Legislative Affairs and Communications Specialist

Position Summary: The Diocese of Charleston seeks a qualified individual for the full-time position of Legislative Affairs and Communications Specialist for the South Carolina Catholic Conference and within the Office of Communications. This position will assist in managing the public policy voice for the diocese at the State House and internally, working in close coordination with the members of the communications team, Catholic legislators and other political stakeholders. This role will require corporate writing for email campaigns, designing marketing materials and other content for emerging mediums, with the dual goals of increasing engagement among the diocese’s constituents (parishioners, parents of school children, donors, etc.) and external agencies, organizations, etc.

The key objective of this position is building and maintaining a highly engaged community of supporters and advocates that will be receptive to the Catholic mission and purpose in our legislative affairs efforts. This role aims to promote the legislative agenda of the Bishop of Charleston as well as the social teaching of the Catholic Church across South Carolina.

Classification: Exempt

Reports To: South Carolina Catholic Conference Director and Communications Manager

Essential Job Functions:

Public Affairs content – Creates corporate communications for the diocese in coordination with other communications staff and key stakeholders, maintaining and planning new content to promote the beauty of the Church in the public square. Formulates and delivers public testimony on legislation that promotes and upholds key Catholic values and tenets. Plans and hosts events for the public to engage with the legislative affairs office of the diocese as well as events for public officials. Manages public engagement campaigns and encourages the faithful to communicate with their legislators.

Legislative Duties – Enhance awareness and comprehension of legislative and public policy issues in South Carolina, assessing their alignment with or divergence from diocesan priorities and Catholic teachings. Support the Secretariat’s efforts to stay current on pending activities, hearing, and public events related to legislation of importance to the Diocese. Follows the legislative actions of the state legislature as well as local and federal institutions and government bodies. Manage the website for the legislative affairs office of the diocese. Develop the legislative agenda and priorities of the legislative affairs office, drawing on an understanding of the timeless social teaching of the Catholic tradition. Coordinates with liaisons from other organizations and institutions, developing relationships and furthering the legislative agenda of the bishop of Charleston.

Analytics and Evaluation – Tracks data and analytics to evaluate the effectiveness of corporate communications across web, and email to continuously evaluate performance, modulate strategy and tactics to increase both engagement and giving. The position will assist in the creation of an evaluation plan to consistently measure effectiveness of engagement efforts.

Content Creation / Aggregation – Writes and edits original content for all mediums with an emphasis on corporate communications. This position will focus on public affairs and other external communications. Workflow will be based on communications priorities for the office and the diocese. The position will also work in tandem with other diocesan departments to ensure consistent and concise communications.

Coordination and Planning – Schedules the creation/acquisition of content and works with collaborators to assign tasks and manage deadlines. Creates content calendar and ensures it is adhered to and understood by collaborators.

Communications content – Writes and edits occasional corporate correspondence and designs social media campaigns for the Catholic Conference in conjunction with other diocesan social media. Occasional articles for the diocesan magazine about legislative affairs and current, proposed legislation. Submits all content to Communications Manager prior to publishing.

Other duties as assigned.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree required with one (1) to three (3) years of experience working in a communications or marketing role. Must be a practicing Catholic in good standing with the Catholic Church.

Direct experience in corporate communications is preferred. Solid working knowledge of digital analytics tools for websites (Google Analytics preferred), emails (Constant Contact/Flocknote), and social media (Facebook and Instagram Insights, TrueSocialMetrics, Spreadfast or similar). Proficient with Microsoft Office suite, Canva (or similar design software), legislative tracking platform (Fast Democracy, VoterVoice, or similar). Excellent writing and verbal communication skills, building and maintaining databases, strong research skills with the ability to compile information into concise formats, event coordination, strong attention to details and deadlines, proven ability to work with a diverse and multi-functional communications team. Public speaking skills are not required but strongly preferred. An understanding of the social teaching of the Catholic Church is a necessity to evaluate legislation and understand its value or harm to the Gospel. Strong research and reading comprehension skills are required.

Working Conditions/Physical Requirements:

The candidate should have knowledge of how to use a computer, copier and phone. A driver’s license is required. This position involves standing, walking, sitting, talking, hearing, using hands and feet, climbing/balancing, stopping/kneeling/crouching/crawling, reaching above shoulders, and tasting/smelling at least 1/3 of the time. The candidate should also be able to lift 25 lbs to move files or carry materials.