Communications and Outreach Coordinator | Leidos

Leidos operates the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA’s) Saxton Transportation Operations Laboratory (STOL), where staff develop emerging technologies to improve transportation safety, mobility, and environmental impacts. The STOL provides a variety of services to support the advancement and deployment of vehicle-to-infrastructure technologies.

Leidos is seeking a Communications and Outreach Coordinator to assist in the execution of the overall communications and technology transfer strategies and implementation plans to inform, educate, engage, support and develop stakeholders in the transportation industry. This includes efficiently creating and measuring the effectiveness of a variety of communications campaigns and materials, as well as coordinating project activities and stakeholder engagements to cultivate and maintain strategic partnerships in industry, academia, government, and consulting. Efforts will also include supporting technology transfer to internal and external partners and helping to manage project coordination.

The Communications and Outreach Coordinator will be a key part of the STOL team supporting the communications and outreach needs associated with the FHWA’s cutting-edge research at the Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC). The role will be part of a larger research team advancing connected and automated vehicle technologies for FHWA via testing, demonstrating, and providing the technology transfer for new capabilities associated with connected and automated vehicles with a focus on cooperative driving automation (CDA) and intelligent transportation systems (ITS) technologies.

Responsibilities:

Primarily responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

Support the development and execution of communications campaigns that leverage print, digital, and multimedia solutions. This includes creating and editing compelling content for websites, videos, presentations, fact sheets, social media, general and technical media publications, newsletters, and other associated media and materials.

Collaborate and coordinate with FHWA editors and FHWA Public Affairs as needed to facilitate the logistics and publication of various communications materials.

Review, edit, and develop concise summaries and briefings of technical and/or research reports for technical and lay audiences.

Track, monitor, and measure the effectiveness of communications, outreach, marketing, and stakeholder engagement activities to inform future campaign strategies and investments.

Support testing event filming and photo activities. This includes local and out-of-state travel as needed.

Lead and facilitate meetings and workshops in a variety of formats, including in-person and web-based.

Support the development of events to publicize Office of Operations Research & Development (R&D) activities.

Build and maintain trust with key FHWA stakeholders to facilitate communication on R&D priorities.

Additional Technology Transfer/Project Coordination Support

Work with the tech transfer team to provide backup support for responding to technical support request tickets.

Support management and editing public and private documentation stores on Confluence and other knowledge portals in addition to tracking metrics to support tech transfer.

Contribute to development of workflow and ticketing processes for the support services projects, including tracking interactions among Jira, Confluence, and GitHub to keep up to date on any issues raised through the different platforms.

Contribute to occasional demonstrations.

Required Education, Skills, and Experience:

Bachelor’s degree with 2+ years of professional experience in marketing and communications, or a Master’s degree with 1+ years of professional experience in marketing and communications.

Ability to travel for conferences and filming, locally and out of state

Strong understanding of branding and integrated marketing best practices to implement a cohesive vision across several projects.

Demonstrated experience with writing and content development for a variety of communications media, platforms, and publications.

Experience with the planning and execution of in-person and virtual events.

Experience with metrics development, tracking, visualization, and reporting.

Excellent verbal, written, and public speaking communication skills in English, and the ability to listen and accurately identify client needs and issues.

Fluent with Microsoft Office tools/programs, especially Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.

Ability to work independently and as a member of a team.

Proactive in actions and communications and able to follow through on commitments and deliver quality products ahead of or on schedule.

Ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines across projects simultaneously, prioritizing demands on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.

Enjoys helping others, is self-motivated, takes ownership and initiative, and possesses a desire to learn and grow, while self-teaching with minimal guidance.

Valid driver’s license and ability to pass DMV background check.

Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance.

Desired Skills and Experience:

Experience with Adobe Creative Cloud software.

Experience with Microsoft Dynamics, GitHub, Jira, and Confluence, including experience in configuring and customizing these environments.

Experience with data management.

Experience with cybersecurity operations.

Experience operating professional video and photo equipment, conducting photoshoots, and editing media.

Familiar with web conferencing tools and platforms.

Experience with technical writing and following different communication style guides.

Skilled at cultivating and managing relationships.

Demonstrated initiative and resourcefulness.

Intellectual curiosity and dedication to master vast and complex subjects.

A desire to help others in deploying technologies in real-world settings and developing new solutions, tools, and opportunities to advance these technology transfer activities and technology adoption.

Location: Full time at FHWA’s Turner Fairbank Highway Research Facility in McLean, VA.