Communications Associate

Background

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) is a state agency created by California voters to accelerate stem cell and gene therapies for people with unmet medical needs. Since 2004, Californians have entrusted CIRM with $8.5 billion to accelerate promising discoveries through clinical trials, train a regenerative medicine workforce, strengthen the state’s biotechnology economy, and expand access to transformative treatments. Today, CIRM is pioneering new models of therapy development and accelerating medical breakthroughs that change lives — in California and around the world. For more information, visit www.cirm.ca.gov.

General Statement

CIRM is seeking a Communications Associate. Under the general direction of the Director of Content Strategy, the Communications Associate will be responsible for managing a wide range of materials that engage and inform the California public, California scientific community, and patients about scientific progress in cell and gene therapies, and the people who benefit from the agency’s work. The Communications Associate will play a critical role in tracking timelines and ensuring quality for all aspects of CIRM’s Communications and Outreach projects including the annual report, blog entries, social media, website updates, video projects, print materials, events, and other activities.

Essential Job Functions

In this position you will be accountable for a variety of responsibilities. Your duties will include, but are not limited to, the following:   

• Support all aspects of Communication and Outreach projects including timelines, reviews, communication with stakeholders, and coordination with other teams.
• Support production of stories and press releases by sourcing images, inserting videos and other links, posting stories to the website, tracking internal reviews
• Support with managing the CIRM website, including updating pages and sections to ensure content reflects current messaging and engagement strategies.
• Support planning and execution of creative, engaging, and inspiring social content and campaigns intended to educate and inform audiences about the promise of regenerative medicine and CIRM’s progress
• Coordinate with external stakeholders to support outreach presentations and events.
• Manage production of the annual report in collaboration with other communication team members, external vendors, and subject matter experts across the organization
• Develop branded materials to engage in-person audiences, including flyers, brochures, fact sheets, posters, etc.
• Assist with monitoring and responding to daily/weekly PR requests.
• Maintain brand materials such as logos, templates, brand guide, etc, and disseminate across internal and external stakeholders to ensure consistency across platforms
• Produce internal and external newsletters intended to inform, educate, and engage all audiences about CIRM’s progress
• Make data-driven recommendations to enhance the reach and engagement of CIRM newsletters
• Maintain CIRM’s digital assets, including photos of patients and scientific research for use on the website, in stories, on social media, and to provide to journalists or other external stakeholders
• Support with tracking and reporting metrics for all content channels
• Other duties as assigned.
  
  

Supervision Received

The Communications Associate reports to the Director of Content Strategy.

Supervision Exercised

None

Qualifications

Experience and Education

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, journalism, marketing or a related field. Additional relevant work experience may be considered in lieu of a 4-year degree.
• 2+ years in communications, journalism, marketing, or public relations, including work in the science or healthcare industry.
  
  

Competencies, Skills, and Abilities

• Ability to plan and execute complex projects with multiple deadlines in collaboration with internal stakeholders and external vendors
• Exceptional organizational skills with proven ability to maintain and organize digital files and other materials.
• Ability to quickly learn complex information and translate it into actionable language
• Ability to form close working relationships with scientists, patients, patient advocates, and CIRM staff
• Ability to track and interpret data to guide strategy
• Familiarity with website content management systems and best practices
• Familiarity with content creation and production practices across multiple formats
• Proficiency with digital project management tools such as Monday.com, Asana, Airtable, or others.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite and Canva or Adobe creative products
• Exceptional interpersonal and relationship-building skills
• Ability to achieve results while handling multiple priorities and deadlines
  
  

Working Conditions

• Hybrid environment, required to work two days in the South San Francisco office and three days remotely. In-person attendance of organizational meetings and board, subcommittee, and working group meetings as required.
• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Must be willing to work in a high-rise building.
• Ability to operate standard office equipment.
• Be available to work outside of normal business hours.
  
  

Salary Range and Benefits

This position is an exempt, full-time role. The expected pay for this position is $95,481 - $111,624 which fits within the full salary range of $95,481 - $122,388 for the Communications Team Coordinator job classification. This position is classified as Communications Team Coordinator; however, the working title is Communications Associate. 

It is uncommon for an individual to be offered a salary near the maximum of the range for a position. Salary for this position will reflect the final candidate’s qualifications, experience, skills, knowledge, relevant education, and certifications, in addition to being aligned with the internal leadership peer group.

Required Application Documents 

Applicants must submit a resume and cover letter to be considered for this position. 

Applicants requiring reasonable accommodations for the interview process should inform the interview scheduler at the time of scheduling.  

For general questions regarding this position or inquiries specifically related to reasonable accommodations or Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), please contact jobs@cirm.ca.gov. 

Benefits 

https://benefits.calhr.ca.gov/state-employees/ 

Additional EEO Contact Information 

California Relay Service: 1-800-735-2929 (TTY), 1-800-735-2922 (Voice) TTY is a Telecommunications Device for the Deaf and is reachable only from phones equipped with a TTY Device. 

Equal Opportunity Employer 

The State of California is an equal opportunity employer to all, regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability (mental and physical), exercising the right to family care and medical leave, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religious creed,  sex (includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and related medical conditions), and sexual orientation.