Responsibilities

• Builds trusting relationships with Community Groups, including engaging them in both traditional and non-traditional settings, including holding on-site and off-site “office hours,” listening sessions, pop-up events, workshops, town halls, and attending and engaging in alternative forums and events.
• Proactively and strategically communicates about and engages the public around City programs, services, projects, and initiatives. This includes major or controversial projects to ensure community education occurs prior to Council consideration.
• Provides public education on municipal government in general, and showcases how the public can engage with elected officials and City staff.
• Builds and facilitates effective channels for community feedback and input, including from populations who are historically less engaged in municipal government.
• Manages and oversees annual community surveys and other one-time surveys to gather public feedback and data.
• Partners with City departments to develop engagement plans for major projects and policy initiatives to provide opportunities for early and regular education and input.
• Provides support to City Councilors for District meetings, including driving attendance, accessibility, and preparing content for distribution.
• Assists with content management, including creation of social media and web content, and ensures accessibility compliance across various platforms.
• Assists with maintenance support of the City’s digital community engagement communications tools.
• Coordinates with the Equity and Compliance Officer and others on implementing the City’s Language Access Program and other communication accessibility initiatives.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Communications, Public Relations, Public Administration, Community Development, or a related field, and a minimum of five (5) years of experience in a communications, public relations, and/or community engagement setting; or an equivalent combination of education, experience, and training which provides the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the work.
• Significant experience in professional communications and community outreach, with a proven ability to engage diverse populations and manage complex public messaging.
• Experience in facilitating interactions between different groups of individuals.
• Exceptional written, verbal, and video communication skills with the ability to synthesize complex topics for general audiences.
• Strong computer skills, including website management, digital communication tools, content management systems, graphic design software/tools, and proficiency with Google G-Suite and Microsoft Office.
• Experience with creating content for and managing social media and other communications channels.
• Strong work ethic with the ability to work independently and in a highly confidential environment.
• Extremely organized with strong planning and time management skills.
• Ability to facilitate productive conversations, navigate disagreements, and build consensus.
• Ability to establish and maintain strong and trusting working relationships with supervisors, co-workers, city staff, Community Groups, media representatives, and the general public.

Benefits

• City benefits include: Free employee health insurance with the completion of wellness incentives Thirteen paid holidays Sick, vacation, and personal leave Life, dental, vision and income protection insurances Choice of retirement plans, including a pension plan Use of City recreation facilities Fitness Reimbursement Discount on professional development programs through USM and Thomas College