Communications Specialist - U.S. Pork Center for Excellence

This job is with the U.S. Pork Center of Excellence which is located at Iowa State University. You must apply for this position through the Iowa State website. https://www.iastatejobs.com/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1225673216365 It is also avialable by going to www.iastate.edu clicking on Emplyers/Job Seekers for positions at Iowa State This position is responsible for communication efforts for the U.S. Pork Center of Excellence. 

The U.S. Pork Center of Excellence was established in September 2005 with the mission to add value to the pork industry by facilitating research and learning for U.S. pork producers through national collaboration.  The Communications Specialist will be responsible for implementing the communications plan for the U.S. Pork Center of Excellence (USPCE) and the Pork Information Gateway (PIG). This entails creation of materials and exhibits; writing an annual report; writing, formatting and delivering a monthly newsletter; writing numerous news releases for PIG and for the USPCE and communicating with media interested in USPCE activities; implementing the marketing plan for the USPCE and (PIG) and providing oversight on the USPCE websites. The latter includes but is not limited to providing content and formatting for both websites. This position will have responsibility for the USCPE brand.  In addition, this position is responsible for various projects and meeting planning. The U.S. Pork Center of Excellence involves research, teaching, and extension the latter of which is PIG. This component will involve working closely with the domain groups, setting up meetings, corresponding with members, etc. This position will be responsible for organizing and coordinating the resource library and its continual upgrade, coordinating the answer center and the teams for experts who will be available to answer new questions, continual supplementation to the image asset library, and the interaction with all the extension ag educators partnering program.  Due to the high level of interaction with the stakeholders and with the public, the person in this position must be personable and able to clearly communicate with people from all facets of life, from producer to faculty to the general public. Responsibilities of this position will require self motivation, and ability to work without constant supervision. This position requires adept skills in MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, and MS Outlook, Adobe Creative Suite, Dreamweaver, and be a quick study in other software applications such as Cumulus.  Required Qualifications: Bachelor's degree in Ag Communications, Ag Education or a related field and one year relevant communications work experience.  Perferred Qualifications: Experience with project management and meeting planning.  Familiarity with agriculture.  Working knowledge of pork production.  Familiarity with software such as the MS Office Suite as well as publishing software.  Familiarity with web based content management systems.