Media Relations Specialist in the Office of Public Affairs

Can you create a winning media pitch? Are you a great writer? Do you know what makes a good news story? We are looking for someone who will work within our Public Affairs Department to promote the heart and soul of what makes UTHealth Houston so special.

The Media Relations Specialist will foster relationships with faculty and staff as well as reporters. Excellent pitching and writing, a sense for news, and communication skills are key. You will be joining an energetic team of people charged with covering seven health-related schools as we tell their stories to local, state, national, and international media. 

We are seeking someone who can multitask while creating and executing highly effective media campaigns that support and enhance UTHealth Houston’s three-part mission of education, research, and patient care. A strong writing/media relations/news background is desired. 

To be considered for the position, all candidates must provide writing samples, which can be attached and uploaded into the system through the File Attachments section. This is the same way you uploaded your resume.   

Cover letters are highly recommended – tell us what you would bring to the role and why you want to join the UTHealth Houston team. The easiest way to attach a cover letter for this role would be the same method how you upload a resume and the writing samples through the File Attachments section of the application.   

This is a full-time position eligible for benefits. The main office is located in The Texas Medical Center, and you will need to have transportation to get to other locations on the UTHealth Houston campus and around the city as necessary. You will be covered by our health care insurance, which is employer-sponsored to cover all employees and will participate in a pension plan administered by the State of Texas. This role is full-time, salaried, and classified as exempt. Employees will work a hybrid schedule after a training period.  

What we do here changes the world. UTHealth Houston is Texas’ resource for healthcare education, innovation, scientific discovery, and excellence in patient care. That’s where you come in.

Once you join us, you won’t want to leave. It’s because we reward our team for the excellent service they provide. Our total rewards package includes the benefits you’d expect from a top healthcare organization (benefits, insurance, etc.), plus:  

• 100% paid medical premiums for our full-time employees  
• Generous time off (holidays, preventative leave day, both vacation and sick time – all of which equates to around 37-38 days per year) 
• The longer you stay, the more vacation you’ll accrue! 
• Longevity Pay (Monthly payments after two years of service) 
• Build your future with our awesome retirement/pension plan! 

We take care of our employees! As a world-renowned institution, our employees’ well-being is important to us. We offer work/life services such as… 

• Free financial and legal counseling 
• Free mental health counseling services 
• Gym membership discounts and access to wellness programs 
• Other employee discounts include entertainment, car rentals, cell phones, etc. 
• Resources for child and elder care 
• Plus, many more! 

Position Summary:

The Media Relations Specialist is responsible for promoting the university’s strategic priorities and protecting the university’s brand by developing and executing media, public relations, and social media strategies to inform and engage external and internal audiences. This role is vital to the support of the university’s three-part mission of education, research, and clinical practice by creating content and campaigns to tell the stories of the UTHealth Houston and elevate the brand, using tools including news releases, social media posts, photos, graphics, and video. The role requires strong communication, collaboration, writing, news judgment, and creative idea skills. 

Position Key Accountabilities:

• Works with key experts on beats to identify media opportunities; creates and pitches story ideas and responds to breaking news media requests on a tight deadline; arranges interviews with subject matter experts and media; escorts media on campus. Collaborates with faculty, staff, students, partners at teaching hospitals, and other constituents to communicate strategic news. Attends key meetings and events related to beats.
• Assists with social media strategy and execution for main university platforms, writes social media short stories and introductory copy; schedules content for social media as needed.
• Assists in creating and supplying photos and video content related to specific beats for social media, YouTube, and media requests; writes scripts as needed.
• Writes news releases and pitches about medical, scientific discovery, clinical trials, dental, nursing, public health, and bioinformatics news as applicable to beats, including new and published research, innovation, education, and clinical care; generates feature story ideas related to specific beats.
• Posts news content using the content management system to UTHealth Houston’s website; posts news hits on the website; corrects broken links on website news pages.
• Tracks, clips, and tags media relations activities through the use of online news monitoring service and news archive; provides results to content experts.
• Writes content for Media Relations media hits newsletter to leadership and staff.
• Appropriately guards UTHealth Houston’s interests/reputation and patient confidentiality while respecting the public’s right to know.
• Staff the media hotline.
• Serves as a first responder on UTHealth Houston’s emergency communications team.
• Performs other duties as assigned. 
   

Certification/Skills:

• Excellent written communication skills, including writing on deadline.
• Excellent verbal communication skills, including interviewing skills. 
• Knowledge of AP Style.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Word and Outlook.
• Knowledge of Content Management System.
• Knowledge of social media writing and posting. 
• Ability to identify news.
• Experience with online news media monitoring service preferred. 
• Ability to multitask and prioritize deadlines. 
• Photography and video skills preferred.

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in English, Journalism, Communications or allied field required. 

Minimum Experience:

Two (2) years of experience in public relations, communications, writing/editing, or related fields is required. 

Physical Requirements:

Exerts up to 20 pounds of force occasionally and/or up to 10 pounds frequently and/or a negligible amount constantly to move objects.

Security Sensitive:

This job class may contain positions that are security sensitive and thereby subject to the provisions of Texas Education Code § 51.215

Residency Requirement:

Employees must permanently reside and work in the State of Texas.