Press Officer for health care and legal policy

The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, located in New York City, is looking for a new member of the communications team. The Press Officer for health care and legal policy will be primarily responsible for coordinating media placements for Manhattan Institute scholars with local and national media (print, tv, radio, blogs, etc), and marketing the institute's ideas, publications, website and scholars to policy makers, scholars, and the public. The Press Officer must be a self-starter and have a commitment to promoting ideas that foster greater economic choice and individual liberty.

Specific tasks include writing press advisories/ releases, coordinating media appearances, keeping the website updated and interesting, updating media/ policy/ scholar lists, and maintaining personal contacts with the media.

The position requires solid writing, research and organizational skills—including good presentation and an ability to (occasionally) organize and host events as part of marketing a project.

Media savvy—success in this job requires someone with the interest to constantly be following the news and to stay in contact with fellows and producers, checking email (especially when out of the office), and thinking about ways to fit our scholars/ message into the news cycle.

Writing skills—a key component of this job is taking complicated research material and finding the 5 word take-away message. Crafting a persuasive pitch/ press release/ and website text is the key to success.

New media—we will be utilizing new media platforms, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc, to broaden the reach of our message.

Also, it would be a benefit for applicants to already have an understanding of current health care debate. It should be noted that the press officers are expected to represent the Institute at our own functions as well as other events—which are usually after hours. A BA in political science/government preferable.

The Communications Department currently consists of three press officers, Deputy Director of Communications, three web/ print designers and is headed by the Vice President, Communications & Marketing.

***This is an entry level position to up to 3 years experience.

Interested and qualified applicants should send a cover letter explaining why they are a good fit for this job and the Manhattan Institute, resume, writing sample, references to Lindsay Craig, Vice President, Communications & Marketing at lyoung.craig@manhattan-institute.org

Web Designer/Developer/Video Editor

A Manhattan-based think tank, a leading national public policy institution, is looking for a part-time web designer/developer/video editor with possibility of a full-time position in the future.

This position will be part of the communications department (7)—working directly with the current full-time website developer and press officers.

Responsibilities:

• Make regular updates to web content and graphics for multiple sites;
• Edit video/audio podcasting, convert and compress files into different formats, maintain the institute's digital media library;
• Maintain institute's events registration system;
• Create and implement visual design for web, including conceptual design, navigation, layout, graphics, and icons.
• Perform testing on various platforms/browsers;
• Participate in ongoing development and modification of sites and web applications, including the assessment of existing site functionality.

Qualifications/Requirements:

• Possess good knowledge of web design/production methods;
• Background in graphic design for the web;
• Knowledge of web video editing; ability to encode and convert video/audio files for website using any recent software;
• Strong knowledge of Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash;
• Expert knowledge of JavaScript, HTML, CSS, FTP applications, and XML;
• Ability to maintain websites that use PHP utilizing MySQL;
• Knowledge of any blog software is a plus;
• Ability to work effectively with short deadlines on simultaneous projects.
  

Only candidates residing in the New York City area will be considered. Please send your resume, cover letter, and online portfolio of samples to webmaster@manhattan-institute.org.

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phone (212) 599-7000 / fax (212) 599-3494