses 38 research centers and institutes and over 40 core research labs, and contributes nearly $8 billion annually to Kansas’ economy.KU’s main campus is in Lawrence, Kansas, and the KU Medical Center is in Kansas City, Kansas. Additionally, there are campuses in Overland Park, Salina, and Wichita. Rock Chalk!

Founded in 1924
Lawrence, Kansas, USA
10K employees (323 in marketing)

Traffic Signals

Monthly Visitors
2.2M
Monthly Google Ads Budget
$302.6K
Traffic Source Mix
Search
41.1%
Direct
51.5%
Referral
5.9%
Social
0.7%
Paid
0.6%

Headcount Trend

Current headcount: ~10.5K

Marketing Team

Marketing Team Size
323 (3% of company)
Median Career Experience
7 years
Median Tenure
4 years
Marketing Roles Posted (Last 30 Days)
2

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