SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER - External Affairs

About the role

The Senior Communications Manager will lead the daily functions of the External Affairs Department, including supervising, producing, verifying, and managing communications activities designed to provide County employees, citizens, and area media with current information regarding all aspects of County operations. This role may serve as the County’s public information officer for non-elected and elected official departments of the County. The manager provides direct support and strategic advice to the Director of External Affairs in all areas of communications management for the advancement of programs and initiatives. The manager monitors, evaluates, and collects statistical data regarding media campaign effectiveness and performance of County media outlet engagement tools.

Responsibilities

• Develop media campaigns for the External Affairs Department in support of the County Administrator’s Office and other County departments to connect with targeted audiences.
• Build viewer readership and engagement on all County media platforms.
• Stay on top of new trends, features, and products in media content production and implement as appropriate to increase County audience and engagement.
• Assist and substitute for the Public Information Officer as needed.
• Implement Director-approved media strategies, coordinating with stakeholders across Tarrant County.
• Encourage adoption of relevant media tactics, techniques, and other audience-gaining modes into all of Tarrant County’s products and services.
• Advocate for Tarrant County in media spaces, engaging in dialogues and answering questions where appropriate.
• Manage the preparation and development of presentations and graphic materials in support of County events, meetings, publications, training, and other programs.
• Monitor effective benchmarks for measuring the effectiveness of media programs and analyze, review, and report on effectiveness of campaigns to optimize results.
• Provide regular feedback and insights gained from media monitoring to stakeholders to help them evolve their strategies in a timely fashion.
• Educate other County departments and staff on media engagement, the use of social media, and other public engagement topics as approved by the Director.
• Ensure consistent compliance with Tarrant County’s Social Media Governance Policies and other media-relevant policies, guidelines, procedures, and workflows set by the Director.
• Supervise and direct the work activities of the Communications and Graphic Design Specialists.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

• Excellent customer service and communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment.
• Must be able to stay organized and know how to prioritize the workload.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Competency with computers and Microsoft Office 365 Suite.
• Advanced analytical skills.
• In-depth knowledge and understanding of social media platforms and their respective participants and how they can be deployed in different scenarios.
• Working knowledge of creating and publishing videos to social media platforms as well as experience running social media campaigns.
• Ability to articulate and present information and concepts to various audiences, interested parties, and officials.
• Must have advanced computer experience including databases, publications, graphic materials, narrative reports, and correspondence and be knowledgeable in Internet research.
• Must have strong ability to analyze problems, identify solutions, project results, and adhere to strict deadlines.
• Must be able to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing, and to prepare and arrange a variety of written, statistical, and illustrative materials in an organized required format.
• Must be able to work both independently and within a close-knit team and to establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work including representatives from various public and governmental agencies, Commissioners Court, and County Departments.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree is required, preferably in marketing, advertising, public relations, media and communications, digital marketing, or journalism.
• Fifteen (15) years of experience with emphasis in public engagement and public relations, media, communication, and digital media technologies.
• Experience in content production and professional use of media is required.
• Experience with graphic design platforms like Adobe Creative Cloud, Photoshop, Premiere, InDesign, Illustrator, and integration with PowerPoint is required.

Preferred Requirements

• Master’s degree preferred.

Physical Demands, Work Environment & Other Requirements

While performing the duties of this position, the incumbent may be required to bend, hear, keyboard, sit, stand, talk, work alone and with others, and work overtime. Must be able to lift up to 25 lbs.