Communications Coordinator at City of Pasadena, CA

About the Department

The City of Pasadena Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department is seeking a Communications Coordinator who will implement and assist in the development of marketing and interactive strategies and social networking. This position performs a wide variety of routine to difficult paraprofessional activities in the development and implementation of a department's or City's community relations, outreach initiatives and social media strategy. The Communications Coordinator will play a significant role in carrying out department or City public information initiatives.
 
The ideal candidate will have at least four years of experience in marketing, communications and/or social media, preferably in City government. Additionally, the incumbent will be detail-oriented and able to work well under pressure, exercise discretion, and maintain strict confidentiality when handling sensitive information.

This is an exciting opportunity interact with Pasadena community members and learn about the City’s local organizations and other City departments

Position Duties

Below is a list of major responsibilities which may be required of this position. For more detailed information, please review the Communications Coordinator job description. 

• Performs research necessary to effectively target and grow the department's customer base; plans and conducts various research projects; works with staff from other departments, committees, volunteers and vendors as required by project assignments; researches, develops and implements sponsorship programs.
• Creates content, flyers, seasonal brochures and recreation guide books.
• Prepares and maintains a variety of records and reports.
• Provides day-to-day leadership and works with staff to ensure a high-performance, customer service-oriented work environment that supports achieving City and departmental mission, objectives and service standards. 
• Applies best practices and quality assurance processes to assigned areas of responsibility; enforces the maintenance of safe working conditions and ensures safe work practices are followed by staff. 
• Provides leadership to ensure a fair and open work environment in accordance with the City's commitment to equal employment opportunity.
• Develops and coordinates distribution strategies; ensures materials are ADA compliant.
• Acts as a department spokesperson and liaison to external groups and as assigned the media.
• Assesses community values, issues and concerns and communicates them to staff and management; anticipates internal and external constituent needs and proactively provides information, access and communication.
• Oversees content of a department website; reviews and monitors all aspects of the website and a variety of social networks, including content coverage and accuracy, frequency of postings and public responses.
• Develops social media strategy for department programs within parameters set by City policies and procedures; develops and maintains email marketing and e-notification programs.
• Develops and maintains a network of contacts for the dissemination of information on upcoming events; coordinates efforts and activities with other City departments; maintains proactive relationships with the media; develops and maintains mailing lists.

COMPETENCIES

The following list represents the core competencies needed for success in this position.

• Attention to Detail focuses on the details of work content, work steps, and final work products.
• Customer Focus attends to the needs and expectation of customers.
• Design Sense creates work products that are functional, intuitive and aesthetically pleasing. 
• Informing proactively obtains and shares information.
• Oral Communication engages effectively in dialogue.
• Political & Organizational Savvy works skillfully with politics, procedures, and protocols across organizational levels and boundaries.
  
• Relationship Building establishes rapport and maintaining mutually productive relationships. 
• Writing communicates effectively through writing.
• Using Technology works with electronic hardware and software applications. 

             -Videography

             -Social Media Platforms

             -Adobe Creative Suite and/or Canva

             -Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, and Outlook

Minimum Qualifications

Minimum qualifications

• Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with a major in marketing, public relations, communications, business administration or a closely related field
• At least three years of progressively responsible experience in communications, marketing, public relations and social media or an equivalent combination of training and experience.

Desired qualifications

• Experience with copyediting, Canva, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign. 
• Writing skills and understanding for press releases, social media captions, newsletter features, etc.
• Willing to be available outside of standard working hours for special events or urgent/emergency communications needs.
• Experience in a public agency is preferred.
• Fluency in Spanish is desirable.

SELECTION PROCESS:
The selection process will consist of any combination of training and experience evaluation,  subject matter expert (SME) review, performance exam, an oral panel interview, and a department-level interview.

VACANCY INFORMATION:
There is currently one vacancy in the Parks, Recreation and Communication Services Department- Administration Division. The resulting eligibility list from this recruitment may be used to fill this vacancy and similar vacancies in the future.
  
PROBATIONARY WORK TEST PERIOD = One year

FLSA = Exempt

UNIT = PMA

Other Qualifications

• Must possess a valid California Class C driver's license and comply with the City's Motor Vehicle Safety Policy during the course of employment.
• This position may be required to work some evenings and weekends as needed.