Director of Athletics Communications

OBU Mission Statement

OBU transforms lives by equipping students to pursue academic excellence, integrate faith with all areas of knowledge, engage a diverse world, and live worthy of the high calling of God in Christ.

Expectations for all Employees

Oklahoma Baptist University achieves its mission through a shared commitment to the following expectations.  All employees must embrace these expectations and model them in their behavior.

• Demonstrate commitment to the essentials of the Christian faith.
• Commit to the mission and vision of Oklahoma Baptist University.
• Treat people with dignity and respect.
• Build relationships on honesty, integrity, and trust.
• Strive for excellence through teamwork, leadership, and a strong work ethic.
• Manage human and financial resources wisely and efficiently.

Purpose: The Director of Communications will be responsible for gathering and providing information to the public on specific sports and assisting with public relations activities within the athletics department. The incumbent will work together with the other Director of Athletics Communications in the management and operations of the department.

This position has an anticipated start date of June 1, 2026.

Essential Functions:

The Director Athletics of Communications responsible for creating compelling content for the purpose of proactively publicizing OBU Athletics, and specifically the teams/programs he or she is assigned to cover.  As such, the Director of Athletics Communications will plan, organize and direct all communications efforts including news releases, features, photography, statistics, press box/game day operations, publications, graphics, video and other creative content for his or her assigned sports.

·         Manage game day operations for assigned sports including the keeping of official statistics.

·         Design graphics for print and electronic use in promoting OBU student-athletes, coaches and teams.

·         Assist in maintaining OBU’s official athletics website, OBUBison.com, including ensuring accurate and up-to-date information for assigned OBU teams (including rosters, bios, statistics, records, etc.).

·         Write and edit articles for various publications, including OBUBison.com.

·         Supervise staff of paid and volunteer student workers and interns.

·         Nominate and promote OBU student-athletes from assigned sports for all conference, regional and national academic, regular season and postseason honors and awards.

·         Collaborate regularly with the other Director of Athletics Communication, Assistant AD for Fan Engagement, and Associate Athletics Director for External Operations to generate new and relevant content publicizing OBU student-athletes, coaches, teams, and the department as a whole.

·         Manage broadcast (video and audio) content while collaborating regularly with the other Director of Athletics Communication, Assistant AD for Fan Engagement, and Associate Athletics Director for External Operations on the Bison Sports Network.

·         Build and maintain positive, service-oriented relationships with local, regional, and national media and organizations for the purpose of generating coverage of OBU Athletics.

·         Travel as necessary with select OBU teams.

Other Duties:

·         As assigned by the Director of Athletics or Associate Athletics Director for External Operations.

Required Qualifications:

·         Demonstrated ability for strategic thinking and strong public relations sensibilities.

·         Excellent written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills.

·         Familiarity with AP style.

·         Sound editorial judgement.

·         Understanding of graphic design principles and experience with Adobe Creative Suite.

·         General video production skills including editing and webcasting capabilities.

·         General photography and photo editing abilities.

·         Cursory understanding of HTML and basic web design principles.

·         Ability to monitor and manage multiple social media accounts and platforms.

·         Comfortable with Microsoft Office software.

·         In-depth, sport-specific knowledge to serve as an official scorer.

·         Technical knowledge and experience with Genius Stats or other statistical software.

·         Broad working knowledge and familiarity with NCAA and Great American Conference rules and policies.

Education:

Required: Bachelor’s degree in journalism or related field.

Preferred: Master’s degree in journalism or related field.

Experience:

      Required: Have worked a minimum of one year in a collegiate/professionally related field.

      Preferred: Have worked five years in collegiate/professionally related field.

Physical Experience:

• Must be able to carry up to 50lbs up four flights of stairs on a regular basis.
• Must be able to stand for long periods of time.

Special Requirements:

·         Must be a member of a local evangelical* Christian church.

*Evangelical is a broad term referring to segment within Christianity which maintains the authority of the Bible and the belief in salvation by faith in Jesus alone.

·         Please apply using the link for “Administrative Applications” on the OBU website at: https://www.okbu.edu/hr/jobs.html

OBU Benefits Summary:

OBU understands that our employees are our most valuable assets when fulfilling our mission. We strive to offer an extensive array of benefits and opportunities for employees to choose from. Full-time employees benefit from the generous OBU provision of premium contributions for nationwide family-friendly Health and Dental coverages along with free life insurance that includes accidental death and dismemberment equal to an employee’s base salary. OBU provides access to optional employee-paid ancillary benefits like vision, hospitalization, critical illness, accident, additional employee-paid family life insurance coverages, and education benefits at OBU and other institutions of higher education. There is generous paid time off that includes annual granted vacation time, accrued sick leave, six annual holidays, and week-long breaks for Thanksgiving and Christmas that include energy conservation days. For all employees working at least half-time, there is an employer matching opportunity for retirement investments in a 403(b)(9) plan administered by Guide Stone. There are numerous other perks and opportunities for OBU employees including FREE family membership to the OBU Recreation and Wellness Center or RAWC, Global outreach university mission trips, cafeteria discounts, and parking privileges to name a few. For more information about the current OBU employee benefits and opportunities, please contact the Human Resources staff at HR@okbu.edu.