Communications Director

Position Summary:

Under the direction of the Village Manager and the Township Manager, responsible for providing leadership and support to Spring Lake's staff in matters relating to internal and external communication. This position will develop and carry out a Village and Township communications plan, lead and manage specific projects and respond to inquiries from the media.

Essential Job Functions:

The essential function of this position includes, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Coordinates Township and Village communications efforts, under the direction of the Village and Township Managers, ensuring that Spring Lake media and messaging are consistent with the Village and Township vision, values, and priorities.

2. May review, authorize, and approve outgoing Village and Township communications from various departments.

3. Serves as liaison with local media, receiving and responding to information requests. Selects newsworthy items to be released to local television, radio, and print media as appropriate.

4. Prepares and may present the Village and Township official response to sensitive or critical issues, releasing appropriate information to the public.

5. Acts as a resource for Spring Lake departments, meeting a variety of communications needs. Acts as public information officer, public information team leader or otherwise supports crisis communication as requested.

6. Develops and monitors the strategic communication plan throughout the Township and Village.

7. Develops, designs, authors, and publishes brochures, booklets, reports, and other informational media explaining and promoting Village and Township services.

8. Monitors Township and Village social media content and makes recommendations for improvement. Manages social networks as needed. Continuously surveys the communication landscape for emerging trends and technologies.

9. Develops and maintains e-mail marketing and e-notification programs.

10. Takes an integrated approach to working within an assigned department to accomplish specific department goals and objectives.

11. Ensures communications projects are cost effective, applying quality assurance protocols to marketing and public campaigns.

Required Education, Training, and Experience:

Bachelor's degree in communications, public relations, journalism, marketing, or related field and at least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in communications. Master's degree, and supervisory experience are strongly preferred.

Required Knowledge and Skills:

1. Thorough working knowledge of communications and public relations principles and practices.

2. Thorough working knowledge of Village and Township programs, services, goals, and objectives.

3. Thorough working knowledge of media business practices.

4. Thorough working knowledge of publishing practices and processes.

5. Excellent language skills, including spelling, punctuation, grammar, construction, and usage.

6. Ability to communicate effectively to several different audiences.

7. Thorough working knowledge of word-processing, graphics, desktop publishing, website design, photo editing and presentation software applications.

8. Ability to design professional-quality multi-media presentations to a variety of audiences.

9. Excellent written and verbal communications skills.

10. Excellent interpersonal and human relations skills.

11. Ability to interact positively and professionally with community and business representatives, elected officials, coworkers, vendors, and members of the public with widely diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds and varying levels of interpersonal communication skills.

Physical Requirements

The physical demands and work environment described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the job.

An employee in this position spends the majority of their time in an office setting with a controlled climate where they sit and work on a computer for extended periods of time; communicate by telephone, e-mail, or in person, and move around the office or travel to other locations to attend meetings.

Requires a valid State of Michigan driver's license, satisfactory driving record and the ability to maintain one throughout employment.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $78, $92,168.00 per year

Benefits:

• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Professional development assistance
• Retirement plan

Work Location: In person