Public Information Officer (PIO)

Job Title: Public Information Officer (PIO)

Job Summary: The PIO serves as the spokesperson for the district by playing a pivotal role in fostering community trust and promoting the district’s services. This people-centered leader supports the Superintendent's stakeholder engagements, including forums, town halls, and presentations, ensuring alignment with district messaging and building transparent and positive relationships with the community. The PIO is responsible for ensuring clear, consistent, and transparent communication between the district, its stakeholders, and the broader community, emphasizing the district's commitment to its services and the needs of its residents. The role oversees public relations, media engagement, crisis communication, and the development of communication policies and procedures, ensuring the district’s mission and initiatives are communicated effectively and trusted by the public. Additionally, the PIO uses storytelling to highlight the district’s achievements and advancements, builds partnerships with external organizations, and seeks sponsorships and support from foundations to advance the district’s goals.

Key Responsibilities:

Supervision:

• Provide leadership and supervision to the communications team or assigned staff.
• Assign tasks, monitor progress, and evaluate performance to ensure the team meets organizational goals.
• Mentor and support professional development for team members.

Media Relations:

• Act as the primary contact for all media inquiries and requests.
• Draft, review, and distribute press releases, media advisories, and public statements.
• Build and maintain relationships with local, regional, and national media outlets.
• Organize press conferences, media briefings, and interviews.

Crisis Communication:

• Develop and implement crisis communication plans to address emergencies effectively.
• Serve as the lead communicator during critical incidents, ensuring accurate and timely dissemination of information.
• Collaborate with leadership and other stakeholders to manage sensitive issues, preserve transparency, and maintain public trust.

Community Engagement:

• Serve as the Superintendent’s liaison to the community, ensuring alignment with public concerns and interests.
• Build and sustain relationships with community organizations, local leaders, and residents to promote district initiatives, foster trust, and enhance district services.
• Develop communication strategies that foster transparency, engagement, and a sense of accountability with parents, staff, and community members.
• Represent the district’s services and accomplishments in ways that demonstrate a commitment to improving the lives of the community’s students and families.

Content Development:

• Take complex information and simplify it into formats easily received by multiple audiences.
• Regularly appraise the district's social media presence and act quickly to address strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
• Oversee the creation of engaging content for the district’s website, newsletters, and social media platforms.
• Supervise and appraise multimedia content production, including videos, graphics, and presentations, to support district initiatives.
• Utilize storytelling to highlight the district’s achievements, initiatives, and impact on the community.
• Ensure consistency in messaging and branding across all communication channels, emphasizing transparency and accountability.

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests:

• Supervise the processing of FOIA requests, ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.
• Maintain accurate records and documentation related to FOIA requests and responses.
• Work closely with the legal team to address complex or sensitive FOIA issues.

Strategic Communication Planning:

• Develop and implement long-term communication plans that align with the district’s goals and priorities.
• Serve as the district’s primary spokesperson, ensuring consistent and accurate messaging across all communication platforms.
• Conduct regular assessments of communication strategies through surveys, stakeholder feedback, and analytics to identify opportunities for improvement and ensure effectiveness.
• Utilize data-driven insights to tailor messaging and content to specific audience needs, ensuring maximum engagement and impact.
• Provide training and guidance to staff on effective communication practices, utilizing tools and metrics for continuous improvement.
• Work with leadership to adjust strategies based on evolving needs, community feedback, and the district’s ongoing commitment to providing quality services.

Collaboration with Schools and Departments:

• Partner with school administrators and department leaders to support their communication needs.
• Coordinate district-wide campaigns and initiatives to ensure cohesive messaging.
• Provide guidance on best practices for communication with staff.
• Ensures all front-facing district initiatives include structured communication plans, layered feedback loops, and keen attention to the audience experience.

Organizational Advancement and External Partnerships:

• Work closely with the People, Culture, and Organizational Advancement (PCOA) Division to identify and cultivate partnerships with external organizations, businesses, and foundations to support district goals.
• Actively engage with the PCOA team to seek sponsorships and funding opportunities to enhance district initiatives and programs.
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to advance organizational priorities and initiatives.

Required Skills and Qualifications

Qualifications:

• Strong collaborator with the ability to work effectively across departments and with diverse teams.
• Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, or a related field.
• Minimum of five years of experience in public relations, communications, or a related field, preferably in an educational or governmental setting.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
• Proven ability to manage media relations and crisis communication effectively.
• Experience with social media management and content creation.
• Knowledge of FOIA regulations and requirements.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to handle sensitive information with discretion and professionalism.

Leadership Competencies 

• PLANFUL 

Invests time in planning, discovery, and reflection. Engages in active mindfulness to identify and adjust mental shortcuts. Seeks out the perspectives and experiences of others to test assumptions. Proactively anticipates and plans for the reactions of others, multiple outcomes, potential issues, and trends. 

• DECISION MAKING AND PROBLEM-SOLVING 

Simplifies complex problems using critical thinking to evaluate issues, gather information, incorporate multiple perspectives, understand causes, and identify best-possible solutions. Invests time in planning, discovery, and reflection to drive better decisions and more efficient implementations. Adopts an audience-centric approach, understanding the audience's needs and incorporating them, as appropriate, into the decision. 

• LEARNING FOCUSED 

Continuously seeks opportunities to learn, displays curiosity, demonstrates an ability to operate in uncertainty, questions the applicability of past approaches in the current environment, owns growth, persists when faced with obstacles, and embraces failure and mistakes as a learning opportunity by being open to feedback and constructive criticism. 

• EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT 

Demonstrates self-awareness in identifying their emotions, understanding triggers, and choosing their behavior. Recognizes when their own biases may be impacting their decisions. Seeks understanding and empathizing with others' emotions, needs, and perspectives to guide their interactions. 

• DATA LITERATE 

Leverages multiple data sources to challenge assumptions and make data-informed decisions by identifying, analyzing, and interpreting qualitative and quantitative data to develop insights based on an understanding of organizational context, and uses data to tell a story and influence key players. 

• ACCOUNTABLE 

Takes ownership of positive or negative outcomes without blaming others within the team or cross-functionally recognizing when they are not approaching a situation with accountability but instead with a blame mindset. Takes accountability for assigned tasks and executes on deliverables promptly. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Communications, Public Administration, Education, or a related field.
• Familiarity with school district operations and education policy.
• Proficiency in graphic design and multimedia editing tools (e.g., Adobe Creative Suite).
• Bilingual proficiency.

Working Conditions:

• The PIO role may require evening and weekend availability to respond to urgent issues or attend district events.
• Ability to travel within the district and to off-site events as necessary.

The Public Information Officer will be a critical voice in representing the school district, ensuring clear and effective communication with all stakeholders, building and maintaining community trust, and fostering a strong, positive public image for the organization and its services.

Salary Range:    Executive Director

Length of Contract:    240 days

Deadline for application:  Applications will be accepted until the position is filled

Starting Date:      2024-2025 school year 

College transcripts, three references, and a copy of appropriate credentials should also be submitted during the application process.

Prior to employment, the District will request a criminal record history check for past action of crimes.  For this reason, information about date of birth, gender, and race is requested as a part of the application process.

The district reserves the right to make changes to the job posting/description as necessary to meet the district’s needs.

Experience: Job related experience within specialized field with increasing levels of responsibility is required.

Education: Master’s degree preferred

Required Testing:  Pre-employment TB Test

Certificates & Licenses:  None Required

Continuing Educ. / Training:  None Specified

Clearances:  Satisfactory SLED (SC Law Enforcement Division) report; outstanding references from current and former

employers

FLSA:  Exempt

Salary Scale: Executive Director