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 At its May 2011 annual board meeting, the ICA board of directors approved the new staff position of communication director.
A task force was appointed in 2009 by then-President Barbie Zelizer to address ICA’s need to “clearly communicate its mission and contributions to diverse publics within and across disciplines.” She stated the necessity for ICA to publicize its activities as well as the research of its members. ICA members produce a wealth of research on a wide range of issues with public relevance across the globe. Without active and sustained efforts to communicate institutional accomplishments as well as significant intellectual contributions, ICA misses opportunities to capitalize on its distinctive strengths, build public recognition, and make a valuable impact on communication issues and public life. The task force met for the last 2 years, researching and debating several issues and options. At the annual meeting in Singapore, the task force issued a preliminary report and a final report at the May 2011 meeting.
The task force recommended the creation of a new position within the organization; a communication director. This person will be responsible for spearheading strategic direction initiatives and planning, coordination, and management of the ICA’s integrated marketing, public relations, and strategic communications program. The communication director will work with both external and internal constituencies to promote the field of communication, with ICA as its standard bearer. In addition, the individual will create and communicate the organization’s messages and ensure overall continuity of institutional brand consistency and image.
Moreover, the communication director will support the organization’s staff and board in developing and maintaining strategic partnerships with external organizations and funders. The communication director will also develop and implement initiatives that would serve the membership, and thus increase the benefit of being an association member.
The task force and board stressed the need to address these issues on a truly international basis and not focus on media or research of any one country or market. The international nature of this position will make it largely web-based and the staff member could reside anywhere in the world. Being multilingual was also emphasized.
Working with the task force and the Executive Committee, ICA Executive Director Michael Haley has developed a job description and advertising and recruiting will begin immediately. It is critical that the correct person is hired for this position. Therefore, the recruiting process will continue until the ideal person is hired. While we would like to hire soon, the process will remain open until the best candidate is identified. The job announcement can be found in the text box below this article and on the ICA website. The complete job description is also on the ICA website. All questions concerning the position should be directed to the ICA executive director at mhaley@icahdq.org.
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COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR
The International Communication Association (ICA) is seeking a communication director who will enhance the organization, its membership, and the field of communication by achieving international public visibility. As a United Nations NGO and a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization comprising 4500 scholars worldwide, the ICA seeks an individual to spearhead, coordinate and manage activities to promote the field of communication both internally and externally. The director will foster and maintain relationships with international news media, editors, reporters, other communication directors, partner organizations, international institutions, and governmental officials and staff. Duties include but are not limited to planning, organizing and directing communications strategies and public information activities for the association; developing and maintaining networks of people and institutions to disseminate ICA-related news and information; developing and maintaining an proactive social media campaign for the association; developing and maintaining updated information about member scholarship and expertise and promoting such information among members and interested external organizations; and representing the association in the media and other relevant platforms.
Candidate requirements include a graduate degree (Ph.D. preferred) in communication or a related field, excellent communication skills, wide-ranging multilingual skills, knowledge of the field of communication and its scholarship, familiarity with digital and social media including online communities, search engine optimization and other digital marketing tools, comprehensive knowledge of international media operations and public relations strategies, ability to handle multiple projects under time and resource pressure. The applicant must have a minimum of three years professional experience, preferably with nonprofit or academic organizations. ICA is located in Washington, DC, but the CD can be located anywhere with telecommuting. Some travel required. Salary is commensurate with experience.
The International Communication Association aims to advance the scholarly study of human communication by encouraging and facilitating excellence in academic research worldwide. The purposes of the Association are to provide an international forum to enable the development, conduct, and critical evaluation of communication research; to sustain a program of high quality scholarly publication and knowledge exchange; to facilitate inclusiveness and debate among scholars from diverse national and cultural backgrounds and from multi-disciplinary perspectives on communication-related issues; and to promote a wider public interest in, and visibility of, the theories, methods, findings and applications generated by research in communication and allied fields. ICA’s activities fall into three main categories: holding a major annual conference, along with occasional regional conferences; publishing a series of high quality journals and related publications both broad-ranging and specialized; and supporting the research activities of its members by representing the field.
Applicants should send a detailed letter of application addressing the specific job description, a CV, a list of four references, and salary requirements to mhaley@icahdq.org. The detailed job description is available at http://www.icahdq.org/news/directorad.asp. Applicants should submit all materials by 9 September 2011 for full consideration.
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