Communications Specialist

About Us:

Totally Joined For Achieving Collaborative Techniques (TJFACT) is a minority owned CVE verified Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) certified performance driven professional services government contracting company that provides a broad spectrum of services and solutions to the U.S government agencies and organizations.

About the Position:

TJFACT is seeking to hire an experienced and highly qualified Communications Specialist to join our NNCO (National Nanotechnology Coordination Office) team and National Coordination Office of the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) program in the Washington DC area.

This task is of critical importance for the NNCO as central point of contact for and public face of the NNI. The level of effort for NCO NITRD will be determined by NCO NITRD Director and Deputy Director. This task includes communication internal to the Federal community as well as communication with various external stakeholder groups and the broader public. Aspects of this task as detailed below require traditional communications and social media expertise while other aspects require detailed scientific understanding of the subject matter. It is expected that the contractor will collaborate closely with other staff members.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Please note the totality of duties include but are not limited to the following.

• Must be able to provide experienced and highly qualified staff to support the NNCO and NCO NITRD Director(s) and Deputy Director(s) in:
  • enhancing communications among the agencies concerning their R&D programs and between these agencies
  • generating greater awareness of scientific priorities and a balanced view of the applications and implications in the technical community and public
  • assembling preparatory material for the Director(s) and/or NNCO Deputy Director(s) for testimonies before Congress when required
  • maintaining lists of appropriate contacts and engagement with the press professional and technical societies participating agency communications offices and other relevant organizations
  • assembling preparatory material for the Director(s) and/or Deputy Director(s) and representatives from the agencies for presentations and interviews with the press and media; and
  • preparing and maintaining briefing books in areas of priorities. government academia K-12 schools non-profit organizations and the private sector as well as international organizations.
• Manage social media presence with guidance from the Director(s) and/or Deputy Director(s) and contribute proofread and copyedit content for websites.
• Compile distill and distribute weekly summaries of developments in the news for Federal representatives. Propose topics collect information draft content and edit the quarterly newsletters raft informal updates for the Federal community.
• Propose communications strategies to support the goals and objectives outlined in the Strategic Plan and to share targeted messages information and resources with members of the research community industry students teachers members of the press Congress the public the international community as well as leadership of the participating agencies. This includes message development media relations press relations researching and drafting press releases and other announcements and maintaining media databases. This also includes identifying potential meetings and conferences to showcase impact and maintaining. The communications strategy will be updated annually and submitted to the COR and/or Director(s) and/or Deputy Director(s) for approval.
• The contractor shall arrange media requests and placement of interviews with the Director(s) Deputy Director(s) and members of the Subcommittee(s). In planning for such interviews the contractor shall prepare talking points and briefings for those to be interviewed.
• Develop and maintain an internal media spreadsheet/database appropriate for the NNI and NCO NITRD including the following media targets: 1) key reporters currently writing on specific subjects 2) priority areas reporters 3) business editors and reporters 4) science and technology reporters 5) competitiveness globalization and economic reporters 6) key wire service reporters and editors posting to major web sites 7) key web sites and blogs. Communications staff members are expected to maintain outreach to these reporters and editors and news organizations to position NNCO and/or NCO NITRD as a central point of contact for Federal R&D activities.
• Responsibilities shall include monitoring media working with the Director(s) and Deputy Director(s) to respond to media inquiries. The contractor shall be responsible for working with and coordinating with the Director(s) and Deputy Director(s) and participating agency representatives to position them to serve as media resources for science writers trade press influential social media content creators and mainstream journalists as well as producers and editors. The contractor shall assist the Director(s) and/or Deputy Director(s) in preparing for interviews including research and tailoring of the interview to the story angle the media outlet and reporter. The contractor shall respond to public inquiries on various nanotechnology-related and other related matters with materials and information available at the NNCO NCO NITRD or the participating agencies. The contractor must be or become thoroughly aware of information and resources available at the NNCO NCO NITRD or from participating agencies.
• Assist the COR Director(s) or Deputy Director(s) in designing planning and implementing strategies for enhancing communications internal and external to the agencies. With respect to internal communications the contractor shall establish and maintain effective communication and collaboration channels between the NNCO and NNI agency public affairs and media officers as well as NCO NITRD and perspective agency public affairs offices.
• Support the Director and Deputy Director in preparation for such outreach with draft PowerPoint slides supporting data and text and other materials as requested. The level of effort for NCO NITRD will be determined by NCO NITRD Director and Deputy Director.
• Manage the NNCOs social media presence. The contractor shall develop and share informative and engaging content including targeted campaigns and/or posts in conjunction with broader celebrations (e.g. National Nano Day etc.). The contractor shall track statistics for website visits and social media engagement including followers and engagement and use these metrics to inform communications strategies. The similar level of effort is expected for website as directed by the NCO NITRD Director or Deputy Director.
• Monitor nanotechnology developmentsincluding through personal communications and observations and surveillance of technical publications press releases and news stories and share this knowledge with NNCO leadership and the broader NNCO staff. The contractor shall work with the NNCO Director and Deputy Director and other contractor support staff or NNCO Fellows (e.g. scientists graphics designers multimedia editor and/or IT specialists) to create edit and distribute nanotechnology highlights through a variety of media and venues including social media newsletters podcasts infographics videos etc. The contractor shall serve as the NNCO point of contact for the annual National Nanotechnology Day celebration. The contractor shall publicize the National Nanotechnology Day share ideas for activities and collect information on how organizations and individuals across the country celebrate. A similar level of effort is expected for NCO NITRD as directed by the NCO NITRD Director or Deputy Director.

Required Skills and Experience:

• U.S. Citizenship.
• Bachelors degree and significant experience in communications or public affairs at the professional level.
• Exceptional organizational interpersonal and time-management skills.
• Excellent writing and editing skills.
• Extensive knowledge of office hardware and software used for communications and social media.
• Knowledge of the vocabulary of nanotechnology and/or other scientific areas of the U.S. Government.
• Technical knowledge or experience in nanotechnology or in a related scientific engineering or technological discipline preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and on collaborative teams.

Benefits:

• Medical Vision and Dental Insurance
• 401-K plus match
• Paid Vacation days
• Paid holidays
• Short Term and Long Term Disability
• Voluntary Term Life

TJFACT is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race color religion sex national origin protected veteran status or status as an individual with a disability. EOE/Minority/Female/Disabled/Veteran. We reserve the right to modify or revise the job descriptions in part or in its entirety. Reasonable accommodations will be made in accordance with governing law.

Required Experience:

Unclear Seniority