Responsibilities

• Lead all countywide public-facing communications, ensuring consistent, timely, and strategic messaging across press releases, social media, cable programming, live events, and crisis communications.
• Oversee high-level content creation and review, including speeches, talking points, newsletters, video scripts, and digital content produced by staff for the County Executive, departments, and community stakeholders.
• Direct daily operations of the Office of Public Information, including budget management, staffing strategy, resource allocation, performance metrics, policy development, procurement oversight, and compliance with county regulations.
• Supervise and lead multiple functional teams, including public information officers, visual information specialists, IT specialists, program managers, and administrative support staff, while guiding managers and ensuring accountability for departmental goals.
• Plan and execute major public events and community engagement initiatives, such as budget forums, announcements, and large-scale public gatherings, ensuring seamless logistics and unified messaging
• Serve as a senior liaison and public representative, building and sustaining strong partnerships with elected officials, County departments, media outlets, community organizations, and business leaders.
• Coordinate strategic communications across government, including monitoring legislative developments, aligning messaging with policy priorities, and representing the County Executive in interagency and public forums.
• Lead crisis and emergency communications, developing emergency messaging strategies, advising leadership, and coordinating rapid, accurate communication across departments and emergency management partners.
• Advance data-driven communications, establishing analytics tools and dashboards, tracking media and engagement performance, and using insights to strengthen strategies and improve public reach and transparency.
• Act as a communications strategist and editor, serving as the department’s lead grammarian and AP style authority to ensure high-quality, accurate, and professional information is delivered to the public.

Requirements

• Experience: Seven years of progressively responsible professional experience in a field preferably related to communications, public information, multimedia, or a related area, three years of which were in a supervisory or executive capacity.
• Note: The term “executive” is further defined as a high echelon or high-level position in an organization that is assigned technical research, management advisory services responsibilities, or policy-making duties and responsibilities that exert considerable influence on organizational policy, plans, and operations through technical research, management advisory services, and/or policy-making duties, and responsibilities (e.g., County positions at Grade 30 or above).
• Education: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor’s Degree.
• Equivalency: An equivalent combination of education and experience may be substituted.

Preferred

• Media relations, strategic communications, public information, journalism, and multimedia content development.
• National, state, and/or county government organizational structure, programs/services, policy environments, and issues.
• Communicating effectively both orally and in writing with high-level governmental officials, employees, business executives, the public, and representatives of the media.
• Supervising professional staff and delivering core administrative functions such as budget development, performance metrics, and personnel oversight/evaluations.
• Organizing and prioritizing multiple high-stakes assignments in fast-paced, time-sensitive, and politically dynamic environments.
• Flexibility in managing multiple competing priorities for self and staff while producing accurate, high-quality, and strategically aligned work products.
• Leading crisis and emergency communications, including cross-departmental coordination and rapid messaging during critical incidents.
• Using data-driven analytics, performance measurements, and communications technology tools to evaluate and strengthen messaging effectiveness and community engagement.