Are you great with details? Do you love a streamlined system? And, most importantly: Would you like to put your abilities to work helping to build a more equitable, just, and sustainable future?

The University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment is an interdisciplinary institution that works to accelerate sustainability through collaborative research; leadership and education programming; and public-interest storytelling and communications. This fall, we’re adding three new program area coordinators, aligning with those three functions, to our staff.

This job posting is for our communications program area coordinator.

We’re looking for a resourceful, creative, and organized colleague, who would enjoy being an integral part of a team of communications and content creation professionals, supporting our work and impact. In this new administrative and operational role, you’ll…

• Coordinate the systems, platforms, and resources that strengthen teamwork and organization-wide collaboration
• Support program area operations, including financial transactions and HR processes
• Help execute virtual, hybrid, and in-person gatherings, including trainings and workshops
• Provide administrative and executive assistance to the group director

You might thrive in this role if you enjoy setting up and improving systems; managing deadlines and deliverables across projects; and working in collaboration with colleagues. Experience integrating – or a desire to learn how to integrate – diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in your work is also essential, as environmental work requires these lenses, and every team at IonE has a role to play in our DEIJ action plan.

As mentioned above, this position is part of a cluster hire of program area coordinators, each tailored to a different program area at IonE (see job IDs #357784, Research Program Coordinator, and #357797, Leadership & Education Program Coordinator). All coordinator roles will be connected to each other and collaborate with our core Admin & Operations team. What makes this role different is the emphasis on supporting communications and content creation activities; our team loves to learn, create, and take risks together.

More details: The starting range for this position is $45–50K, with UMN civil service employee group benefits. Our offices are in St. Paul, MN, and you will be eligible to work remotely up to 40% time, in accordance with our flexible work guidelines. This position requires occasional work outside of regular hours, in order to support events and convenings. Candidates *must* reside locally and relocation funds are not available.

We encourage applications from individuals who belong to groups that have been historically underrepresented in environmental work and in academia, including those who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color, those with disabilities, and those from LGBTQIA+ communities.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

Program Area Coordination – 40%
This category of work is about coordinating systems, processes, and tools that make our communications and content creation work more efficient and effective.

• Coordinate program-area meetings, including scheduling, making agendas, taking notes, and following up on action items
• Develop and manage a shared communications calendar, ensuring activities across IonE (emails, stories, news releases, etc.) are visible and well coordinated
• Manage shared Google drives and organization-wide resources, such as templates, visual/brand assets, and intranet guides
• Maintain and update contact lists, media databases, and other directories
• Monitor, sort, and prioritize incoming emails in shared accounts
• Collect data and compile regular reports on communications activities and outcomes
• As assigned, provide project coordination for communications initiatives, including research, scheduling, creating materials, and tracking progress
• Support the distribution of internal staff communications, including contributing to and coordinating the execution of plan(s) and collecting/drafting content

Program Admin & Operations – 10%
This category is about facilitating processes and transactions that require collaboration with our admin and operations team members.

• Coordinate team financial transactions, including making purchases, tracking expenses and/or budgets (as assigned), and processing payments
• Support relationships with freelancers and external vendors, including setting up contracts, tracking deliverables, and making payments
• Help facilitate group HR processes, including coordinating hiring processes, onboarding new team members, and setting up goal-setting and review cycles
• Develop proficiency in managing virtual and hybrid meetings, and run technology for group meetings, workshops, and other gatherings

Trainings, Workshops, & Events – 20%
This category includes coordination and support for communications and storytelling workshops, trainings, and other communications-related events.

• Serve as project coordinator for Speaking Science, supporting committee meetings, tracking deliverables, and managing speaker contracts and payments
• Support an annual line-up of public-interest communications workshops and trainings, including leading logistics, marketing, and attendee communications
• Assist in the planning and execution of other communications-related events

Assistant to the Director – 20%
This category includes the ways you’ll support the team director’s work.

• Meet weekly with the director to review upcoming activities, prioritize tasks, and help effectively manage their workload
• Help coordinate the director’s calendar, including assistance with scheduling
• Assist with drafting and managing correspondence and follow-up
• Prepare a variety of documents and materials, including agendas, presentations, and reports, aligning with UMN and IonE standards and style
• Coordinate logistics for team retreats, lunches, and other team-building activities
• Make occasional travel arrangements, coordinating bookings and expense reports
• Other duties as assigned

Community & Continuous Learning – 10%
This category reflects IonE’s learning orientation and commitment to professional development.

• Develop or grow your understanding of the intersection of DEIJ principles, environment/sustainability work, and the practice of communications
• Follow trends in communications and program area operations, develop your skills, and bring insights and opportunities back to your team and work

Working Conditions: This role will be performed in person on the St. Paul campus with the opportunity for remote/virtual work approximately 1-2 days per week. IonE offices and meeting spaces are accessible, and the building has accessible gendered restrooms on-site. Non-gendered restrooms are accessible through the tunnel system (e.g., in adjacent buildings) but would not be considered convenient for regular daily use.