Media Relations Lead

🔍 Graduate School of Business, Stanford, California, United States

New

📁: Communications

📅   : 3 hours ago Post Date

📅   : 109321 Requisition #

Stanford Graduate School of Business
The Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) is seeking a strategic, collaborative, and highly skilled communications professional to join the Dean’s Communications team as a Media Relations Lead. This role will help elevate the visibility and reputation of Stanford GSB by developing compelling stories, advancing faculty thought leadership, driving proactive media engagement, and leading the school’s rankings communications and submission process across major national and global rankings organizations.
This is an opportunity to help shape the public narrative of one of the world’s leading business schools. You’ll work alongside innovative faculty, senior leaders, and talented communications professionals to tell stories that influence business, policy, leadership, and society on a global scale.
Success at the GSB is defined by The GSB Way - a commitment to shared purpose, community, and excellence in all that we do. We seek individuals who elevate themselves and those around them through the practice of academic candor, generous collaboration, and bringing curiosity and rigor to solving meaningful problems. At the GSB, impact means taking ownership, and contributing to a purpose-driven, collaborative, and high-performing community in service to the institution’s mission.
The ideal candidate is an exceptional writer and storyteller with deep media relations experience, strong editorial judgment, and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, highly collaborative environment. This individual will work closely with faculty, senior leaders, and communications partners across the GSB and Stanford University to support institutional priorities, strengthen audience engagement, and amplify the impact of the GSB’s research, people, and programs.

In This Role, You Will:

Strategic Media Relations Efforts
- Develop and execute proactive media relations strategies that support Stanford GSB’s institutional priorities, faculty visibility, rankings-related communications, and reputation goals.
- Identify timely news opportunities, emerging trends, and compelling stories that position the GSB prominently across business, higher education, national, global, and digital media.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with journalists, editors, producers, and communications counterparts across Stanford and external organizations.
- Coordinate media outreach efforts including pitching, interview preparation, spokesperson support, and press strategies.
- Monitor media coverage and external narratives to identify opportunities and reputational considerations.
Lead Rankings Strategy and Submission Process
- Serve as the communications lead for major business school rankings submissions and related reputational initiatives.
- Partner across the GSB and Stanford University to gather, manage, verify, and synthesize complex institutional data, narratives, and supporting materials required for rankings submissions.
- Develop and manage timelines, workflows, approvals, and cross-functional coordination to ensure accurate and timely submission of rankings materials.
- Collaborate with faculty, program teams, institutional research, admissions, career management, and senior leadership to support rankings strategy and positioning efforts.
- Help shape messaging and storytelling tied to rankings outcomes, institutional strengths, faculty excellence, student outcomes, and research impact.
- Identify opportunities to leverage rankings milestones and recognition across media relations, digital communications, and institutional storytelling efforts.
- Build scalable and consistent processes for rankings coordination, data collection, and submission management across the school.
Drive Content Development and Storytelling
- Write, edit, and oversee a broad range of communications materials including press releases, media pitches, executive messaging, talking points, news stories, blogs, briefing documents, and social media content.
- Translate complex faculty research and institutional initiatives into clear, engaging, audience-focused storytelling.
- Prepare faculty and senior leaders for interviews, speaking engagements, and public-facing opportunities.
- Contribute to high-profile storytelling initiatives tied to rankings, faculty achievements, research impact, student success, and alumni accomplishments.
Partner Across the School and University
- Collaborate closely with faculty, senior leaders, communications colleagues, digital teams, marketers, and program stakeholders across the GSB and Stanford University.
- Help align messaging, editorial priorities, and integrated communications efforts across channels and platforms.
- Surface and develop new storytelling opportunities that amplify institutional thought leadership and audience engagement.
- Support coordinated communications planning around major institutional announcements and reputational initiatives.
Support Reputation and Issues Communications
- Contribute to strategic communications efforts related to sensitive or high-profile issues affecting the school or university community.
- Assist with messaging and response strategies that protect and strengthen the Stanford GSB reputation.
- Monitor emerging media narratives and audience sentiment to support proactive communications planning.
Manage Complex Communications Projects
- Lead communications projects with multiple stakeholders, competing priorities, and tight deadlines.
- Coordinate timelines, approvals, workflows, and deliverables to ensure high-quality execution.
- Track media outreach, editorial planning, rankings activities, and campaign performance to support strategic reporting and planning efforts.
- Maintain strong organizational discipline and responsiveness in a dynamic environment.

Minimum Requirements
●    Bachelor’s degree and eight years of relevant experience in media relations, journalism, public relations, strategic communications, or a related field; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
●    Demonstrated success developing and executing strategic media relations and communications initiatives for complex organizations, institutions, brands, or senior leaders.
●    Exceptional writing, editing, storytelling, and verbal communication skills.
●    Strong editorial judgment and attention to detail.
●    Experience producing communications materials including media pitches, press releases, executive messaging, briefing documents, and social media content.
●    Proven ability to build relationships with journalists, faculty, executives, and cross-functional stakeholders.
●    Strong project management, organizational, and strategic thinking skills.
●    Demonstrated ability to manage highly detailed projects involving multiple stakeholders, deadlines, approvals, and complex coordination.
●    Experience leading or supporting rankings submissions, institutional reporting processes, or reputational initiatives preferred.
●    Ability to synthesize quantitative and qualitative information into compelling institutional narratives and positioning strategies.
●    Ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
●    Familiarity with digital communications, audience engagement strategies, and social media best practices.
●    Experience supporting reputation management or issues communications is preferred.
●    Ability to work a hybrid schedule and occasional evenings or weekends as needed.

The expected pay range for this position is $118,806 to $134,486 per annum. Stanford University provides pay ranges representing its good faith estimate of the salary or hourly wage the university reasonably expects to pay for a position upon hire. The pay offered to a selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the qualifications of the selected candidate, departmental budget availability, internal equity, geographic location, and external market pay for comparable jobs. At Stanford University, base pay represents only one aspect of the comprehensive rewards package.

The job duties listed are typical examples of work performed by positions in this job classification and are not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, tasks, and responsibilities. Specific duties and responsibilities may vary depending on department or program needs without changing the general nature and scope of the job or level of responsibility. Employees may also perform other duties as assigned.

Consistent with its obligations under the law, the University will provide reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities. Applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process should contact Stanford University Human Resources by submitting a contact form.

Stanford is an equal employment opportunity and affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

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