Communications Specialist

Communications Specialist

CITY OF JANESVILLE DIVERSITY STATEMENT: The residents of Janesville choose this community, not just as a place to live, but as a place to realize life's opportunities. We strive to sustain a community culture where differences are recognized, understood, and appreciated. As such, the City of Janesville recognizes the importance of developing an environment where diversity is not merely accepted but embraced and celebrated. As public servants, we believe everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect. To this end, we will diligently recruit and retain the most talented employees in an environment that fosters maximizing one's potential. Therefore, we encourage individuals from all backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences to consider employment with the City of Janesville and serve the residents of "Wisconsin's Park Place".

OBJECTIVE: Under the general direction of the Assistant to the City Manager, this position leads and coordinates the City's communications and public information program. The Communications Specialist develops and implements comprehensive communications strategies to foster effective engagement between the City and its stakeholders with particular emphasis on supporting communication between the City Manager's Office and City employees, residents, media representatives, elected and appointed officials, business leaders, and community organizations. This position is responsible for managing a broad range of communication and public outreach initiatives, including the development and execution of social media campaigns, website content design and maintenance, strategic marketing efforts, branding and messaging initiatives, and public engagement activities intended to enhance transparency, awareness, and community involvement.

RELATIONSHIPS: Reports to: Assistant to the City Manager Supervision Exercised: Has no regular supervisory duties but may delegate work to Intern or Executive Assistant. Maintains regular and effective working relationships with appointed and elected officials; Department, Division, and Office Heads; City employees, business representatives; community organizations; media representatives; and the general public.

Essential duties are not necessarily listed in priority order.

• Develops, executes, and refines, as necessary, a public communication strategy that is aligned with the City's mission, goals, and strategic objectives.
• Manages the development and maintenance of the City's website, Intranet, and other information platforms as the City deems appropriate to ensure an efficient, effective, and user-friendly information source.
• Manages and coordinates the City's main social media presence to include regular monitoring, posting, and timely response to citizens' questions or concerns, and oversees the social media presence of other City departments.
• Serves as a liaison between the City and news media; develops press releases for distribution; monitors and informs City Administration of pertinent media coverage; and responds to media inquiries, including providing interviews.
• Develops and implements the City's annual legislative program, including establishing a legislative agenda; monitoring legislative issues; and communicating the City's interests to Federal, State, and other local policymakers and administrators.
• Coordinates the writing and development of surveys, newsletters, informational brochures, messages, videos, and presentations for distribution to the public. Updates existing and new brochures/letters/forms, as needed.
• Develops and executes a strategy for collecting and utilizing community feedback. Maintains open lines of communication with all community organizations and provides prompt responses to requests for public information about the City.
• Serves as the City's Public Information Officer (PIO), and as such, responds to activations of the City's Emergency Operations Center and works in conjunction with other City leaders to coordinate crisis management communications for the City.
• Plans special events and assists with the successful execution of the City Manager's Office events.
• Prepares agendas, policy statements, reports, and other materials for City Council meetings and meetings of other governing bodies, as required.
• Adheres to all departmental and City safety policies, practices, and procedures; reports any unsafe activities to supervisor or the Human Resources Office.
• Attends professional development workshops and seminars to keep abreast of trends and developments of municipal government. Maintains knowledge of emerging modes of communication and assesses their applicability to, and/or inclusion in, the City's communication program.
• Serves as a member of various staff committees, as assigned and may serve as a member on various community boards or committees.
• Follows all safety regulations, policies, and procedures; reports all unsafe conditions and acts to supervisor; reports all accidents to the supervisor immediately whenever possible; follows recognized safe work practices.
• Performs other special projects and other duties as assigned or required during regular and non-business hours, including providing support as a part of any City response to essential or emergency operations.

Minimum Position Requirements/Qualifications: The requirements listed below are necessary to perform the essential duties of the position.

• Graduation from an accredited college or university with a bachelor's degree in public administration, communication, journalism, marketing, or closely related field is required.
• A minimum of two (2) years' municipal experience or communications/marketing experience is required.
• Possession of a valid state-issued driver's license at time of hire.

OTHER QUALIFICATIONS The qualifications listed below are preferred, but not required to perform the essential duties of the position. The absence of these qualifications on a candidate's application does not preclude them from consideration.

• A master's degree is preferred.

A combination of equivalent experience and/or education as determined by the Human Resources Office may be considered in lieu of the stated minimum requirements.

Knowledge:

• Working knowledge of municipal community relations, public relations, marketing, public/governmental affairs, and/or journalism principles and practices.
• General knowledge of the development and implementation of organizational communication strategies.
• General knowledge of digital communication analytics, including interpreting website and social media performance metrics to inform strategy.
• Through knowledge of the use of technology for communication purposes.
• Thorough knowledge of applicable state and local laws, codes, and ordinances.
• Working knowledge of strategic planning, change management, process improvement, and budget preparation and administration.
• General knowledge of basic video production and editing tools commonly used by public-sector communications team.

Skills:

• Organizational and time management skills to prioritize duties and accomplish a high volume of work product while adapting to constant changes in priority.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, both verbally and in writing, paired with a strong customer service background, and effective interpersonal skills.
• Collaboration skills to effectively work with others to achieve common goals through communication, teamwork, and problem-solving.
• Skill in utilizing social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Nextdoor, Snapchat, and TikTok, with the ability to tailor content to each channel's style and audience
• Skill in using analytics tools (such as website dashboards or social media insights) to monitor engagement and adjust communication tactics.
• Excellent analytical, judgment, and problem-solving skills.
• Strong ethics base built upon integrity, honesty, and respect. Exceptional professionalism and decision-making skills.
• Intermediate proficiency in Microsoft applications, including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Publisher, and Outlook. Proficient in Adobe Creative Acrobat.
• Proficiency in basic content creation software (e.g., Illustrator, InDesign, Canva, video editing tools).

Abilities:

• Good ability to organize, plan, and research projects and programs, make recommendations, write reports, and successfully implement, once approved.
• Considerable ability to tactfully, yet persuasively, enforce City policies and embrace change with employees and the general public.
• Effectively handle negative comments and public feedback and identify and respond to public issues and concerns.
• Effectively and timely respond to inquiries and complaints of the general public.
• Good ability to adapt to the changing needs of the organization.
• Adapt content and style of communications to a variety of audiences and in a variety of forms.
• Speak and make presentations effectively before groups of employees, elected officials, community groups, the media, and residents.
• Work under pressure in a fast-paced environment with fluid priorities, frequent interruptions and multiple, sometimes competing work assignments, with accuracy and attention to detail; must be able to organize work, adapt to changing priorities, meet critical deadlines, and follow-up on assignments with minimum of direction.
• Communicate effectively, both in verbal and written form, and to follow verbal and written instructions with minimum supervision.
• Multi-task and manage multiple projects simultaneously; ability to adapt to changing