Senior Director - Communications in Irving, Texas at The Big 12 Conference Inc

POSITION TITLE: Senior Director - Communications

EMPLOYMENT STATUS: Full-Time

DEPARTMENT NAME: Communications

ESTIMATED START DATE: ASAP

POSITION FUNCTION:

The Big 12 Conference is seeking a dynamic, connected communications professional to lead media strategy for men's basketball. This role serves as the primary day-to-day contact for Big 12 men's basketball, responsible for shaping and amplifying the conference's narrative on a national stage.

The ideal candidate brings a deep rolodex of national basketball, sports business, and lifestyle media contacts, along with a proven ability to proactively generate meaningful coverage. This individual is an aggressive storytellersomeone who can identify compelling narratives – on and off-the-court- pitch them effectively, and consistently secure high-impact placements across top-tier outlets.

We are looking for an outgoing, creative self-starter who understands how to break through in today's competitive media landscape and elevate the visibility of the Big 12 and its student-athletes in the sports, consumer and corporate worlds.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES:

• Serve as the primary contact for Big 12 Men's Basketball and select Olympic sports, driving a year-round media strategy that elevates the conference's brand and storytelling.

• Proactively pitch, place, and secure coverage across national, regional, and industry media, with a focus on sports, business, and lifestyle outlets.

• Build, maintain, and leverage strong relationships with a wide network of media, including key national basketball reporters and influential voices.

• Identify and develop compelling storylines that position the Big 12 at the forefront of the college basketball conversation.

• Own all external communications for assigned sports, including press releases, game notes, feature content, and awards.

• Coordinate the production of online record books, media notes, NCAA selection committee notes, news releases, statistics compilations and feature content.

• Coordinate preseason and postseason All-Big 12 polls and teams, weekly awards and specialty awards.

• Lead media operations and coverage strategy for key events, including Basketball Media Days and the Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament.

• Collaborate with broadcast, content, and social teams to amplify storytelling and maximize exposure across platforms.

• Support and execute high-impact media moments tied to conference initiatives, milestones, and tentpole events.

• Supervise/manage one full-time employee

• Travel as needed; evening, weekend, and holiday work required.

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE:

• 7+ years of experience in sports communications, media relations, or a related field at the collegiate or professional level. NBA experience preferred.

• Established, extensive network of national basketball, sports business, and lifestyle media contacts.

• Proven track record of proactively securing top-tier media coverage and driving narrative.

• Exceptional storytelling instincts with the ability to translate complex or evolving topics into compelling, media-friendly narratives.

• Strong writing, pitching, and interpersonal communication skills.

• Deep understanding of the modern media landscape, including how traditional, digital, and social platforms intersect.

• Brings a positive, high-energy approach with a genuine enthusiasm for college athletics and storytelling.

• Naturally outgoing and relationship-driven, with the ability to build trust and credibility quickly with media and stakeholders.

• Maintains a solutions-oriented mindset, thriving in fast-paced environments with a willingness to adapt and take initiative.

• Strong organizational and project management skills; ability to operate in a fast-paced environment and manage multiple priorities.

• Proficiency in NCAA Genius Live Stats and StatCrew OR a similar statistical software utilized at the professional level.

• Deep knowledge of college basketball and the broader collegiate athletics landscape.

EDUCATION:

• Bachelor's degree required

WORKING CONDITIONS:

Office environment. Frequent sitting, standing, walking bending, listening, speaking, and use of office equipment. Some requirements for lifting, pushing, or pulling items less than 30 pounds. Ability to work long non-standard hours, including holidays, nights, weekends, games days or other event dates.

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ABOUT THE BIG 12 CONFERENCE:

The Big 12 enters its 30th year as one of the nation's premier conferences in college athletics under the leadership of Commissioner Brett Yormark. Since joining the Conference in August 2022, Yormark has elevated the Big 12 to new heights, emphasizing marketing, brand building and instilling an innovative strategy that has resonated across the college athletics landscape. Starting Aug. 2, 2024, the Conference is composed of 16 universities spanning 10 states and four time zones. The Big 12 members include Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, Colorado, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech, Utah and West Virginia. The Big 12 began play in 1996 and is the home of 87 team NCAA national championships, and 764 individual national champions. The Big 12 Conference office is located in Irving, Texas.

The Big 12 Conference, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. All employees are hired, compensated, promoted, disciplined and evaluated without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, sex, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, genetic information, status as a qualified individual with a disability, military status, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, or any other protected characteristic as established by law. The Big 12 Conference, Inc. strictly prohibits any and all discrimination and harassment based upon an individual's race, color, religion, creed, gender, sex, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, genetic information, status as a qualified individual with a disability, military status, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, or any other protected characteristic as established by law.