Jason Townsend
Lead Communications Program Manager @NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Signup · Get unlimited contacts
WORK HISTORY
Lead Communications Program Manager @NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Washington, DC, US
Jason Townsend is a lead program manager for NASA\'s Communications, responsible for leading the planning, development and implementation of special projects that enable and support strategic communications efforts. This includes the modernization and overhauling of NASA\'s websites, operations of a suite of communications tools and digital platforms used to share information with NASA\'s audiences and the transition of NASA\'s television networks to a modern streaming service, NASA+. Additionally, he provides comprehensive long-range planning of new communications initiatives and projects, while also serving as the communications liaison to the Office of the CIO and an advisor to agency leadership on communications strategy and special projects.
EDUCATION
West Virginia University
MS, Integrated Marketing Communications
University of Colorado Boulder
BA, Political Science
University of Virginia
Graduate Coursework, eMarketing
SKILLS
ABOUT JASON TOWNSEND
Jason Townsend is a seasoned communications leader at NASA with more than two decades of experience bridging the space between technology and communication strategy to reach global audiences. He leverages digital platforms and multimedia to deliver impactful communications to both large and targeted audiences at scale.Recently, he has played a pivotal role in modernizing NASA’s digital presence, including leading efforts to overhaul the space agency\'s websites and transform the traditional NASA TV channels into a new streaming service, NASA+, with both live and on-demand video. These initiatives were also strategically integrated into NASA’s flagship app for mobile and streaming TV devices. All of this resulted in overall gains for NASA in Google search result appearances and rankings. It also led to a significant reduction in visitors bouncing off the website upon their first visit and the building of a new streaming audience of millions across live and on-demand video.Jason previously introduced email marketing tools to launch NASA’s first agency-level email newsletter, grown from zero subscribers to over six million and spawning dozens of other more targeted email newsletters across the space agency. He also strategically managed a NASA-wide social media community of more than 200 internal users, while directing the efforts of and executing some of the largest brand social media accounts across 18 different platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and YouTube. This resulted in growth of NASA’s social media follower footprint from 12 million in 2012 to million strong in 2019.Earlier roles have included webmaster positions at NOAA and the U.S. Institute of Peace, where he oversaw online content, managed content management systems, and executed website redesigns to enhance the user experience and site functionality. He also previously worked on the NASA.gov website at both NASA Headquarters and the Goddard Space Flight Center.Jason holds a Master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from West Virginia University. He has received multiple Webby Awards for excellence in both social media and web, along with three Emmy Awards for interactive programs. He began as a freelance web designer for small local businesses and university student organizations in
This profile is compiled from publicly available professional sources. Unifers is not affiliated with or endorsed by LinkedIn. Request removal of this profile.