Manager, Media Relations

Department: Location: Belknap Campus Time Type: Full time Worker Type: Regular Job Req ID: R108746 Minimum Requirements: Bachelor's degree in a related field and four (4) years of relevant experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Grade 8 (Salaried) Position Description: The Manager, Media Relations (Director of Media Relations) serves as the primary communications contact for Football and other assigned sport(s). This position handles all media relations for the football team, arranges and facilitates interviews for coaches, student-athletes, and staff with local, regional, and national media outlets, and generates digital content. This Director of Media Relations will be required to work a flexible schedule, including nights, weekends, holidays, and overnight travel with the assigned sport(s) as needed for away games. Job Responsibilities Serve as the primary strategic communications and media relations contact for Football, a major revenue-generating sport program. Lead and execute comprehensive communications, public relations, and storytelling strategies that elevate the Louisville Football brand and support fan engagement, recruiting visibility, and revenue generation initiatives. Cultivate and maintain strong relationships with local, regional, and national media outlets while proactively identifying opportunities to promote the football program, student-athletes, and coaches. Demonstrate advanced expertise in social media strategy, platform management, audience engagement, and digital content distribution, including the ability to leverage emerging trends, analytics, and real-time storytelling to grow and elevate the Louisville Football brand across all major platforms. Serve as the department spokesperson for Football and related events, coordinating and facilitating interviews, press conferences, media availabilities, and publicity opportunities. Develop strategic messaging, communication timelines, and proactive media plans for key football initiatives, announcements, milestones, and events. Identify, develop, and distribute compelling storytelling content across digital, social, and traditional platforms to enhance visibility and audience engagement. Collaborate with NIL services, partnerships, creative, marketing, and external relations units to align football storytelling and athlete branding opportunities with departmental objectives. Manage and oversee football-related content and messaging across assigned digital and social media platforms. Write, edit, and distribute press releases, feature stories, game notes, statistics, historical records, publications, and other communications materials for Football and assigned sport programs. Coordinate and submit conference and national award nominations for student-athletes, coaches, and staff. Oversee football website content and maintain archival and historical program information. Manage game day and event media operations, including credentialing, media hospitality, press box operations, statistical crews, and coordination with television and radio partners. Respond promptly and professionally to media inquiries and public information requests in deadline-driven environments. Supervise assigned strategic communications staff members, student assistants, and temporary event personnel. Collaborate effectively with coaches, administrators, student-athletes, and external stakeholders to advance departmental communications and branding objectives. Perform other duties as assigned by the Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Relations. Preferred Qualifications Seven (7) years of related experience. Experience working in media relations at an NCAA Division I program or in professional sports. Experience with SIDEARM platforms, Adobe Premier, and StatCrew statistical software. Proficient in Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint as well as Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and Dreamweaver. Effective oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills. Compensation will be commensurate to candidate experience. Equal Employment Opportunity The University of Louisville is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. The University strives to provide equal employment opportunity on the basis of merit and without unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, sex, age, color, national origin, ethnicity, creed, religion, disability, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, veteran status, marital status, or pregnancy. In accordance with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Vietnam Era Veteran Readjustment Act of 1974, the University prohibits job discrimination of individuals with disabilities, Vietnam era veterans, qualified special disabled veterans, recently separated veterans, and other protected veterans. The University acknowledges its obligations to ensure affirmative steps are taken to ensure equal employment opportunities for all employees and applicants for employment. It is the policy of the University that no employee or applicant for employment be subject to unlawful discrimination in terms of recruitment, hiring, promotion, contract, contract renewal, tenure, compensation, benefits, and/or working conditions. No employee or applicant for employment is required to endorse or condemn a specific ideology, political viewpoint, or social viewpoint to be eligible for hiring, contract renewal, tenure, or promotion. 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