Dir. of Communications, Women's Professional Soccer, San Francisco

Director of Communications - WPS League Office (San Francisco, CA)


SUMMARY:
Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), the premier women’s professional soccer league in North America, is recruiting for a Director of Communications position. Women’s Professional Soccer will begin play in April 2009 and consists of seven teams across the country (Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New Jersey/New York, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C). The League office is based in San Francisco.

This position directs all communications activity for Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS). The individual assuming this position will be responsible for developing and executing high-impact creative ideas designed to generate strong, positive traditional and new media press coverage, working closely with all departments and external partnerships to integrate communications at all-levels. In addition, this individual will develop the long-term strategic plan for all public relations initiatives, while working with the League’s PR agency and all team PR departments to provide PR support for any community relations, marketing, sales and sponsorships announcements, and any public affairs activities. This person will also be responsible for the overall reputation and brand messaging management of WPS.


SPECIFIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
Manage and direct all communications activity for WPS with key responsibility for positioning WPS to be the premier women's soccer league in the world and the global standard by which women's professional sports are measured; responsible for the overall reputation management of WPS.

Responsible for identifying, developing and executing high-impact creative ideas designed to generate strong positive press coverage, integrating communications at all-levels of the League.

Responsible for new story generation and pitching story ideas to League beat writers/reporters, social networking sites and communities and other non-traditional media in such areas as health, fitness, fashion, lifestyle, business and entertainment.

Directly responsible for developing comprehensive PR strategy for the League and implementing a plan to both heighten the League’s visibility and ensure a consistent message with the national and local market media and general public.

Establish, maintain and grow strong relationships with traditional and non-traditional media/press. Maintain a media list for national, regional and local traditional and non-traditional media members.

Serve as primary spokesperson and ambassador for WPS. Provide major PR support for introduction of WPS initiatives and programs.

Work closely with senior executives on long-term planning and major PR initiatives. Ensure that the overall strategic PR program and accompanying messaging are consistently executed and fully integrated with all League initiatives and activities. Facilitate and staff press requests for senior executives of WPS and prepare executives for interviews with messaging, background, etc.

Coordinate local market press requests of senior league staff and similarly, coordinate national traditional and new media requests of players and team front office personnel.

Supervise an integrated communications agency and League staff that handle media relations, internal communications, community relations, broadcasting, publications, and PR support for League sales and sponsorships.
Direct management of all public relations interns.

Serve as the managing editor for the League Media Guide and League program including hiring freelance writers and assigning feature stories on players for the League program.

Supervise day-to-day soccer media relations efforts and coordinate the production of press announcements, talking points, Q&As, speeches, presentations and other documents as requested.

Manage league press conferences and press events.

Supervise game day press operations for the League All-Star Game, Championship Game and any other games produced by WPS, including assignments for PR staff and game day help, credentialing and parking.

Work closely with teams and other key sports industry contacts to foster a positive image for WPS within the industry and create unique PR opportunities. work with trade media to seed stories and generate positive business news regarding WPS.

Directly responsible for handling crisis and major PR challenges; coordinate with outside agencies as appropriate.

Actively participate in staff meetings and marketing meetings with an emphasis on integrating public relations efforts with sales and marketing efforts.

Develop and maintain bios and photo files for League officials.

Develop and maintain a budget for the department.


BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE:
This person will manage day-to-day media relations and press announcements. This person will work closely with the League Commissioner and all team PR Directors to develop actionable PR plans and creative initiatives designed to take the PR effort to a higher level in order to maximize efforts and create a stronger brand identity, and in turn, generate more awareness for WPS and its teams.

Ideally the candidate will hold a BA/BS degree in public relations, marketing or related field: graduate or MBA degree preferred, with 5 or more years direct public relations experience in the sports and entertainment industry either at a private or public company or public relations agency, with particular consideration given to candidate with extensive sports/soccer experience, as well as a familiarity and knowledge of professional women’s soccer and the U.S. soccer media.

Travel and weekend hours will be required


PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS:
Candidate must have strong experience developing and executing strategic PR plans and initiatives as well as hands on experience managing media relations.

Candidate must have strong interpersonal, oral and written communication skills and the ability to work effectively in a team environment and interact internally with senior management and externally with senior executives OF WPS partners.

Candidate must be a self-starter with the ability to manage time and prioritize initiatives/activities.

Experience in working effectively with PR agencies is necessary.

Experience working in a fast-paced, Internet/new media oriented and/or entrepreneurial environment is preferred.Not required but helpful: a passion for sports, soccer, and women’s sports in particular.

http://womensprosoccer.teamworkonline.com/teamwork/jobs/jobs.cfm/Communications?supcat=993#listofjobs

 

Having the league office in San Fran but none of the teams there seems odd to me. Granted, I have never started a women's professional soccer league.