Historian and Writer

12-Jan-2024

School of Management – Communications

86102BR

University Job Title

Communications Officer 1

Bargaining Unit

None – Not included in the union (Yale Union Group)

If Fixed Duration, Period

2 years from date of hire

If Fixed Duration, is continuation possible?

No

Other Fixed Duration Date

30-Mar-2026

Compensation Grade

Administration & Operations

Compensation Grade Profile

Supervisor; Senior Associate (23)

Wage Ranges

Click here to see our Wage Ranges

Searchable Job Family

Communications/Editing/Teaching

Total # of hours to be worked:

37.5

Work Week

Standard (M-F equal number of hours per day)

Work Location

Central Campus

Worksite Address

121 Whitney Avenue
New Haven, CT 06510

Position Focus:

The Historian and Writer will take the lead in telling the story of the history of the Yale School of Management as we prepare to celebrate the school’s fiftieth anniversary in 2026. The Historian and Writer will undertake in-depth research, produce a long-form narrative of the school’s history, and develop short features about points of interest from the last five decades. The Historian and Writer will also work with members of the communications team on the final format of any historical content, including website and print development, and support the school committee planning events to celebrate the anniversary. This is a two-year position.

Conduct in-depth research into the history of the Yale School of Management, including by conducting interviews and accessing archival materials. Write an extended overview of the school’s history, starting with the motivation behind its founding and continuing to the present day. Identify important themes, trends, and personalities in the school’s history. Identify engaging stories from the school’s history and find a way to effectively convey those stories to a general audience. Write web copy, scripts for videos and interactive features, and oversee production of final products. Create an archive of documents, interview transcripts, and photos and videos that can be easily shared with others and will preserve knowledge gained in this process. Work with the digital team to create a website with rich, interactive information on the history of the school. This will include video segments, an interactive timeline, and historical narratives. Work with the editorial team to develop appropriate print pieces. Support the committee planning events around the school’s fiftieth anniversary. This may include providing background information about the school’s history, contributing to discussions of appropriate ways to recognize the school’s history, generating ideas about communications projects that can enhance live events, ensuring that video, web, and print projects related to the anniversaries are completed on time. Contribute to other communications projects.

The following Essential Duties are generic in nature; the information contained in this Position Focus are most relevant to this position.

Essential Duties

1. Brand & Communications Strategy. Develops and executes public relations strategy, output, and performance for the department with the goal of increasing media impressions in local, national, industry-specific and alumni media. Creates communications strategy to showcase top technologies available for license. Ensures consistent look and tone for all department communications, including written content, website and social media. 2. Media Relations. Establishes and maintains effective working relationships with media representatives. Identifies opportunities to work with other the departments, university publications and the Office of Public Affairs to develop and publicize stories. 3. Content Creation. Assesses the University faculty inventions and student startups for newsworthiness and create compelling news and public relations content. Creates engaging, dynamic content for the public, including press releases, blog articles, website updates, newsletter articles and social media. 4. Outreach. Manages delivery channels for newsworthy content, including updating and maintaining the department websites, social media accounts, and articles for email newsletters, and creating video, print, and on-campus events. Creates websites that embed existing content from Yale and external sites (publications related to the technology, videos featuring inventor, profile on Yale Bulletin and Calendar innovators webpage). 5. Other. Seeks out, negotiates with and recommends external organizations that can provide services that optimize both the cost and functionality of the new communications strategy. Ensures that all communications conform to the University guidelines. Hires student workers as needed to assist in producing copy. May perform other duties as assigned.

Required Education and Experience

Bachelor’s Degree in a related field and four years of experience in website design, production, marketing, project management or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Required Skill/Ability 1:

Expertise in historical research tools and methods.

Required Skill/Ability 2:

Demonstrated ability writing long-form history for a general audience.

Required Skill/Ability 3:

Proven ability to complete projects according to outlined scope, budget, and timeline and to solve problems creatively.

Required Skill/Ability 4:

Strong interpersonal skills and written and verbal communications skills.

Required Skill/Ability 5:

Excellent attention to detail.

Preferred Education, Experience and Skills:

Graduate degree in history or a related field and four years’ experience in historical research, journalism, or similar roles. Professional certification in a related field.

Weekend Hours Required?

Occasional

Evening Hours Required?

Occasional

Background Check Requirements

All candidates for employment will be subject to pre-employment background screening for this position, which may include motor vehicle, DOT certification, drug testing and credit checks based on the position description and job requirements. All offers are contingent upon the successful completion of the background check. For additional information on the background check requirements and process visit “Learn about background checks” under the Applicant Support Resources section of Careers on the It’s Your Yale website.

COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement

The University maintains policies pertaining to COVID-19. All faculty, staff, students, and trainees are required to comply with these policies, which may be found here:
https://covid19.yale.edu/health-guidelines

Posting Disclaimer

The intent of this job description is to provide a representative summary of the essential functions that will be required of the position and should not be construed as a declaration of specific duties and responsibilities of the particular position. Employees will be assigned specific job-related duties through their hiring departments.

EEO Statement:

University policy is committed to affirmative action under law in employment of women, minority group members, individuals with disabilities, and protected veterans. Additionally, in accordance with Yale’s Policy Against Discrimination and Harassment, and as delineated by federal and Connecticut law, Yale does not discriminate in admissions, educational programs, or employment against any individual on account of that individual’s sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, age, disability, status as a special disabled veteran, veteran of the Vietnam era or other covered veteran.

Inquiries concerning Yale’s Policy Against Discrimination and Harassment may be referred to the Office of Institutional Equity and Accessibility (OIEA).

Note

Yale University is a tobacco-free campus