Responsibilities

• Determine annual and future goals of the Communications initiative with the Deputy Village Administrator and manage branding, marketing initiatives.
• Develop and execute communication strategies to deliver the Village’s message and promote the Village’s mission and beliefs.
• Identify opportunities for strategic engagement with community leaders and residents.
• Stay current with emerging technologies and methods for open communication and engagement.
• Maintain open lines of communication with community organizations and respond to public information requests.
• Coordinate technical research, design and operation of the Village’s website and manage social media and other platforms for timely information.
• Coordinate writing and development of surveys, newsletters, annual reports, brochures, messages, videos and presentations.
• Maintain a photo library and coordinate photography and catalog images.
• Assist staff with responding to general inquiries from the public via social media and the website.
• Coordinate public and media relations, publish press releases, and disseminate Village news and events.
• Work with Village departments to implement external and internal communications; assist marketing plans and economic development on website tasks.

Requirements

• Graduation from college with a bachelor’s degree in Communications, Marketing, Public Relations or related field, or equivalent experience.
• Three years of experience in marketing, communications or related field; graphic illustration or digital publishing experience.
• Experience with all major social media platforms and best practices to maximize engagement.
• Experience responding to inquiries from media, customers and senior management with transparent, clear information.
• Experience using direct-to-customer communication tools for newsletters and alerts.
• Experience in emergency/crisis communications.
• Experience with web content strategy, UX, SEO and accessibility preferred.
• Must possess principles of marketing, creative writing, public relations strategies and current digital media trends.
• Ability to organize and prioritize work with strong time management; newsletter writing and distribution skills; basic journalism, photography and video production skills.
• Strong ability to communicate effectively verbally and in writing and establish relationships with employees, supervisors and the public.

Benefits

• The Village offers a generous benefits package, including IMRF pension, vacation, personal, holiday and sick time; up to 85% medical premium; 100% dental and life/AD&D premiums; additional benefits including 457 plan and tuition reimbursement.