Executive Director of Marketing and Media Relations

Position Type:
Marketing and Media Relations/Exec. Director of Marketing and Media Relations

Date Posted:
7/15/2019

Location:
Mary E. Devin Center for Education Support

Date Available:
July 2019

Closing Date:
When Filled

  Geary County USD 475
Job Description

Classification: Salaried
Division/Department: Devin Center
Job Category: Administration
FLSA: Exempt

Title: Executive Director of Marketing and Media Relations

Qualifications:
Bachelor's Degree in journalism, public relations, communications, advertising, or related field plus three years of experience in developing, planning and managing public relations/ publicity campaigns, mass media communication activities or public information programs. Any equivalent education and/or work experience may be substituted in order to meet the minimum qualifications of this position.

Reports To: Superintendent of Schools

Supervises: Marketing and Media Relations Coordinator and Digital Media Specialist

BASIC FUNCTION/PURPOSE:
Develops and implements public information functions or activities to inform the public and district staff of needs, issues, objectives, and programs of the district. Manages district marketing, public relations, and media relations or communications activities and programs.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
The employee performing the duties of this position is frequently required to walk, sit, talk, hear, bend, stoop, and reach. The employee may be occasionally required to manually lift, move, or carry up to 50 pounds. The employee is required to interact with staff and meet the demands of several different people. The employee is responsible for the work output of others. The employee occasionally works extended hours. Vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

CRITICAL SKILLS:

1. Ability to maintain regular and good work attendance and come to work on time.
2. Ability to work constructively and cooperatively with others.
3. Ability to respond to information requests in a courteous, timely and helpful manner.
4. Ability to manage job responsibilities while meeting established deadlines.
5. Ability to access, input, and retrieves information from a computer.
6. Ability to maintain confidentiality of student and staff information.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Plans and coordinates public and internal information functions and/or activities within the organization to meet project deadlines, facilitate co-action with other program/department activities, keep the district staff informed, and ensure that the district's communication priorities and goals are achieved; oversees the updating of the district's official social media platforms and websites.
• Serves as spokesperson for the district; assists the press with developing stories; organizes media site visits; represents the district to external organizations, ancillary boards and other agencies; assures effective communication of local and regional issues; acts as primary contact and provides immediate responsiveness to emergencies at all times including receiving and assessing information, cooperating with the news media, law enforcement, and others, and providing information to appropriate agency personnel; confers with news media representatives to discuss district public information needs, develop and maintain contacts, and facilitate the dissemination of district and program information through the mass media.
• Researches and determines the scope, nature, and target audience of district public information functions and activities, to facilitate the development and implementation of an appropriate approach for disseminating public information; develops and recommends policies and procedures to the district leadership team to increase the impact and effectiveness of district public information functions and activities.
• Attends Board of Education meetings and serves as a liaison to the media; coordinates interview requests and responds to questions and provides reports of Board actions as appropriate; provides training for board members, administrators, and other staff members regarding media relations. Provides a livestream or live broadcast of board meetings.
• Writes, composes, edits, researches, compiles, and/or selects copy for publications, audio-visual material, media releases, displays, exhibits, and/or speeches, to develop information so that it will reach and be understood by the target audience.
• Presents and/or schedules presentations of public information to news media representatives, governmental/program officials, or interested citizen groups to release information, educate an audience, and elicit feedback on the agency mission and programs and to stimulate participation and support for agency goals and activities; arranges publication space or broadcast time and preparation of informational material to schedule and coordinate the development and dissemination of district and program information to the public.
• Assigns and reviews the public-information or marketing and media relations related work of communications, marketing and media relations staff members to arrange for story subjects, articles, facilitate completion of project assignments, and ensure accuracy and completeness of writing, typing, videography, photography, graphic design, and/or printing.
• Advises the district leadership team on public relations to discuss potential and actual reaction to and impact of district information releases and suggest alternative approaches for disseminating information; reviews legislation, rules, and policy and program statements to determine the impact on district public information functions and assess comprehension by target audiences.
• Coordinates promotional materials for newspapers, radio, television, social media, and business and industry to develop appropriate preparation and dissemination procedures and ensure that they are followed.
• Maintains regular and reliable attendance to include being contacted on a regular basis outside of the normal work day.
• Provide crisis communication support to the district to include preparation of press releases, social media posts, texts, letters, on-camera interviews, and press conferences.
• Provide support and prepare district staff for on-camera and recorded interviews.
• Create livestream/live broadcast productions from setup to tear down using the TriCaster system and control surface. Providing training for marketing and media relations staff on production equipment and helping to ensure that a professional product is made available to the public.
• Maintain the organization's image and brand.
• Oversee Marketing and Media Relations Department expenses by monitoring spending and setting department budgets.
• Serves as a representative on the Executive Team.
• Other duties as assigned.

KNOWLEDGE AND ABILITIES

• Extensive knowledge of crisis communications techniques and preparing for controversial or sensitive topics.
• Ability to manage confidential information with great care and discretion.
• Standard media and communication practices, policies and procedures.
• Ability to provide professional support for video production, photography, graphic design, marketing, and other communications techniques as required.
• Public speaking techniques.
• Oral and written communication skills.
• Correct English usage, grammar, spelling, punctuation and vocabulary.
• Techniques, formats and styles of informational material preparation.
• Methods and practices of public information dissemination.
• Methods of securing adequate publicity for news items.
• Principles and practices of administration, supervision and training.
• Applicable laws, codes, regulations, policies and procedures.
• Interpersonal skills using tact, patience and courtesy.
• Operation of a computer and assigned software.
• Proficient at setting up and recording audio and video, to include complex live productions.
• Working or extensive knowledge of professional livestreaming or live broadcasting with the TriCaster system or similar.
• Proficient knowledge of the Adobe Suite.
• Ability to create professional audio, video, and graphic products.
• Extensive knowledge of the Kansas Open Records Act.
• Proficient in the use of Google Analytics, WordPress, Project Management, Google Suite, Microsoft Office, and Adobe Suite.

ABILITIES

• Plan, organize, implement and direct the internal and external communications of the district.
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with key media outlets.
• Communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, in individual or group settings with news media representatives, government or program officials, agency staff and the public at levels understandable to each audience.
• Apply the principles and practices of public relations/journalism to the operation of a public information function.
• Operate audio/visual equipment, computers and other office equipment.
• Write/edit copy to fit assigned space in a layout.
• Evaluate the public information potential of written, illustrative, and related material for a specific project assignment.
• Develop the information distribution channel most likely to reach the target audience;
• Write and design informational pamphlets, reports, posters, and promotional material.
• Assess the impact and effectiveness of specific public information materials or activities in meeting the interests of the public or media and the needs of the district.
• Develop and apply district policies and procedures for the public information function.
• Plan and organize the operations of a public information function.
• Develop work priorities for effective use of Marketing and Media Relations Department staff.
• Interpret, apply and explain rules, regulations, policies and procedures.
• Establish and maintain cooperative and effective working relations with others.
• Analyze situations accurately and adopt an effective course of action.
• Meet schedules and time lines.
• Work independently with little direction.
• Manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Work confidentially with discretion.
• Maintain consistent and punctual and regular attendance, including evening and weekend work.
• Ability to work well with a team.
• Ability and willingness to become flexible in management style in order to fit a team dynamic.

Term of Employment: 12 Month Contract

Salary Range: Commensurate based on qualifications and experience

Evaluation Frequency: Job performance will be evaluated a minimum of 1 time per year.
Updated 7-15-19
Notice of Nondiscrimination
Geary County USD #475 does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age in its programs and/or activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. For questions or complaints based on race, color, national origin, sex or age, please contact the USD 475 Executive Director of Personnel Services, 123 N. Eisenhower, Junction City, KS 66441. Telephone: 785.717.4000. For questions or complaints based on disability, please contact the USD 475 Executive Director of Special Education, 123 N. Eisenhower, Junction City, KS 66441. Telephone: 785.717.4000