The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (www.aiaa.org) in Reston, VA seeks a Social Media Communications Specialist to work as a part of our Communications team to identify and maximize opportunities to use social media to communicate the AIAA value proposition and our vision of shaping the future of aerospace.

Reporting to the Senior Manager of Communications, the Social Media Communications Specialist will be responsible for developing and supporting AIAA’s social media strategies and tactics as part of overall marketing and communications strategy.  In this hands-on role, the successful candidate will apply creativity to lead the curation of social media content and social media product building.

AIAA has a Flexible Workplace, where staff work primarily remote, but are required to attend meetings in the office and collaborate in person as needed.  Candidates must reside in the Washington, DC metro area. 

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY

• Develop and execute a broad social media strategy, through competitive research, platform determination, benchmarking, creative messaging, and audience identification
• Ensure social media components are integrated with communications, marketing, and events plans with consistent Institute branding

REPUTATION MANAGEMENT

• Monitor social media for sentiment about Institute activities, products, and programs, taking appropriate action as needed for reputation management.
• Manage dynamic editorial calendar, generating, editing, publishing, and sharing daily content on all AIAA social media platforms.

REPORTING AND ANALYSIS

• With Senior Manager and Senior Director, develop measurement plan defining metrics for social media success and track the impact of social media programs; analyze, review and report on effectiveness of campaigns to continuously improve results.

INTEGRATED COMMUNICATIONS

• Collaborate with Strategic Marketing and Communications team colleagues and Institute stakeholders beyond social media accountabilities – actively support project- and event-driven promotional and public relations outreach, including web content, videos, scripts, banners, backdrops, budgets, and advertisements.
• Assist with media relations and issues management planning and outreach.
• Curate Institute photo archive on Flickr and manage backup of photo archive.
• Manage Institute video products (e.g., YouTube, Instagram) and collaborate with the Video Library team, as part of a video content marketing strategy.
• Assist with virtual events, Zoom calls, and webinars as needed.

• Ability to work with internal teams, volunteers, and vendors simultaneously in a dynamic, fast-paced environment
• Effective oral and written communication skills, including strong copywriting/editing skills and attention to detail
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, including deadline orientation

• Ability to think creatively, develop innovative approaches, and build buy-in with others on new ideas
• Strong organizational skills

• Dropbox, OneDrive, and other cloud storage tools
• Product enhancement
• Social media mining
• Monetization

• Bachelor’s degree required, or equivalent combination of education, training, and work experience
• At least 3-5 years of demonstrated professional experience in social media, public relations, and/or communications. Requires strong understanding of communications, marketing, and social networking; in-depth knowledge of social media platforms and their respective participants/audiences and how each can be deployed in different scenarios; and demonstrated ability to map out a social media strategy and drive the strategy to build an engaged online community.
• Strong project management and organizational skills
• Demonstrated success in measuring, reporting and analyzing program results using metrics tools, such as Sprout Social
• Team player, with the confidence to effectively take the lead and guide other stakeholders when necessary
• Knowledge of content management and customer relationship management systems, such as Sitefinity and Abila NetForum preferred.
• Moderate travel (3-5 times per year)

About AIAA:

AIAA’s purpose is to ignite and celebrate aerospace ingenuity and collaboration, and its importance to our way of life. AIAA is the world’s largest technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession. We are comprised of individual and corporate members from around the world. AIAA carries forth a proud tradition of more than 80 years of aerospace leadership. 

Working at AIAA:

AIAA offers an excellent benefits package, including medical, dental, and vision insurance; a generous paid-time-off plan with vacation, sick, holiday, parental leave, and bereavement; short-term and long-term disability coverage; a competitive bonus structure; 401(k) plan with up to 4% company match; education benefits; and more.

AIAA is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, sexual orientation, genetics, gender identity, disability, veteran or military status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. This position will require pre-employment screening potentially including a criminal background check, verification of academic credentials, licenses, certifications, and/or verification of work history.