Job Details
City of Portland - Community Engagement Coordinator
Executive Department
About the City of Portland Communications & Digital Services Office:
The City's Communications & Digital Services Office is housed within the City Manager's Office/Executive Department. Consisting of three employees, the office handles all internal, external and digital communications, public and media relations, 311 customer service, marketing, and public records requests. This includes social media and website management, and digital community engagement tools.
Job Summary:
The Community Engagement Coordinator is a newly created position that will proactively educate, engage, and build trust with the community, including citizens, neighborhood associations, tenants groups, immigrant and refugee communities, nonprofit organizations, business groups, youth organizations, faith communities, senior groups, and other community partners and constituents (the Community Groups). They will do this with the overarching goal of ensuring that constituents have meaningful opportunities to help shape City decisions, and serve as a bridge between the community, elected officials, and City staff.
Duties & Responsibilities:
- Builds trusting relationships with Community Groups, including engaging them in both traditional and non-traditional settings, including holding on-site and off-site office hours, listening sessions, pop-up events, workshops, town halls, and attending and engaging in alternative forums and events.
- Proactively and strategically communicates about and engages the public around City programs, services, projects, and initiatives. This includes major or controversial projects to ensure community education occurs prior to Council consideration.
- Provides public education on municipal government in general, and showcases how the public can engage with elected officials and City staff.
- Builds and facilitates effective channels for community feedback and input, including from populations who are historically less engaged in municipal government.
- Manages and oversees annual community surveys and other one-time surveys to gather public feedback and data.
- Partners with City departments to develop engagement plans for major projects and policy initiatives to provide opportunities for early and regular education and input.
- Provides support to City Councilors for District meetings, including driving attendance, accessibility, and preparing content for distribution.
- Assists with content management, including creation of social media and web content, and ensures accessibility compliance across various platforms.
- Assists with maintenance support of the City's digital community engagement communications tools.
- Coordinates with the Equity and Compliance Officer and others on implementing the City's Language Access Program and other communication accessibility initiatives.
Required Skills & Experience:
Bachelor's degree in Communications, Public Relations, Public Administration, Community Development, or a related field, and a minimum of five (5) years of experience in a communications, public relations, and/or community engagement setting; or an equivalent combination of education, experience, and training which provides the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the work.
- Significant experience in professional communications and community outreach, with a proven ability to engage diverse populations and manage complex public messaging.
- Experience in facilitating interactions between different groups of individuals.
- Exceptional written, verbal, and video communication skills with the ability to synthesize complex topics for general audiences.
- Strong computer skills, including website management, digital communication tools, content management systems, graphic design software/tools, and proficiency with Google G-Suite and Microsoft Office.
- Experience with creating content for and managing social media and other communications channels.
- Strong work ethic with the ability to work independently and in a highly confidential environment.
- Extremely organized with strong planning and time management skills.
- Ability to facilitate productive conversations, navigate disagreements, and build consensus.
- Ability to establish and maintain strong and trusting working relationships with supervisors, co-workers, city staff, Community Groups, media representatives, and the general public.
- Ability to stay on top of new ways to innovate and accomplish engagement and communication goals.
- Ability to multitask and be resourceful in a fast-paced office environment.
Expected Hours/Schedule:
This is primarily a Monday - Friday position. This position does qualify for flexible work. Occasional night and weekend work may be required to attend community events and meetings.
Applications accepted until filled.
Offers of employment are contingent upon the completion of a satisfactory criminal background check.
Salary & Benefits:
This is a non-union position, Grade C43, with a starting pay range of $78,763-$94,037 per year, based on relevant years of experience.
For more information about compensation with the City of Portland, please refer to the City's policies and non-union pay plan
The City of Portland prides itself on its outstanding benefits and collegial and mission-driven work environment.
City benefits include:
- Free employee health insurance with the completion of wellness incentives
- Thirteen paid holidays
- Sick, vacation, and personal leave
- Life, dental, vision and income protection insurances
- Choice of retirement plans, including a pension plan
- Use of City recreation facilities
- Fitness Reimbursement
- Discount on professional development programs through USM and Thomas College
If you have any questions or need assistance with the application, please email Human Resources at jobs@portlandmaine.gov or call 207-874-8624.
The City of Portland believes that to do our best work, our employees need to reflect the diverse, vibrant community we serve. We are an equal opportunity employer and are committed to celebrating all dimensions of diversity in the workplace. Applicants are considered without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other applicable legally protected characteristics. If you need to request a reasonable accommodation, please call 207-874-8624 or email hrinfo@portlandmaine.gov.
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