Public Information Officer

Salary Range: $67,873.52 - $86,563.36/annually. Salary reflects Step 1 and Step 6 of a 7-step pay scale. Salary at hiring will be dependent upon the applicant's education, experience, and training. 

Job Summary:

The Public Information Officer (PIO) fosters media relationships, curate’s social media content, serves as an intra-departmental consultant, engages the community, creates communication collateral, optimizes website operations, ensures donors receive appreciation, and responds to emergencies. The PIO’s intended audience includes residents, community groups; members of the media; city employees and elected officials.

Scope of Responsibility:

The Public Information Officer is responsible for a broad range of tasks, including implementation of internal and external communication efforts consistent with a citywide strategic communications plan. This individual acts with a substantive level of autonomy and is directly responsible for the quality and accuracy of their own work. The PIO performs tasks independently under general supervision. The PIO is expected to engage in critical thinking, creative writing and designing, all while exercising strong initiative and judgement.

FOSTERING MEDIA RELATIONSHIPS – Advances and leverages operational relationships with members of the media to further the city’s goals.

• Develops a communication plan for the city.
• Serves as an author, editor, and distributor of news releases and media advisories.
• Responds to media inquiries and supports the public information dissemination process via interviews.
• Develops and nurtures relationships with a variety of media representatives in the region, including television, radio, print, and social media influencers.
• Advisesdepartmentalstaffonday-to-daymediarelationsandprovidesmediatrainingasneeded.
• Coordinates news conferences, writes speeches, and leads publicity efforts for the city.
• Prepares fact sheets, photos and other materials for media distribution.
• Actively monitors media coverage to verify accuracy, engages in remediation, and identifies additional coverage opportunities.

CURATING SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT – Serves as a social media editor and content contributor across all city social media channels.

• Monitors social activities to ensure compliance with City policies.
• Engages in social listening to identify potential emerging issues.
• Collaborates with other city resources to create short video clips for social media consumption, as well as broadcasts events live over social media channels.
• Maintains the framework to respond timely to feedback generated from the department’s followers across social media platforms.
• Triages comments received which affect the organization (but not necessarily the individual department) to the appropriate personnel within the city.

SERVING AS AN INTRA-DEPARTMENTAL CONSULTANT – Functions as a critical asset to leadership teams in decision making processes for the city.

• Coordinates public communication across departments.
• Assists and coaches city staff on public speaking engagements.
• Reviewsstaffpresentationsandprovidesfeedbackoncontentandlayouttoimplementsuccessful story telling techniques.
• Assists staff in writing effective grant applications.
• Provides input and reviews materials (such as articles, website content) prepared by staff and/or hired consultants.
• Setscommunicationsprecedentwithinlimitsthatcanimpactthemoraleandperformanceofthe team.

ENGAGING THE COMMUNITY – Develops educational, informative, and persuasive messaging for dissemination to the public with sensitivity towards diversities of culture, race, and demographics.

• Identifies opportunities, establishes contact, and maintains partnerships with various organizations and community groups to advance departmental objectives.
• Synthesizes efforts with other departmental and City staff to respond to citizen requests, comments, or questions in a timely and efficient manner.
• Assists in the planning of city events within the organization and community.
• Develops and nurtures the departmental and citywide brands throughout the Billings area.
• Communicates in a courteous, compassionate, empathetic, and professional demeanor to create/maintain relationships in execution of all job functions.

CREATING COMMUNICATION COLLATERAL – Possesses the ability to produce and disseminate marketing materials that are visually appealing and impactful for use on multiple platforms.

• Drives external communication efforts, including multimedia promotional campaigns.
• Develops and executes public outreach plans, ranging from simple to complex.
• Distills complex topics and information into consumable collateral.
• Creates web content, infographics, various print materials, and presentations.
• Purchases advertising space and/or media time to promote education objectives, including the utilization and incorporation of negotiating strategies.
• Liaisons with and supervises the work of external consultants in the creation of educational materials and ads for public consumption.

OPTIMIZING WEBSITE OPERATIONS – Assists with managing the city’s online presence, including content development, curation, and optimization.

• Receives and assesses applicability of departmental requests for minor website structure modifications.
• Independently publishes routine updates of the departmental website.
• Assists in the creation and maintenance of a publication calendar for departmental content and events.
• Educates designated city employees on the proper use of the website’s content management system (CMS) to design and post relevant information to pages.
• Routinely evaluates the website’s various departmental main pages and sub-pages to ensure webnavigation,presentation,andcontentsareintegratedwiththecity’soverallcommunication initiatives.Thisinvolvesensuringthatwebservicestandardsarebeingutilized,includingglobal graphical and operational consistencies.
• Collaborates with the Information Technology Director on website reorganization and optimization strategies. This involves review of analytic data and peer agency benchmarking.

RESPONDING TO EMERGENCIES AND SAFETY PRECAUTIONS – Serves as a versatile and strategic communicator during unplanned events and performs all job duties in compliance with safety guidelines and with an ongoing awareness of safety practices.

• With the exceptions of vacations and illness, the PIO is expected to be on-call at al times. During times of emergency, this requires an established family contingency plan to be in place for activation.
• Possesses a working knowledge of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) for emergency preparedness and has completed the courses required for their job
• Knows and follows City rules as well as sound work and safety practices to accomplish the job objectives and avoid injury or loss.
• Wears proper protective equipment when policy requires, or conditions indicate a need exists and utilize proper body mechanics and ergonomics while performing work.
• Whenpotentiallyunsafeconditionsareobserved,makesanefforttoavoidorcorrectthemifthey are controllable and draw them to the attention of the responsible supervisor or safety representative in a timely manner.

Perform other duties and activities as assigned.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in public relations, journalism, communications, marketing, public administration, business administration, or a closely related field
• Three (3) years of professional experience in one of the above fields

OR 

AND 

• A valid Montana driver’s license or must be obtained within thirty (30) days of employment or evidence of equivalent mobility
• Must have completed or must complete within ninety (90) days of employment, An Introduction to the National Incident Management System (NIMS)

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities should include:

• Excellent written communication skills across a variety of genres (press releases, advertising copy, digital media, etc.).
• Skills in interpersonal communication to facilitate high-level discussions with co-workers, supervisors,thegeneralpublicandotherssufficienttoexchangeorconveyinformation,resolve disputes and receive work direction.
• Proficiency in the practices and principles of public and media relations.

• The ability to handle multiple tasks with adherence to deadlines under stressful or difficult situations.
• Skills in developing and interpreting data.
• Project management experience.
• The capacity to work as part of a team.
• Precise accuracy with a high attention to detail.

• Strong troubleshooting and problem resolution capabilities.
• Theabilitytoquicklydemonstrateeffectiveness,credibility,thoroughnessandcollaborativeskills in adhering to and advancing the City’s organizational brand.
• Training or experience in utilizing modern graphic design techniques.
• Social media engagement optimization concepts and strategies.
• Fluency in computer applications including the Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe Creative Suite and Content Management Systems (CMS).

• Proficiency in Associated Press (AP) writing styles.
• Experience with photography and/or videography.

• Familiarity of federal, state, and local laws regarding information dissemination and freedom of information request requirements.

Mostworkisperformedinanormalworkenvironment.Workisgenerallylightwithconsiderablevariety. A typical workday involves sitting about 75% of the time using a computer,telephoneandotherofficeequipment.Dailyworkofteninvolves moving between rooms. Work requires attention to detail and deadlines between 55% - 80% of the time. Intermittent driving or evidence of equivalent mobility is required. Occasional overnight travel may be required. The person in this position will be on-call at all times, with the exception of vacations and illness. In an emergency situation, the person may be required to be on-site for a prolonged period of time at a designated facility or incident.  Intermittent physical effort involving lifting up to 25 pounds or less

Activities include stooping, kneeling, crouching, reaching, standing, walking, pushing, pulling, lifting, fingering, grasping, feeling, talking, hearing/listening, seeing/observing and repetitive motions.

Somerequirementsinthisjobdescriptionmayexcludeindividualswhoposeadirectthreatorsignificantrisktothehealth and safety of themselves or other employees. All requirements are subject to modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities.

Requirements are representative of minimum levels of knowledge, skills, and experience required. To perform this job successfully, the worker must possess the abilities and aptitudes to perform each duty proficiently.

This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise. The City retains the discretion to add duties or change the duties of this position at any time.

Salary : $67,870 - $90,896