Community Affairs Manager

About the role

The City of Westerville, Ohio, seeks a Community Affairs Manager to join the Community Affairs Department. Reporting to the Community Affairs Director, this position oversees public relations, media relations, and community engagement initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Work with the Community Affairs Director to promote a positive, proactive relationship with the media and serve as a secondary Public Information Officer when needed.
• Support City departments and divisions in communication activities including graphic design, writing and editing, and marketing and electronic communication.
• Lead the City’s storytelling and story-mining initiatives to uncover and elevate compelling community narratives that strengthen and authenticate the City's brand.
• Support communication and marketing needs of the City Manager’s Office; directly manage strategic and tactical implementation of communication objectives for municipal utilities, planning and development, and public service.
• Aid in the development and management of special events; act as one staff manager and editor of a bi-monthly magazine.
• Manage customer service aspects of the City’s operations; update the online events calendars; support internal communication initiatives; assist in the development and execution of advertising both print and electronic media.
• Perform primary and secondary research as needed to determine communications and broad customer service benchmarks citywide.
• Meet all job safety requirements and all applicable safety standards that pertain to essential functions; must demonstrate regular and predictable attendance; maintain required licenses and/or certifications.
• Operate various office equipment and perform other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Possession of a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations, Journalism, Public Affairs, or a related field of study.
• Over five (5) years in public relations/strategic communication planning, including social media management.
• Valid State of Ohio driver’s license and insurability under the City’s vehicle insurance policy.

Skills

• Knowledge of safety practices and procedures;
• Office practices and procedures;
• Marketing;
• Desktop publication applications;
• Graphic design;
• E-communication;
• Multi-media productions;
• Website design;
• Radio/television communication.

Abilities

• Demonstrate professionalism;
• Build and maintain a high level of trust and credibility with the media, community members, and district staff.

Benefits

• Health Benefits: Employees pay 15% of the monthly medical insurance premium through United Healthcare which includes prescription coverage. Employee, Employee plus child(ren), Employee plus spouse and family coverage is available.
• Vision and Dental: The City pays 100% of the premium for dental and vision.
• Lifetime Insurance: The City pays 100% of the premium on a $100,000 life insurance policy for employee and $10,000 for spouse and $5,000 for child.
• Retirement Pension: The City contributes 14% monthly toward retirement benefits offered through the Ohio Public Employee Retirement System. The employee pension payment share is 10% of gross salary.
• Vacation: New employees accrue two weeks of paid vacation every year. Vacation time increases with length of service time.
• Personal Leave: Employees receive 6 prorated days of personal leave annually.