Community and Public Affairs Officer

COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER

DEADLINE TO APPLY

*Deadline to apply for this recruitment is Thursday, April 17, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. PST.

This recruitment is open to external candidates, internal OCSC employees and internal OCSC promotions. This recruitment will be used to fill current vacancies, and an eligible list may be established to fill future vacancies.

ANNUAL SALARY 
$145,350.40 - $170,872.00 Annually

BENEFITS HIGHLIGHTS

Choice of five medical plans

Defined Benefit Retirement Plan (2.50% at 67 formula)

$3500 Optional Benefit Plan (OBP) annually

Optional deferred compensation program (457 plan)

Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA)

Dental and Vision Plans

Vacation and sick leave packages

14 paid holidays per year

Tuition reimbursement

TELEWORK/ON-SITE OPPORTUNITY

This position is eligible for a combination of telework and on-site work assignments. Telework must be completed from a pre-designated home-based location within the State of California and employees may be required to report on-site to address business needs. Telework is at the sole discretion of the Court and may be rescinded with 48 hours' notice, based on needs of the Orange County Superior Court.

ABOUT ORANGE COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT

The Orange County Superior Court is the third largest court of general jurisdiction in California. We have courthouses throughout the county, including locations in Orange, Westminster, Fullerton, Newport Beach, and Santa Ana. We have a staff of about 1,500 and an operating budget of nearly $280 million. The Court's Judges, Commissioners and employees are recognized for their high standards of achievement, integrity, and diversity. The Court is committed to ensuring equal access to court services and enhancing public confidence in the court system.

To learn more about the Superior Court of California, County of Orange, visit our homepage at www.occourts.org.

ABOUT THE POSITION

The Community & Public Affairs Officer directs, plans, organizes, and manages the daily operations of the Court’s community engagement and public information activities. The incumbent oversees the handling of public communications, news media and agency relations, and information requests, as well as develops and implements strategic outreach initiatives to strengthen community partnerships. The Community & Public Affairs Officer manages, participates in and arranges the education, outreach, and engagement programs. The incumbent acts as a liaison for the Court that fosters relationships with community organizations, justice partners, government agencies, school districts, and other stakeholders.

The Community & Public Affairs Officer is a single level professional management classification reporting to the General Counsel. The classification is responsible for leading the Court’s community engagement initiatives and managing the public information activities. This incumbent will provide leadership and supervision to administrative staff and the Public Information Officer, and work closely with all levels of court management, judicial leadership, and internal and external agencies to ensure effective messaging and meaningful community interactions.

Duties for the classification may include, but are not limited to:

Assumes management responsibility for the services and activities of community engagement and public communications including handling public relations, news media, information requests, and outreach and engagement activities; manages and participates in the development and implementation of goals, objectives, policies and priorities for the unit. 

Develops and maintains strategic community partnerships with government agencies, nonprofit organizations, advocacy groups, and educational institutions to enhance the public’s understanding of court functions and ensure inclusive engagement efforts.

Oversees communications staff to ensure unified court communications and messaging in various forms to include press releases, public notifications, reports, newsletters, brochures, pamphlets, and online communications including social media outlets; develops and approves a variety of content to be used by the unit; handles and resolves highly complicated and sensitive media matters connected to high profile cases and topics. 

Collaborates with communications staff to strategically respond to inquiries while obtaining approval from executive leadership; participates in the Court’s emergency communications; serves as the final editor and approver of communication produced and published by staff; ensures that communications follow a standard branding guide. 

Leads the development and implementation of digital engagement strategies, including managing the Court’s online presence, website content, social media initiatives, and multimedia outreach.

Partners with Jury Services to administer the Court’s Grand Jury recruitment process, including the advertising, application collection, selection and background processes. 

Acts as the community engagement administrator, and manages, plans, coordinates, implements, and monitors the Court’s community engagement program and project activities; meets and establishes goals and objectives; participates in and provides administration support to various Court community engagement committees; serves as the point of contact for judges, managers, justice partners, stakeholders, and the public regarding these programs.

Organizes and participates in the design, development, coordination, and execution of community engagement events and outreach including, but not limited to, educational and special events, mock trials, and courthouse tours; coordinates with other Court units as needed to carry out assigned events.

Monitors community engagement activities to measure success and continuance of related program; compiles and analyzes information and data; develops and prepares reports, proposals, and recommendations.

For more details and to read the entire job description, click the following link:

COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER

REQUIRED EDUCATION:

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with major coursework in journalism, communications, public relations/marketing, social ecology, political science, business or public administration, or a closely related public or community relations field. *Note: A copy of your college diploma or official transcripts must be included with your application.  

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE:

Five (5) years of full-time (or equivalent) professional experience in public and media relations, public information, and/or community outreach, preferably with a large public agency, -AND- two (2) years direct supervisory experience in a management and/or administrative capacity.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS (Licenses, Certifications, Testing, etc.):

Must successfully pass a background check to the satisfaction of the court.

APPLICATION PROCESS

All applicants are required to submit a completed online application and supplemental questionnaire. To learn more about how to create an application, click HERE. Résumés will not be accepted in lieu of the required application and supplemental questionnaire. For tips on completing/updating your application, refer to our "Helpful Application Tips" guide by clicking HERE.

SELECTION PROCESS

STEP 1: Applications will be reviewed by Human Resources to identify candidates who meet the minimum qualifications and/or desirables. It is to your benefit to include all current and previous related work experience. When listing Court experience, please include dates and classification of each position held, if more than one. Only those who meet the minimum qualifications and desirables (if applicable) will proceed to the next step in the recruitment process.

STEP 2: Candidates' supplemental question responses may be evaluated and ranked. Depending on the number of applications, additional assessments and/or screening interviews may be conducted.

STEP 3: Those candidates who are successful in the assessment/review may be placed on the eligible list. Placement on the eligible list is not a guarantee of interview or employment. All candidates will be notified via email of their status at each step of the process. Additional steps in the selection process will include a local background check and a reference check.

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS

Orange County Superior Court provides reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities, upon request. Please contact the Human Resources Department at HRStaffing@occourts.org if you feel that you will need a reasonable accommodation for any aspect of the selection process.

ELIGIBLE LIST

This recruitment may be used to establish an eligible list for current and future vacancies. The eligible list may remain active until the list is exhausted, or a new recruitment opens.

STATUS NOTIFICATIONS

You will be notified by email during the process of this recruitment through GovernmentJobs.com. Please check your email spam/junk folders and accept emails ending with GovernmentJobs.com and occourts.org. If your information changes, please update your profile at http://www.governmentjobs.com/.

E-VERIFY

The Superior Court of California, County of Orange participates in the E-Verify program which confirms employment eligibility of new hires.

QUESTIONS?

For questions regarding this recruitment, please contact Monica Budd at mbudd@occourts.org. For general employment information, please click HERE.

Orange County Superior Court is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Follow us on social media!

LinkedIn | Facebook | X

Salary : $145,350 - $170,872