Communications Associate

About us

At the forefront of farming and food, UPSIDE Foods is innovating new ways to produce real meat, without the need to breed, feed and slaughter animals. Our process begins with an animal cell, which is cultivated and harvested as meat. UPSIDE Foods is a mission-driven company focused on bringing to meat lovers an authentic product that is truly humane, sustainably produced, nutritious and delicious! We are now expanding our team of dedicated professionals across disciplines to make better meat for a better world.

About this job

The Comms Associate will be responsible for executing on all things PR and external communications. As UPSIDE Foods approaches commercialization, our PR engagements will become more frequent and consumer-oriented. You will help manage the day-to-day PR work of the company, and will also have a key seat at the table in the development of these strategies. You are a great communicator, enjoy building relationships with a varied set of stakeholders, and are excited to work with staff across company functions to bring our communications vision to life. While you are passionate about communications, you are excited to roll up your sleeves and get involved in a wide variety of company functions, some of which might fall outside of traditional external communications work (e.g., internal communications, policy). You will report to the Director of Communications.

Duties include

• Be the first and main point of contact on inbound media requests. Work with our PR team to vet, provide recommendations on engagement, and execute on those recommendations.
• Develop and execute a strategy for major awards and conferences that UPSIDE Foods should attend/may be eligible for.
• Attend/table at conferences as a UPSIDE Foods representative.
• Train UPSIDE Foods non-communications staff for public speaking engagements.
• Work with our PR team to draft written interview responses/speeches and/or create prep documents for staff, including the CEO, prior to media engagements.
• Coordinate in-person media engagements, including tastings and tours of our facilities. 
• Monitor media coverage in order to: submit corrections to outlets when errors are printed (e.g., when UPSIDE Foods is referred to as "fake meat" or "plant-based"), keep a log of public statements from competitors, identify reporters who might be interested in writing about UPSIDE Foods in the future based on their output.
• Read and summarize reports about the industry, including environmental and economic reports, to CEO and senior leadership. Regularly report to senior leadership about industry updates and media coverage.
• Help develop PR strategies, in concert with our external PR firm and company staff, including developing new messaging, press plans for specific announcements, and overall PR strategy. 
• Manage external partners in the development of proactive crisis communications plans.
• Contribute to internal communications work on an ad hoc basis.

About you

• Bachelor’s degree in journalism, communications, PR, social science or other related fields. 
• At least 1-2 years work experience in PR/communications, journalism, marketing or branding.
• Strong skills in writing, verbal communication, organization, attention to detail, problem-solving, quick thinking, interpersonal relations, logistics and diplomacy. Strong emotional intelligence.
• Willingness to roll with the punches in a quickly changing startup environment. Love of external communications, but desire to learn about other company functions.
• Nice to have: a sharp eye for preparing facilities for filmed media and building slide decks.