Chief Communications Officer

Full Time Job


JOB SUMMARY:

The Chief Communications Officer is a member of the executive team and serves as a highly visible, public-facing representative of the Utah Jazz throughout the community. The CCO determines the communications and broadcast strategy for the Utah Jazz and executes programs to deliver communications objectives. This role acts as a guardian of the company brand and culture by ensuring a unified and consistent voice across media channels. The CCO builds and enhances relationships with players, broadcast talent, business leaders, community partners, and local government officials to develop and distribute key messages that advance the mission of the organization. This position requires strong interpersonal, leadership and organization skills to set a clear vision and bring collaborative thinking to both the Basketball Operations and the Business Operations of the Utah Jazz.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Provide strategic leadership and support to the Public Relations, Community Relations, Broadcast, and Communications teams.
• Engage across the organization to establish and support key priorities and elevate the corporate communications function.
• Collaborate with the Marketing team to drive message development for large-scale marketing initiatives, campaigns, announcements, and releases through all company outlets.
• Provide a forward-looking planned approach to the organization's communication strategies with strong ability to shape narratives to enhance the image of the organization to all critical audiences.
• Coordinate crisis management with legal and senior management and interact with the media as needed in a timely and effective manner.
• Conduct strategic media outreach that supports the goals of the Utah Jazz, enhances relationships, and builds trust.
• Design comprehensive community relations, social responsibility, and outreach strategies that connect the Utah Jazz with the surrounding community.
• Provide counsel, coaching, and media training to organization's spokespeople.
• Stay current on existing and proposed legislation and develops relationships with key federal, state and local government officials and agencies to help drive government relations.
• Design programs, projects, and initiatives to promote an alumni relations program for the organization.
• Work collaboratively with internal content teams (digital social/marketing/creative) to proactively tell our brand story.
• Cultivate productive relationships with influential local and national reporters and influencers while continuously growing the number, strength, and diversity of media contacts.
• Ensure that Jazz broadcast television and radio programs proceed smoothly and efficiently; liaises with talent, agents, producers, and staff on all creative, technical, and financial aspects of production.
• Identify opportunities to create programming that strengthens viewership, enhances the brand, attracts advertisers, and broadens the network's appeal to a more diverse demographic.
• Serve as liaison between the Utah Jazz and the NBA Foundation. Provide strategic direction, development, and allocation of resources to support initiatives.
• Support the building of a diverse culture that enriches the lives of our employees, customers, partners, and communities.

COMPETENCIES:
• Drives Vision and Purpose: Painting a compelling picture of the vision and strategy that motivates others to action.
• Interpersonal Savvy: Relates openly and comfortably with diverse groups of people.
• Builds Networks: Effectively building formal and informal relationship networks inside and outside the organization.
• Communicates Effectively: Developing and delivering multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences. Is effective in a variety of communication settings: one-on-one, small and large groups, or among diverse styles and position levels.
• Strategic Mindset: Seeing ahead to future possibilities and translating them into breakthrough strategies.
• Manages Complexity: Making sense of complex, high quantity, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems.
• Cultivates Innovation: Creating new and better ways for the organization to be successful.
• Instills Trust: Gaining the confidence and trust of others through honesty, integrity, and authenticity.

QUALIFICATIONS:
• Bachelor's degree in public relations or a related field; advanced degree is preferred.
• A minimum of ten years of experience with five (5) in a senior management role.
• Knowledge and understanding of digital media, public relations, and community relations strategy, as well as the importance of connected storytelling efforts.
• Knowledge and understanding of the basketball operations landscape, including experience navigating on-and off-court matters.
• Demonstrated leadership in creating and implementing a communications plan.
• Must have solid knowledge of the NBA, statistics, and basketball terminology.
• Expertise in building sustainable business relationships with all levels of leaders and business partners through trust, respect, competence, and confidence.
• Excellent, written, oral, and interpersonal and presentation skills, and the ability to effectively partner with senior management, athletes, and the media.
• Ability to work an event-based schedule that may include nights, weekends, holidays, and extended hours.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:
• This person must be able to communicate and express themselves both written and verbally.
• This person must be able to observe, inspect, estimate, and assess.
• This person must be able to sit, stand, bend, walk, and climb stairs for long periods of time.

The Smith Entertainment Group provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

Note: The need may arise to revise, supplement, or rescind portions of this job description, and the Smith Entertainment Group reserves the right to do so at any time. Employees shall be required to meet the qualifications and perform the duties of any revised job description.