Communications Manager

About USRowing:
USRowing is the national governing body for the sport of rowing in the United States, responsible for stewarding, strengthening, and growing American rowing by championing performance and igniting new passion for the sport. USRowing serves a broad and dedicated community—athletes, coaches, referees, volunteers, clubs, and event organizers—and the U.S. National Team. Through events, programming, education, and fundraising, USRowing supports participation at every level—from novices through the high performance athletes dedicated to reaching Olympic and Paralympic podiums. 

Position Summary:
The Communications Manager leads USRowing's public relations, media relations, editorial programs, and has day-to-day oversight of USRowing.org. This role is responsible for the writing and editing of press releases, feature stories, athlete profiles, and long-form content across USRowing's platforms. The Manager will also own the relationships and storytelling with national, regional, and sport-specific media, and serve as USRowing's lead media contact and a key point of contact for athletes, coaches, and staff around media engagement, supporting clear communication and a consistent, high-quality editorial standard across all team deliverables. The position also provides on-site media support at our owned regattas, and at National Team training centers, camps and events, while working closely with the Marketing and Communications team to ensure coverage, storytelling, and partner and member communications are compelling, accurate, and aligned with USRowing's organizational goals.

Key Responsibilities: 

Editorial Writing, Editing, and Publishing

• Write, edit, and distribute press releases, competition previews and recaps, compelling feature stories, athlete profiles, media kits, and long-form content for USRowing.org and other digital platforms.
• Own day-to-day oversight of content on USRowing.org, including copywriting, editing, and page building.
• Own and uphold AP style and USRowing’s brand voice across press materials, feature content, and team deliverables; serve as the department’s editorial standard-bearer.
• Review and edit copy produced across the team — including social captions, email copy, and web content — raising the standard of accuracy, depth, and craft.
• Develop and maintain the editorial calendar for National Team and organizational storytelling in partnership with the Director of Marketing and Communications and the Social Media and Content Associate.

Media Relations & Athlete Appearances

• Own the National Team communications calendar across the high-performance cycle, including selection events, World Cups, World Championships, and the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
• Serve as USRowing’s primary media contact; build and maintain productive relationships with national, regional, and sport-specific media.
• Manage inbound media requests to support the placement of stories: athlete features, team storylines, selection and results coverage, and human-interest narratives that elevate the National Team and organization.
• Oversee media operations at competitions, including credentialing, media availability, interview scheduling, and on-site facilitation.
• Maintain and continuously improve athlete and media databases, press kits, and athlete bios that make National Team coverage easy for media to access.
• Prepare athletes and staff for media engagement, and coordinate with the Chief Marketing Officer on sensitive or crisis-adjacent communications.
• Facilitate and coordinate on-demand National Team athlete appearances and autograph signings at events.

• Coach and develop interns and where necessary freelance personnel, raising the standard of accuracy, depth, and craft across all team deliverables.
• Support the Social Media and Content Associate with social content and real-time coverage, and the Director with email, SMS, web, and campaign workloads, when capacity allows.
• Translate the Chief Marketing Officer’s strategy into actionable editorial and communications plans with clear owners, deadlines, and measures of success.
• Balance short-term execution with long-term process improvements, building proactive systems and planning that keep multiple storylines and campaigns moving reliably.

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, journalism, public relations, sports information, or a related field.
• Minimum of 6–8 years of experience in communications, public relations, media relations, journalism, or sports information, including at least 1–2 years coaching, leading, or managing others, vendors, or freelancers.
• Exceptional writing and editing skills, with demonstrated command of AP style and experience producing press releases, feature stories, and athlete profiles.
• Proven media relations and pitching track record: placing stories with national, regional, or sport media outlets, and managing reporter relationships over time.
• Experience with media operations at live events, including credentialing, interview scheduling, and on-site facilitation.
• Experience producing and maintaining press kits, athlete bios, and media databases.
• Comfort with sensitive communications, and exposure to crisis or issues-management support.
• Working familiarity with content management systems and digital publishing; comfort adapting editorial content for web, email, and social formats.
• Data fluency: comfortable tracking coverage results and content performance, and using analytics to sharpen storylines and pitches.
• A passion for rowing or the power of sport in general. A rowing background is highly preferred.
• Preferred software experience: HubSpot, Canva, Craft CMS, Meta Business Suite, all major social media platforms, Monday.com (or other project management platforms)
• Bonus not required: hands-on marketing experience (email marketing, social campaign execution, or partnership marketing) that would allow the Manager to support the Director and Social Media and Content Associate with their workloads when needed.

Compensation/Benefits:  $70,000–$75,000 annual salary. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa for this role. Please note that due to salary restrictions and requirements, we cannot hire from Washington state for this role.

How to Apply: Online Application. Please provide resume, cover letter, and URLs for 3x writing samples of published work.

USRowing Values:
USRowing is committed to the following values to fulfill its mission and achieve its priorities:

CULTURE OF MUTUAL RESPECT. Foster an inclusive culture honoring the rights, views, and inherent value of others, treating all with dignity and courtesy.

PROFESSIONALISM. Develop and share expertise, act effectively and efficiently, and be responsive and reliable, honoring all pledges and promises in a timely and trustworthy manner.

SAFETY. Be constantly mindful of safety on and off the water, taking proactive measures to prevent injury, abuse, or other harm, and help others both within USRowing and among member organizations.

INTEGRITY. Have the courage to choose what is right, adhere to the mission and practice our values rather than merely profess them. Employ the highest ethical standards, demonstrating honesty and fairness in every action we take.

FAIR COMPETITION. Commit to upholding the integrity of sport to ensure a level playing field devoid of doping, cheating or other forms of unfair advantage.

TEAMWORK. Work collaboratively and assume positive intent; support each other to combine individual strengths while keeping an eye on the greater good.

ENJOYMENT IN ALL ASPECTS OF SPORT. Create opportunities for involvement that promote a positive experience and lifelong love for rowing for all.

USRowing is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We are committed to growing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the sport of rowing and believe that work begins in our own space. We believe diversity makes us stronger and encourage individuals with diverse backgrounds and life experiences to apply to join our team.