Communications Specialist Jobs in Illinois
Communications Specialist jobs in Illinois draw strong, consistent demand across corporate communications, healthcare, higher education, and state government, with openings at every level from entry-level coordinator through senior director. Chicago anchors the market, while Springfield and Peoria generate steady volume through government agencies, health systems, and regional manufacturers. Established Illinois employers like United Airlines, Northwestern Medicine, and the University of Illinois system maintain ongoing communications functions and recruit regularly for internal and external communications, public affairs, and content strategy roles. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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Showing 4 of 18+ Communications Specialist jobs
Computer World Services, Corp. (CWS) seeks a Telecommunications / Unified Communications Specialist to provide senior-level engineering and operational support for telecommunications services across the USMEPCOM ENLIST program, including enterprise call management, VoIP, SIP, handsets, voicemail, voice applications, mobile devices, carrier services, and telecommunications cutovers.
Key Tasks & Responsibilities
- Administer, maintain, patch, upgrade, and troubleshoot approved call-management platforms and voice applications, including voicemail, softphones, call recording, and Jabber or Microsoft Teams voice.
- Configure, install, register, relocate, and replace VoIP handsets; manage users, extensions, device profiles, dial plans, call routing, hunt groups, and call queues.
- Troubleshoot voice-quality, call-routing, registration, signaling, voicemail, SIP trunk, gateway, and carrier issues.
- Plan and support telecommunications cutovers for facility moves, refreshes, and carrier changes, including cutover plans, validation steps, rollback procedures, and post-cutover testing of calling and emergency-calling functions.
- Support landline, VoIP, fax, speaker, SIP trunk, mobile-device, and hotspot services, and open, escalate, and track carrier and vendor tickets through restoration.
- Respond to telecommunications outages, isolate fault domains, implement approved rerouting or workarounds, confirm restoration, and provide information to the Service Desk and Outage Response Team.
- Support incident reports and root-cause analyses with logs, configurations, carrier information, and timelines.
- Perform or coordinate telecommunications cabling from the demarcation point to devices, and maintain telecom-room, rack, gateway, and handset documentation.
- Support COOP-site telecommunications, including 24/7/365 response during exercises, activations, and outages.
- Configure, issue, reset, and recover Government mobile devices; register devices through authorized Government and DISA processes; and support PKI-enabled device functionality while maintaining authorization boundaries.
- Track device assignment and registration status, report usage when authorized, and coordinate activation, suspension, and termination with carriers.
- Maintain inventories, call-flow diagrams, circuit records, configuration baselines, SOPs, and training materials, and deliver training and knowledge transfer to technicians and users.
Education & Experience
Required:
- Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Information Systems, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience where permitted by the labor category.
- Minimum of eight (8) years of relevant experience in telecommunications engineering, unified communications, VoIP, voice infrastructure, mobile-device services, or a related discipline.
- Experience supporting enterprise call management, SIP, handsets, voicemail, mobile devices, carriers, and service restoration, including outage diagnosis and cutovers.
- Ability to work on site in North Chicago, IL, and support after-hours maintenance, on-call response, COOP activities, and outage restoration.
- Strong written, verbal, customer-service, coordination, and technical problem-solving skills.
Preferred:
- Experience supporting federal or DoD telecommunications environments, including COOP telecommunications and continuity exercises.
- Experience administering Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Unity Connection, CUBE, or comparable voice platforms.
- Experience with SIP, RTP, SRTP, SCCP, H.323, MGCP, session-border controllers, and emergency-calling services.
- Experience with Microsoft Teams Phone, Cisco Jabber, Webex Calling, or comparable platforms.
- Experience with Government mobile-device enrollment, PKI, CAC, derived credentials, or DISA registration, and with ServiceNow.
Certifications
- Required: Ability to complete and maintain Government-required mobile-device enrollment, PKI, and applicable DISA training and authorization before performing controlled enrollment or registration functions.
- Preferred: CCNA, CCNP Collaboration, CompTIA Network+ or Security+, Microsoft 365 Certified: Teams Administrator Associate, BICSI or other telecommunications certification, ITIL 4 Foundation.
Security Clearance
- Active Secret clearance or higher is required.
Other (Travel, Work Environment, DoD 8570 Requirements, Administrative Notes, etc.)
Work Environment / Travel:
- On-site in North Chicago, IL (no telework).
- After-hours work, on-call support, planned maintenance, emergency restoration, and travel to remote locations may be required.
Administrative Notes:
Period of Performance: March 1, 2027 – February 28, 2033
Contract Start Date: March 1, 2027
Note: By applying to this position, the candidate acknowledges and consents to having their resume included in an active competitive Government contract bid.The offered rate will be based on the selected candidate's knowledge, skills, abilities and/or experience and in consideration of internal parity. The posted range is appropriate for a typical candidate meeting, at a minimum, all the core requirements of the position.
Computer World Services, Corp. (CWS) seeks a Telecommunications / Unified Communications Specialist to provide senior-level engineering and operational support for telecommunications services across the USMEPCOM ENLIST program, including enterprise call management, VoIP, SIP, handsets, voicemail, voice applications, mobile devices, carrier services, and telecommunications cutovers.
Key Tasks & Responsibilities
- Administer, maintain, patch, upgrade, and troubleshoot approved call-management platforms and voice applications, including voicemail, softphones, call recording, and Jabber or Microsoft Teams voice.
- Configure, install, register, relocate, and replace VoIP handsets; manage users, extensions, device profiles, dial plans, call routing, hunt groups, and call queues.
- Troubleshoot voice-quality, call-routing, registration, signaling, voicemail, SIP trunk, gateway, and carrier issues.
- Plan and support telecommunications cutovers for facility moves, refreshes, and carrier changes, including cutover plans, validation steps, rollback procedures, and post-cutover testing of calling and emergency-calling functions.
- Support landline, VoIP, fax, speaker, SIP trunk, mobile-device, and hotspot services, and open, escalate, and track carrier and vendor tickets through restoration.
- Respond to telecommunications outages, isolate fault domains, implement approved rerouting or workarounds, confirm restoration, and provide information to the Service Desk and Outage Response Team.
- Support incident reports and root-cause analyses with logs, configurations, carrier information, and timelines.
- Perform or coordinate telecommunications cabling from the demarcation point to devices, and maintain telecom-room, rack, gateway, and handset documentation.
- Support COOP-site telecommunications, including 24/7/365 response during exercises, activations, and outages.
- Configure, issue, reset, and recover Government mobile devices; register devices through authorized Government and DISA processes; and support PKI-enabled device functionality while maintaining authorization boundaries.
- Track device assignment and registration status, report usage when authorized, and coordinate activation, suspension, and termination with carriers.
- Maintain inventories, call-flow diagrams, circuit records, configuration baselines, SOPs, and training materials, and deliver training and knowledge transfer to technicians and users.
Education & Experience
Required:
- Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Information Systems, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience where permitted by the labor category.
- Minimum of eight (8) years of relevant experience in telecommunications engineering, unified communications, VoIP, voice infrastructure, mobile-device services, or a related discipline.
- Experience supporting enterprise call management, SIP, handsets, voicemail, mobile devices, carriers, and service restoration, including outage diagnosis and cutovers.
- Ability to work on site in North Chicago, IL, and support after-hours maintenance, on-call response, COOP activities, and outage restoration.
- Strong written, verbal, customer-service, coordination, and technical problem-solving skills.
Preferred:
- Experience supporting federal or DoD telecommunications environments, including COOP telecommunications and continuity exercises.
- Experience administering Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Unity Connection, CUBE, or comparable voice platforms.
- Experience with SIP, RTP, SRTP, SCCP, H.323, MGCP, session-border controllers, and emergency-calling services.
- Experience with Microsoft Teams Phone, Cisco Jabber, Webex Calling, or comparable platforms.
- Experience with Government mobile-device enrollment, PKI, CAC, derived credentials, or DISA registration, and with ServiceNow.
Certifications
- Required: Ability to complete and maintain Government-required mobile-device enrollment, PKI, and applicable DISA training and authorization before performing controlled enrollment or registration functions.
- Preferred: CCNA, CCNP Collaboration, CompTIA Network+ or Security+, Microsoft 365 Certified: Teams Administrator Associate, BICSI or other telecommunications certification, ITIL 4 Foundation.
Security Clearance
- Active Secret clearance or higher is required.
Other (Travel, Work Environment, DoD 8570 Requirements, Administrative Notes, etc.)
Work Environment / Travel:
- On-site in North Chicago, IL (no telework).
- After-hours work, on-call support, planned maintenance, emergency restoration, and travel to remote locations may be required.
Administrative Notes:
Period of Performance: March 1, 2027 – February 28, 2033
Contract Start Date: March 1, 2027
Note: By applying to this position, the candidate acknowledges and consents to having their resume included in an active competitive Government contract bid.The offered rate will be based on the selected candidate's knowledge, skills, abilities and/or experience and in consideration of internal parity. The posted range is appropriate for a typical candidate meeting, at a minimum, all the core requirements of the position.
See All 18 Communications Specialist Jobs in Illinois
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Find JobsCommunications Specialist Jobs by City in Illinois
Where Illinois roles are concentrated, by current openings.
Communications Specialist Job Market in Illinois
A snapshot from current Illinois openings, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring
Top Industries Hiring
- Insurance
What Illinois Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in communications specialist jobs across Illinois.
- Bachelor's degree in communications, journalism, public relations, or a related field
- Demonstrated experience writing and editing for internal and external audiences
- Proficiency with content management systems, email platforms, and digital publishing tools
- Ability to develop messaging for multiple channels including social media, web, and print
- Experience supporting media relations, press releases, or executive communications
- Familiarity with AP Style and brand voice guidelines used by Illinois employers
Communications Specialist Jobs in Illinois: Frequently Asked Questions
How do you become a communications specialist in Illinois?
A bachelor's degree in communications, journalism, public relations, or English is the standard entry point for Illinois employers. No state-issued license applies to this role in Illinois. Most hiring organizations expect a portfolio of writing samples alongside your resume. Candidates who build experience through campus media, nonprofit communications, or government public affairs internships, particularly in Chicago or Springfield, tend to move into specialist roles more quickly.
Which companies hire communications specialists in Illinois?
Employers hiring communications specialists in Illinois right now include Motorola Solutions, Aon, and Darley, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. Illinois's concentration of Fortune 500 headquarters in the Chicago area, alongside large health systems and state agencies in downstate regions, means the employer mix is broad and relatively stable across industries.
Which Illinois cities have the most communications specialist jobs?
Chicago, Springfield, and Itasca account for the most communications specialist openings in Illinois. Chicago drives the largest share because of its density of corporate headquarters, healthcare networks, and advocacy organizations, while Springfield generates consistent volume through state government agencies and associations that rely on public affairs and media relations professionals.
Are there remote communications specialist jobs in Illinois?
Yes, and communications specialist work is well suited to remote arrangements because most of the core duties, writing, editing, and managing digital channels, require no physical presence. About 60% of communications specialist openings tied to Illinois are remote or hybrid as of November 2026. Content strategy, internal communications, and social media management roles are the most likely to be fully remote.
How can I get hired as a communications specialist in Illinois with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry path is a communications coordinator or content associate role at a mid-size Illinois nonprofit, a regional hospital system like OSF HealthCare, or a state agency in Springfield where application volume is lower and structured onboarding is common. Building a portfolio through campus journalism, volunteer communications work, or a community organization gives you concrete samples. Adjacent roles such as marketing assistant, editorial assistant, or public affairs intern are recognized stepping stones by Illinois hiring managers.
Where can I find and apply to communications specialist jobs in Illinois?
You can find and apply to communications specialist jobs in Illinois on Migrate Mate, which lists current Illinois openings across industries and seniority levels. Find the roles that fit your background and apply directly from the listings on this page.
See All 18 Communications Specialist Jobs in Illinois
Find roles in Illinois that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
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