Communications Officer, Multimedia
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) is an independent research center at the University of Washington. Its mission is to monitor global health conditions and health systems, as well as to evaluate interventions, initiatives, and reforms. IHME carries out a range of projects within different research areas including the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors; Future Health Scenarios; Costs and Cost Effectiveness; Resource Tracking; and Impact Evaluations. The aim is to provide policymakers, donors, and researchers with the highest-quality quantitative evidence base to make decisions that achieve better health.
IHME aims to be nimble and entrepreneurial in its work, taking on daunting analytic challenges in order to provide critical information that can help answer big-picture questions at the most local level possible. We accomplish these aims by working with a range of collaborators across the world. Currently, the Institute engages with more than 7,500 collaborators from more than 150 countries.
IHME is committed to providing the evidence base necessary to help solve the world’s most important health problems. This requires creativity and innovation, which are cultivated by an inclusive, diverse, and equitable environment that respects and appreciates differences, embraces collaboration, and invites the voices of all IHME team members.
About the team
The Global Impact Group (GIG) leads IHME’s pursuit to improve health policy and practice through cutting-edge communication and collaboration. GIG runs campaigns to build awareness of the most critical health challenges and works with decision-makers to take informed action. Within GIG, the Global Campaigns team works with media and social media, creating compelling content to help IHME advance policy windows by furnishing evidence in the right format, at the right time, and to the right stakeholders, to inform decision-making.
About the role
IHME has an outstanding opportunity for a Communications Officer, Multimedia on the Global Campaigns team. The primary purpose of this position will be to work in close collaboration with team members and leaders to develop and implement IHME’s communications strategy and lead targeted outreach efforts to build impact from IHME research among audiences globally.
This requires strategic cultivation and sustaining open channels with a wide range of multimedia covering local, national, and international topics of interest as a critical pathway to reach varied audiences including government decision-makers, nonprofit organizations, health service organizations, and donors. The Communications Officer, Multimedia is responsible for proactively identifying, creating, and disseminating engaging and newsworthy posts that demonstrate the policy-relevance of IHME’s results and methods in clear and compelling ways. In collaboration with an agile team, they must execute strategies for outreach and uptake, as well as use analytics to measure and analyze the impact.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
Content marketing strategy and management
- Contribute to the planning, portfolio management, and priority setting of the Global Campaigns team.
- Understand long-term goals of the Institute in terms of creating impact through campaigns, brand, and media.
- Research and write content for all multimedia outreach products, collateral for social media and other communication channels and platforms.
- Work with faculty and staff to transform complex research into compelling and policy-relevant messages that are comprehensible to targeted non-scientific audiences.
- Manage marketing projects from conception to execution.
- Monitor, gather, and report multimedia metrics to understand the interests, goals, and motivations of external audiences in order to create tangible impact. Propose creative solutions to improve metrics.
- In all avenues, communicate to diverse audiences in a language and manner that connects with their interests while explaining in clear terms IHME’s work and mission.
- Prepare for crisis communications response and be able to direct response and serve as IHME’s spokesperson.
Knowledge command
- Develop and deploy a comprehensive understanding of the key concepts, methods, inputs, results, messages, and future implications of IHME’s research portfolio and key issues in population health.
- Develop in-depth familiarity with multimedia organizations, platforms, and influencers around the world, including their political and cultural contexts.
- Stay up to date with the field of population health and IHME’s role in the political landscape and provide guidance to institutional leaders to manage risks and seize opportunities.
Other responsibilities
- Take on other duties as part of the overall Global Impact Group as needed.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:
- Bachelor’s degree in social sciences, communications, mathematics, engineering, public health, or related field plus three years of work experience.
Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
- At least 3 years’ work experience in journalism, communications, or other multimedia role(s).
- Demonstrated experience with analytics as a means to measure the impact of multimedia.
- Demonstrated experience with search engine optimization practice for social and digital content.
- Excellent communications skills, both written and oral.
- Familiarity with digital content monitoring software.
- Ability to take technical and highly scientific research and make it relevant, clear, and concise for the general public.
- Creative and strategic thinking.
- Ability to manage multiple work streams and numerous stakeholders simultaneously, setting and shifting priorities as needed, under the direction of senior leaders.
- Ability to work both independently and collaboratively to achieve objectives.
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
- Ability to work effectively in a team-based structure with excellent interpersonal skills that foster productive relationships with colleagues and the Institute’s third-party service providers.
- A commitment to working alongside others at IHME to illuminate the health impacts of systemic racism and other inequities, and to work within IHME to make our organization more diverse and inclusive. See IHME’s DEI statement here: http://www.healthdata.org/get-involved/careers/dei
DESIRED:
- Strong interest in global health and health policy.
- At least one language in addition to English to continue building multilingual team.
WORKING CONDITIONS:
- This position works on a global team and with a global network of stakeholders; as such, evening and weekend work may occasionally be required to fulfill job duties.
- Occasional international and domestic travel may be required up to 20% of the time. Valid passport or the ability to obtain one is required.
- This position is open to anyone authorized to work in the US. The UW is not able to sponsor visas for staff positions.
- The IHME office is located in Seattle, Washington. This position is eligible to work fully remote in the US. Work schedule is required to overlap 50% with IHME office hours, between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Pacific Time.
Application Process:
The application process for UW positions may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process. These assessments may include Work Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others. Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select “Apply to this position”. Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your “My Jobs” page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your "My Jobs" page to take when you are ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.