Academic Communications

Bengaluru | Full-time | Public Relations & Strategic Communications

Reports to the Senior Manager, Communications and Public Relations

Role Overview The Senior PR Consultant will own academic PR for Vidyashilp University (VU), from identifying relevant news developments and receiving journalist requests through to coordinating faculty responses, securing approvals, meeting editorial deadlines and tracking coverage.

The consultant will be the PR team’s day-to-day point of contact for Deans, Program Chairs, faculty members and academic centers. The role calls for someone who can quickly identify the right expert, draw out a distinct academic perspective and turn it into an accurate, accessible response for the media.

Academic Engagement

- Work with Deans and Program Chairs to map faculty expertise, identify potential spokespeople and agree how urgent requests will be routed across schools.
- Build direct relationships with faculty and academic centers. Maintain a current directory of expertise, contact details and availability, supported by a bank of verified research, data and examples.
- Brief faculty on the journalist’s angle, audience and deadline. Verify facts, attribution and institutional context with the relevant academic stakeholders before submission.

Academic PR and Media Relations

- Monitor the news cycle and incoming media requests. Assess each prospect for relevance, editorial value, deadline and reputational sensitivity, and decide which opportunities to pursue within agreed guidelines.
- Secure faculty inputs and prepare or edit quotes, expert commentary, interview briefs and background notes. Coordinate faculty validation and PR approvals, and escalate sensitive queries to the Head of PR.
- Build and maintain journalist relationships across national, regional, education and business media. Submit approved responses directly or through the appointed agency, coordinate interviews and follow up on submissions.
- Own the reactive PR workflow and tracker from intake to closure. Assign owners and deadlines,



coordinate handoffs with agencies, record outcomes and review missed opportunities.

Candidate Profile

- 5 to 7 years of relevant experience across journalism, editorial work or academic communications, with substantial experience working in education.
- A record of handling deadline-driven media requests and placing or facilitating expert commentary, interviews or other earned coverage. Established relationships with relevant journalists and editors are strongly preferred.
- Strong editorial judgement and writing skills, with the ability to make complex academic ideas accessible while preserving nuance and accuracy.
- Confidence working directly with Deans, Program Chairs and faculty, and the ability to coordinate multiple responses and approvals under tight deadlines.

Performance Expectations

- First 90 days. Meet academic leads, establish a faculty spokesperson directory and agree response timelines, approval routes and escalation contacts. Use the reactive PR tracker to establish a baseline for response times and coverage.
- By six months. Build regular participation across schools, establish a dependable rhythm of journalist engagement and report on opportunities, turnaround times and earned media outcomes.
- By twelve months. Use coverage and workflow data to broaden the pool of responsive faculty spokespeople, improve turnaround and increase VU’s visibility in relevant editorial coverage.

Success Measures

- Median response turnaround and the proportion of approved responses submitted by the journalist’s deadline.
- Conversion of submitted responses into earned coverage, alongside the relevance of outlets and the prominence of faculty contributions.
- Breadth and repeat participation of faculty spokespeople across schools, and the reasons qualified opportunities are missed.

Coordination with Strategic PR The consultant will share relevant academic insights and verified proof points with the Head of PR to support institutional positioning, including the Indian Ivies initiative. The role’s primary accountability is reactive PR.

Regards,

Vidyashilp University

Official Website: https://vidyashilp.edu.in/

📌 Senior Public Relations Consultant (Bengaluru)
🏢 Vidyashilp University
📍 Bengaluru