Communications Specialist - Grand River Greenway

Who We Are:

The mission of Downtown Grand Rapids, Inc. is to accelerate Downtown GR's transition to a best-in-class American city. While a small, yet mighty organization, our growing team works hard with a wide array of community partners to build an increasingly vibrant downtown with great recreational experiences, a high quality of life for people from all walks of life and a strong, inclusive economy.

Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. (DGRI) is incubating the Grand River Network (the Network) organization to facilitate the coordination and action required among numerous community partners to successfully execute the revitalization of the public infrastructure in and adjacent to the Grand River Corridor as it flows through Grand Rapids and Kent County. This generational project includes the largest nonmotorized trail construction movement in the region's history, hundreds of acres of new and rehabilitated riverfront greenspace, extensive environmental cleanup and enhancement, new spaces for public art and gathering and ultimately the establishment of the Grand River Greenway in Kent County.

About the Role:

DGRI and the Network are in search of a Communications Specialist with excellent storytelling capability to launch, coordinate and manage a digital communications and social media programs across a variety of platforms to raise the visibility and public awareness locally, regionally and nationally for the Grand River Greenway initiative in Grand Rapids and Kent County. This will be an excellent opportunity for someone who loves to build new community-oriented communications and outreach programs and will be responsible for supporting communications coordination and collaboration across a wide range of internal and external partners, consultants and stakeholders to advance efforts to establish and grow the Grand River Greenway in Grand Rapids/Kent County.

This role will report directly to the Greenway Program Manager while also working closely with DGRI and The Network's management team to drive content and messages across all platforms. The goal of the communication will be to effectively describe and promote the organization's initiatives and mission of developing a vibrant, engaged and connected downtown community with regional relevance and awareness.

In this role, you will:

• Have a bachelor's degree or equivalent education and experience with two (2) or more years of experience in creative writing, journalism, marketing, and digital media management.
• Align with our Equity Framework and ensure all content produced is culturally competent, accessible to and inclusive of West Michigan's rich cultural diversity.
• Utilize your strong collaboration skills with the Greenway Program Manager and other colleagues to shape the Network's communications and engagement plans, goals and strategies as well as partner with a variety of project partners (local nonprofit leaders, government, etc.) and staff colleagues to ensure community voices are heard through the Greenway-building efforts.
• Utilize strong communication skills to understand all facets of the Grand River Corridor revitalization movement and Greenway initiative and distill technical or complex information into language accessible for the general public.
• Help develop and lead implementation of the Grand River Network's social media strategy across all platforms by developing content for organizational communications assets, including website, media releases, etc. and collaborate with photographers, videographers and other members of the communications team to brainstorm and develop meaningful content through text, photos, graphic, videos, etc.
• Develop and implement strategies to grow and engage social media audiences on all platforms by monitoring performance, analyzing metrics and making data-driven recommendations to align with communication goals, maintain responsiveness to stakeholders and continually improve efforts.
• Utilize your strong writing skills to coordinate the development, assembly and distribution of regular newsletter and email communications, manage all website content, ensuring optimal functional use with integration across all online organizational platforms.
• Maintain and grow relationships with counterparts in partner organizations to support coordination and cross-promotional efforts
• Stay current with marketing and communications profession practices and trends. Analyze market research and analytics to recommend changes to marketing strategies based on analysis and feedback.

Here's what we're offering the right candidate:

• An opportunity to affect things that matter in our city! You'll have exposure to exciting events, projects and developments and help to re-define our skyline.
• A fun and flexible culture. Our diverse team works hard and has a good time doing it.
• Competitive compensation
• Medical & dental Insurance
• Life insurance
• Short & long term disability insurance
• 401(k) retirement plan with company match
• Gym membership discounts and other wellness initiatives
• Generous Paid Time Off
• Opportunities to grow and develop your career

To read more about our work visit us at https://downtowngr.org/our-work and https://grandriver.network/

Equal Opportunity Employer