Communications Strategist

Communications Strategist

Mini-Circuits designs, manufactures and distributes integrated circuits, modules, and sub-systems for high-performance radio frequency (RF) and microwave applications. With design, sales and manufacturing locations in over 30 countries, Mini-Circuits’ products are used in a range of wired and wireless communications applications. Our products are also used in detection, measurement and imaging applications, including military communication, guidance and electronic countermeasure systems, commercial, scientific, military land, sea and aircraft; automotive systems, medical systems, and industrial test equipment.

Mini-Circuits’ sells its products to over 20,000 customers globally through our direct sales force, applications engineering staff, sales representatives, as well as through our extensive website. 

Salary Range: $120,000 - $145,000 per year

Position Summary:

The Communications Strategist will be a key member of Mini-Circuits’ Marketing Communications team, leading several important aspects of the company’s internal and external messaging to customers, team members and partners. In addition to stellar communication skills, this position requires business acumen and editorial judgment to calibrate message tone and style for different objectives, audiences and media channels and to evaluate source information for sensitivity and risk in a range of scenarios. The ideal candidate is a talented storyteller with a strong communications background either in-house or in an agency setting, a savvy editor with an ear for great copy, and a resourceful reporter with an interest in science, technology, and business. The Communications Strategist will support organizational need across three primary domains:

Industry Media Relations

This role will orchestrate Mini-Circuits’ program of paid media and editorial coverage through various publishers within the RF and microwave industry. Monitor the industry media landscape and track competitive activity across key outlets. Build and maintain collaborative relationships with publishers, editors and ad sales representatives for our publisher partners. Experience managing an advertising budget and negotiating media acquisition, and reporting performance across print, digital display and other channels is essential.

Content Strategy & Operations

The successful candidate will bring strong experience crafting high-impact messaging for a range of stakeholder audiences including customers, employees, suppliers and other partners. Understands how to use verbal, visual and quantitative communication tools to convey complex concepts clearly and effectively and adapt style and medium to optimize delivery for a given audience. Strong understanding of the creative process from ideation to production and experience collaborating with clients and creative teams to ensure delivery of campaign assets on brand and on time.

Strategic Communications

This position will also take on project leadership for strategic communications initiatives, collaborating with executives from the company’s functional orgs to support critical business objectives. This may include corporate presentation development, company town hall meetings, executive interviews and media engagements, policy updates and announcements, press releases and other projects supporting the company’s ongoing corporate growth and development.

Job Function:

Media Relations:

• Support budgeting and negotiation of advertising contracts with publisher partners.
• Maintain annual calendar of creative deliverables and deadlines for all paid media outlets.
• Coordinate with the clients and creative team to ensure all assets meet campaign objectives.
• Oversee the ad production process to fulfill placement schedule methodically and ahead of insertion deadlines.
• Secure editorial placements through external outlets and affiliates.
• Meet with publisher contacts regularly to review program performance, course correct where needed, and stay apprised of ad hoc opportunities to promote Mini-Circuits products and brand throughout the year
• Collect monthly metrics to ensure.

Content Strategy & Operations

• Plan and produce engaging, creative content for the company blog, social media feeds, and YouTube channels promoting our company culture and brand to keep content fresh, grow audience and boost follower engagement around Mini-Circuits’ brand.
• Conducting solid background research, reporting and fact-checking to ensure content accuracy and integrity.
• Oversee copy quality and consistency across all deliverables; establish tools and processes to socialize good copy practices and streamline workflow across the organization.
• Provide editing support for content contributors from partner departments as needed.
• Generate and update copy for company website articulating key points of Mini-Circuits’ products, services and value proposition.
• Source and manage freelancers and agency contracts as needed for specific project requirements.
• Monitor analytics and KPIs to gauge performance and steer content creation to optimize audience engagement.

Strategic Communications

• Build and maintain strong relationships with internal clients and stakeholders to build broad organizational awareness, identify areas of need, and source ideas for content creation.
• Propose practical, sustainable solutions and help create a long-term roadmap to guide the organization toward more efficient, effective and innovative communications practices.
• Support business units and executives with presentation development and help maintain up-to-date shared corporate slide library.
• Support adjacent departments including HR, IT and other functions with internal communications plans.
• Help compile department KPIs and prepare presentation content for quarterly business reviews.
• Prepare communications plans for special projects as business needs and events necessitate.

The duties, responsibilities and expectations described above are not a comprehensive list and additional tasks may be assigned, within the scope of the position.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• Hire and assign work to direct reports, freelancers and agency partners as needed to source creative assets within project timelines and budgets.
• Oversee copy quality and mentor peers on best practices for copywriting, editing and content creation.

Qualifications:

• 7+ years progressive experience producing and managing communications at an agency or in-house, preferably for B2B technology brands.
• 3+ years in a supervisory capacity, either over a function/program or direct reports.
• Must be able to effectively identify qualifications and set expectations for team-member deliverables and convey results to senior leadership.
• Strong portfolio of prior work samples exhibiting successful execution on a diverse range of communications projects including advertising and PR campaigns, presentation design, press releases, strategic communications, corporate blog content, social media and video.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in communications, Journalism, Marketing, English or related field.
• Outstanding verbal and visual communication skills.
• Ability to communicate complex concepts verbally, visually and quantitatively as appropriate to the task.
• Strong writing and copyediting skills for a range of audiences, media and business objectives.
• High-level of organizational awareness and business acumen.
• Experience managing an advertising budget and negotiating paid media contracts with publishers, preferably in a B2B space.
• Understanding of enterprise content operating models and best practices from style guides and governance to content templates, workflow management, and related systems
• Detail-oriented with strong editorial judgment for information sensitivity and risk.
• Effective relationship management and collaboration with team members from all levels and functions of a complex global organization.
• Highly organized while managing multiple projects in a fast-paced environment.
• Advanced proficiency in MS Word®, PowerPoint®, Excel®.
• Photoshop, Illustrator, Figma or other graphic design and editing tools a plus.
• Understanding of basic digital media metrics and KPIs and performance reporting best practices
• Awareness of current trends in science, technology and business, especially in the electronic hardware space.
• High standards of personal and professional integrity.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk and hear. The employee frequently is required to stand, walk, sit and use hands to operate a computer keyboard. The employee is occasionally required to reach with hands and arms. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, and ability to adjust focus. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Additional Requirements/Skills:

• Advanced fluency in spoken and written English is a functional requirement for this role.
• Comply, understand, and support corporate safety initiatives to ensure a safe work environment.
• Ability and willingness to abide by Company’s Code of Conduct.
• Occasional travel, some overnight, as required.

Disclaimer: The listed qualifications and requirements for each position are intended as guidelines.  Mini-Circuits reserves the right to hire outside of these guidelines at Management’s discretion.