Senior Community Outreach Manager

ABOUT US!

Come join the Rifeline team and support our mission to help make the world a better place! We are a public involvement and community relations firm serving organizations that rely on public support to achieve their goals. Specializing in engagement, we leverage our deep expertise in community outreach, informed consent, and local issues to develop and execute customized, strategic public involvement plans to fit the specific needs of every project and client we serve. Rifeline has an affinity for facilitating public buy-in using a dynamic combination of grassroots and grasstops outreach, and high-level public affairs.

While we thrive in complex, controversial, and politically challenging situations, we provide public involvement and community outreach services for all types of projects and initiatives. Currently, Rifeline works heavily on various transportation projects. Some of our current clients include the Texas Department of Transportation (Mobility35), Williamson County (Transportation Corridor Development), Central Health (Health Equity Policy Council and Community Health Champions) and the Brazos River Authority.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

The Senior Community Outreach Manager will lead a team in implementing public engagement and community outreach programs on behalf of clients. Responsibilities include:

• Serve as Rifeline’s representative for proactive, responsive client management to:
• Build relationships
• Identify and resolve issues
• Communicate progress on project tasks and milestones
• Manage project strategy and execution for multiple high profile, high-level projects simultaneously, including:
• Development and execution of public information (PI) plans
• Act as project spokesperson.
• Manage and execute contract and task order renewals, including time extensions, budget and scope supplements, rate renegotiations, etc.
• Identification of stakeholders and issues – seeing each project through the stakeholder’s eyes
• Draft open house and stakeholder meeting materials, FAQs and other informational materials
• Create plans, goals, checkpoints, and calendars – and develop and manage staffing plans – to achieve client deadlines
• Manage the work of other Rifeline team resources (Coordinators, Sr. Coordinators, Managers, etc.) to accomplish project goals
• Track subcontractor invoices & submissions
• Develop progress and activity reports
• Supervise 1-3 staff:
• Regularly check in with direct reports
• Be available for questions and support, and report up to supervisor/company leadership (as needed)
• Manage workflow, team schedules and delegate tasks
• Celebrate successes
• Set performance and training goals that comply with the company’s plans and vision
• Assess work performance and identify areas that need improvement
• Train and onboard new hires
• Initiate engagement and develop positive relationships with stakeholders
• Determine appropriate format/strategy for events
• Manage preparations and logistics
• Develop workback schedules, agendas, runs-of-show
• Identify staffing requirements and conduct training for staff
• Serve as onsite lead for day-of event management
• Develop, review or manage material development to include the following:  
• Ad/notice copy and event communication materials, including elected official notification letters; social media copy
• PowerPoint presentations
• Display boards/exhibits (e.g., slide with snippet of roll plot)
• Surveys
• Speaker talking points
• Brochures, websites, eNewsletters, infographics, fact sheets, direct mail, and other advertisements
• Review and edit materials for appropriate strategies, messaging, etc.
• Create and maintain mechanisms for internal and external evaluation of engagement initiatives
• Enter, submit and approve time, expenses & invoices in a timely and accurate manner in CORE project management system
• Represent Rifeline at external meetings and events for marketing purposes; train staff on deliberately engaging with clients and stakeholders for relationship building
• Lead a Rifeline Center of Excellence as the go-to subject matter expert on a tool, topic, or client/project type

ROLE QUALIFICATIONS

• A bachelor's degree with major coursework in public relations, communications, or a related field and a minimum of eight to fifteen years’ work experience related to the duties described above.
• Eight to fifteen years of project management experience, preferably providing account service in a communications consulting capacity, and/or in another fast-paced environment.
• Proven excellence in people management, stakeholder management, client relationship, and overall interpersonal relationship skills
• Experience managing defined scopes of work
• Proven experience creating strategies for public outreach, community engagement, and relationship-building.
• Strong organizational skills with a commitment to accuracy and meticulous attention to detail.
• Proven ability to prioritize and complete multiple tasks and a high volume of work efficiently and on deadline.
• Ability to communicate effectively over the telephone, in writing, and in person with stakeholders.
• Ability to translate complex technical information and concepts into an easy-to-understand format for the general public.
• Ability to work both independently with little supervision and collaboratively as part of a team.

OTHER SKILLS AND ABILITIES 

Must haves: 

·      Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) 

·      Writing and editing experience  

·      Comfortable working on controversial issues or projects 

·      Flexibility to work after normal work hours and on weekends (occasionally required) 

·      Potential for travel within or around the state of Texas based on project requirements

·      Professional maturity and ability to prioritize tasks in a fast-paced environment

Great to haves: 

·      Event planning/staffing  

·      Basic graphic design skills  

·      Mediation/facilitation training  

·      Experience with social media in a business or professional setting

·      Proficiency in Spanish  

·      Systematic Development of Informed Consent (SDIC) training  

·      CRM management (database management system)  

·      Survey tools and bulk email platforms such as Survey Monkey, Mailchimp, Mentimeter, Microsoft Forms and Google Forms 

·      Political campaign experience

BENEFITS AND COMPENSATION

Rifeline is a hands-on company that strives to always uphold our core values of teamwork, professionalism, responsiveness, connections to the community, honesty, and savviness. We strive to continue our commitment to equality and diversity in everything we do.

Benefits include:

●     Health insurance and 100% employer paid premium

●     Health savings account (HSA) and annual employer contribution

●     Dental insurance

●     Vision insurance

●     401(k) retirement plan

●     401(k) employer matching

●     Monthly cell phone stipend

●     Paid holidays

●     Paid time off (PTO)

●     Maternity/Paternity Paid Leave

●     Flexible working schedule and location (dependent on client needs, event schedules, etc.)

The typical salary range is $80,000-$100,000 annually but compensation will be commensurate

with experience, along with an opportunity to earn an annual bonus of up to 10% of salary, based on company and individual performance. This position is salaried exempt and not eligible for overtime pay.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

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. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to sit, stand, walk, reach with hands and arms, talk and hear, and lift up to 20 pounds of weight. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.

Job Type: Full-time