Career Center

In order for your application to be considered, you must attach a cover letter, CV, and 1-2 writing samples to your employment application.

The METRANS Transportation Consortium is seeking candidates for an outreach and communication specialist. The METRANS Transportation Consortium is USC’s transportation research center, a partnership of the USC Price School of Public Policy and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. METRANS has several university partners, most prominently California State University, Long Beach. Duties will include developing, directing, and implementing a robust program of external communication for METRANS. This will include developing and implementing a strategic communication program, and assisting with student engagement and events as needed.

Communication duties will include:

• Working with the METRANS team to develop a list of stakeholders who should be included in METRANS communication, including a strategic overview of METRANS communications needs;

• Maintaining and updating METRANS contact lists in ways that support the center’s strategic communication needs;

• Assisting with strategizing and implementing communication plans that could include web page development and design, newsletter development and design, and social media campaigns;

• Writing articles on various transportation related content;

• Supervising student newsletter content creation and distribution;

• Managing social media platforms;

Outreach duties will include:

• Mentoring programs for university students;

• Advising university student organizations devoted to transportation research and practice;

• Canvassing and distributing information on scholarship and award programs and managing student applications to such programs;

• Fostering student pathways toward transportation careers;

• Hiring and supervising student teams who write and distribute weekly newsletters;

• Implementing K-12 student and community outreach programs to build highly impactful student pipelines from school to university education to transportation careers;

• Overseeing and implementing a research seminar series;

Both communication and outreach duties will involve other duties as assigned by the METRANS director or METRANS staff.

Duties could include fundraising to obtain grant or external support for K-12, community college, student internship programs, mentoring programs, or other student award or enrichment programs. Such fundraising would be with oversight and approval provided by of the METRANS director and in coordination with Price or University development staff.

This position will be supervised by the METRANS associate director for administration or the METRANS director. Work duties will be on the USC campus. Hybrid work that accommodates working from home some, but not all, days per week can be accommodated by agreement of the selected candidate and the METRANS director. We anticipate that hybrid work arrangements will require that the selected candidate be on campus two to three days per week, on a regular schedule agreed to by the selected candidate and the METRANS director.

The candidate should have the following qualifications: 1) two or more years of experience in either communication, outreach, student affairs, research center administration, or associated tasks in a research center or university setting or for candidates with less than two years of experience, demonstrated highly relevant experience, 2) familiarity with university student program environments 3) strong organizational skills, 4) expertise with file creation, editing, and sharing software tools such as Microsoft Office suite, Adobe, Google applications for document sharing, and similar software tools, 5) an ability to manage student workers and student research assistants, 6) an ability to maintain communication and work with a dispersed set of colleagues across several universities, agencies, and community partners, 7) strategic thinking. Candidates with experience and past demonstrated success in both student engagement and communication will typically be more competitive.

In addition to the above desired qualifications, these qualifications are an advantage: 1) strong writing skills, 2) ability to interpret budgets, 3) understanding of and familiarity with transportation policy and/or transportation research or closely related topics. The position requires at a minimum a bachelors degree, with masters degree or more advanced degrees preferred.

The expected start date is April 15, 2023.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS: In order for your application to be considered, you must attach a cover letter, CV, and 1-2 writing samples.

Compensation:

The hourly rate range for this position is $29.04 - $33.12. When extending an offer of employment, the University of Southern California considers factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, federal, state, and local laws, contractual stipulations, grant funding, as well as external market and organizational considerations.

About the METRANS Transportation Consortium:

METRANS was established in 1998 through the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) as the first University Transportation Center in Southern California. METRANS is a joint partnership of the University of Southern California (USC) and California State University Long Beach (CSULB). METRANS is housed at USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. At USC, METRANS researchers span urban planning, public policy, and all fields of engineering.

The mission of the METRANS Transportation Consortium is to solve transportation problems of large metropolitan regions through interdisciplinary research, education and outreach. METRANS has three primary objectives: 1) Foster independent, high quality research to solve the nation's transportation problems; 2) Train the next generation transportation workforce; and 3) Disseminate information, best practices, and technology to the professional community. We accomplish these objectives through a comprehensive and collaborative program of research, education, information dissemination and technology transfer organized around three topical focus areas:

- Integrated management of freight and passenger systems

- Sustainable and efficient urban freight transportation

- Mobility of urban populations

About the Sol Price School of Public Policy:

The mission of the Price School is to improve the quality of life for people and their communities, here and abroad. We achieve this mission through education and research that promote innovative solutions to the most critical issues facing society. Over the past 90 years, the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy has earned the public trust by creating path-breaking research and scholarship. We believe it is our ethical responsibility to continue serving our global community at the highest level of excellence.  Sustainability, healthcare, immigration, infrastructure, urban development, social policy, affordable housing, and governance – these are just a few of the modern challenges that require leaders who look beyond their area of expertise to find the most effective solutions. Solving societal issues of such complexity requires not only great minds but also great action. USC Price fosters collaboration and partnerships to better understand problems through varied perspectives. We use the vast influence of California and greater Los Angeles as a resource for setting new paradigms. And we translate research into communities by working directly with the public, private and nonprofit sectors.

USC is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identify, national origin, protected veterans’ status, disability or any other characteristics protected by law or USC policy. We provide reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities. Applicants with questions about access or requiring a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process should contact USC Human Resources by phone at (213) 821-8100, or by email at uschr@ussc.edu . Inquiries will be treated as confidential to the extent permitted by law. USC will consider for employment all qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring ordinance.

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About University of Southern California (USC)

USC is the leading private research university in Los Angeles—a global center for arts, technology and international business. With more than 47,500 students, we are located primarily in Los Angeles but also in various US and global satellite locations. As the largest private employer in Los Angeles, responsible for $8 billion annually in economic activity in the region, we offer the opportunity to work in a dynamic and diverse environment, in careers that span a broad spectrum of talents and skills across a variety of academic and professional schools and administrative units. As a USC employee and member of the Trojan Family—the faculty, staff, students, and alumni who make USC a great place to work—you will enjoy excellent benefits, including a variety of well-being programs designed to help individuals achieve work-life balance.

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