Director, Strategic Communications - Men's Basketball Intercollegiate Athletics

Strategic Communications Lead For Cal Men's Basketball

This position will lead strategic communications efforts for the Cal men's basketball program. Will utilize existing knowledge to craft strategy around storytelling efforts and immerse themselves in the ethos of the sport both on a conference, community, college, national and international level. While this role will decide which mediums and content are necessary, there will be a strong focus on digital content and communication utilizing various digital platforms - with the proper channel(s) chosen by the employee based on themessage created. With a strong emphasis on brand awareness, broad-reaching messaging, recruiting and retaining student-athletes and providing entertainment to all consumers of Cal Athletics, this position is critical in supporting the storytelling for these areas. This position allows a narrowed focus of communication excellence needed for men's basketball to thrive in the existing college athletics ecosystem. This position will also manage 1-2 Associate Directors, Strategic & Creative Communications. Guided by the overarching Athletics strategic plan, the employee will create and lead the planning and execution of communications specific to men's basketball. This position will demonstrate competency in establishing relationships with key stakeholders involved men's basketball - including, but not limited to media members, governing body heads, conference resources, NCAA employees, and sport-specific influencers and content strategists. These relationships will be critical in ensuring optimal coverage, attention, brand recognition, and publicization for external audiences. This role requires collaborative work and sport-specific media plan leadership across the department, including with coaches, senior leaders and campus entities. Internally, there is an emphasis on integrating with other content creators, Athletics digital ecosystems directors, Cal Athletics fundraisers and game day entertainment. Other duties include arranging and conducting interviews, maintaining and compiling records and statistics and serving as a team historian for men's basketball.

Responsibilities include:

• Men's Basketball Team Immersion: Engage with all members of the men's basketball team to understand student-athletes' personalities, talents, and strengths. Translate these insights into compelling narratives for public consumption.
• Men's Basketball Media Plan Creation: Develop, manage, and continuously refine a comprehensive media plan. Define messaging cadence, communication channels, content types, audience targeting, and timing. Ensure consistent and strategic promotion of teams.
• Storytelling Integrator: Collaborate across Athletics digital teams, content creators, fundraisers, and game day staff. Ensure aligned messaging and cohesive storytelling.
• Strategic Communications Project Management: Act as the primary public-facing contact. Manage incoming requests, coordinate coverage, and oversee updates to media plans. Maintain institutional knowledge of each program.

Required qualifications include:

• Advanced knowledge of program activity and best practices.
• Demonstrated problem-solving skills.
• Ability to multi-task and work effectively with frequent interruptions.
• Strong active listening skills.
• Excellent verbal communication skills in the English language.
• Excellent written communication skills in the English language.
• Proficiency in the use of computer applications relevant to job duties.
• Ability to create and execute a sport-specific storytelling strategy.
• Ability to create and follow a sport-specific media plan.
• Ability to define cadence of messaging.
• Ability to identify target audiences.
• Ability to select appropriate communication mediums.
• Ability to determine types of content.
• Ability to establish and manage schedules.
• Ability to quickly learn all facets of a sports program.
• Ability to understand personnel, trends, participants, and the national landscape.
• Ability to identify and engage critical audiences.
• Ability to thrive in a flexible, fast-paced, and dynamic work environment.
• Strong ability to create targeted content to support recruitment and retention.
• Proficiency in using social media to promote teams and Athletics.
• Experience using Facebook, X, TikTok, Instagram, and other social media platforms for storytelling.
• Strong collaboration skills.
• Ability to adjust schedules, timelines, content, messaging, and mediums as needed.
• Ability to respond to immediate and high-impact needs of a sports program.
• Knowledge of the NCAA and Power 4 landscape.
• Understanding of recruiting cycles, NIL trends, and student-athlete retention drivers.
• Working knowledge of concepts and principles of news and media communications.
• Ability to maintain current knowledge of applicable rules and standards of the Atlantic Coast Conference and the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
• Ability to comply with all rules and standards applicable to the Berkeley campus of the University of California and affiliated organizations.
• Demonstrated leadership skills to guide the strategic direction of storytelling across multiple platforms.
• Strong time management skills.
• Strong project management skills.
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously from concept through completion.
• Bachelor's degree in related area and / or equivalent experience / training.

Salary and benefits information can be found on the University of California's Compensation & Benefits website. The budgeted annual salary range that the University reasonably expects to pay for this position is $80,000.00 - $110,000.00.

To apply, please submit your resume and cover letter.