Employee Communications Director jobs in Bremerton, WA

In pursuit of the mission and goals of Peninsula College, members of our campus community will be guided by the following principles:

• The teaching/learning process is at the center of the mission of Peninsula College.
• Members of the campus community will treat each other with mutual respect and dignity.
• Members of the campus community will be open and honest in their communications.
• Members of the campus community will promote a positive work environment and avoid adversarial relationships.
• Members of the campus community will act ethically and with integrity.
• The college will engage in collaborative decision-making processes.

DIRECTOR, MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

(Full-Time Exempt)

Priority consideration date: 18 June 2023; Open Until Filled
PENINSULA COLLEGE’S COMMITMENT TO EQUITYOur collaboratively developed shared definition of equity is that as a College “we aspire to ensure that all students, faculty, and staff have access to resources and support in proportion to their needs and that they feel respected, connected, and can thrive in their goals.” Peninsula College’s equity efforts are led by an Equity Standing Committee with cross-campus representation. The committee appoints equity work groups and develops, assesses, and updates an annual equity plan. That committee’s collective work has identified the need for a position that can lead the College’s work in equitable hiring practices and equity training for all employees and that can act as resource for the College’s equity partners by sharing expertise and leadership.
THE COLLEGE

Located in the northwest corner of the United States, Peninsula College is nestled in the foothills of the Olympic Mountains. The main campus in Port Angeles, Washington, overlooks the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the nearby city of Victoria, British Columbia, and has easy access to the Pacific Ocean, Olympic National Park, and Seattle. Port Angeles is two hours from Seattle and a one-hour ferry ride to Victoria, Canada. The College is honored to serve six sovereign American Indian nations in the region: Jamestown S’Klallam, Lower Elwha Klallam, Quileute, Makah, Hoh, and Port Gamble S’Klallam.

The College is honored to have strong relationships with these six federally recognized Tribes in the College’s service district. The College is home to Longhouse of Learning. It is the first Longhouse in the nation to be built on a community College campus. The College offers transferable Indigenous language courses in Klallam/S’Klallam, Makah and Quileute and Hoh languages. Instructional programs include a Tribal Homeland Security & Emergency Management certificate and an Integrated Indigenous Studies transfer pathway. The College is committed to doing more and taking future direction from the Tribes.

As a public comprehensive community college with baccalaureate-granting authority, Peninsula College is highly regarded by businesses, schools, and community partners for its culture of inclusiveness, innovation, high academic standards, and community engagement. The College is part of the 34-college Washington State Community and Technical College System and is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.

The College serves more than 2,500 students through its main campus and Port Townsend and Forks campuses, its correctional facilities, community education, and its online course offerings. The College community is vibrant, engaged, and known for its commitment to serving the diverse needs of the local communities across its 3,600 square mile service district.

The College culture is defined by its Guiding Principles and its shared governance model, which values respect, open and honest communication, integrity and collaboration. The College is a leader in the Guided Pathways work in Washington State and sees developing an equitable and socially just institution as a central part of that work. The College is highly regarded as a warm and welcoming place. Click here for a video about Peninsula College.

THE POSITION

The Director of Marketing & Communications role independently leads publicity, communications, and marketing efforts, including web and graphic design, and acts as the public information officer with direct communication with the Office of the President. This position prioritizes proactive media relations and internal communications that are aligned with strategic marketing and community engagement goals and objectives, including addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion. This role leads marketing efforts to drive enrollment and public awareness of college activities. This role delivers consistent messages, and disseminates information and institutional values to targeted audiences, including internal constituencies, prospective students, general public, and others. The Director of Marketing & Communications works collaboratively with college employees on communications—including press releases, blogs, articles, and other communications; media relations and monitoring; marketing, graphic design and web content writing; website and social media messaging; crisis communications; and special projects and general administrative office duties.

Excellent writing skills are required, along with the ability to think innovatively and creatively, and change course if necessary. Candidates with public relations, marketing, communications, public affairs or similar experience preferred.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

The following duties are normal for this position. These are not to be construed as exclusive or all inclusive. Other duties may be required and assigned.

Marketing and Communications

• Lead the Communications and Marketing department’s efforts for the college, programs, and initiatives by coordinating multi-collateral materials
• Lead the development of marketing communication plans for programs and initiatives:
• Coordinate and track communication efforts with tracking/action item sheets
• Assist in gathering and writing content for marketing campaigns
• Edit and vet related collateral materials
• Assist internal clients to develop/revise written communications
• Maintain college communication channels (social media, press releases, website, etc.)
• Track communication data and results

• Supervise the Web Master to optimize content supporting usability, accessibility, search engine optimization, and responsive design
• Supervise the Marketing Manager in the development of marketing strategies that drive enrollment and raise awareness of college activities
• Supervise the Graphic Designer in the development of publicity materials
• Act as point-of-contact for vendors and employees working on projects relating to web copy
• Help develop and maintain website content including press releases, news briefs, and other content on the college website and blog
• Edit, proofread, post, and update content as needed
• Maintain and improve college brand guidelines for voice and consistent writing; train others
• Assist in maintaining and updating social media and third party publication channels on a consistent basis
• Independently manage social media accounts and posts, including responding to comments and questions as needed and tracking engagement
• Stay abreast of current social media trends and make suggestions for how best to improve college social media

Media and Public Information

• Work collaboratively with the college president, other members of cabinet, and college community members to write, edit and pitch college news and stories
• Proactively promote college faculty and other leaders in the media; develop similar strategies to showcase student and alumni achievements, working closely with key stakeholders
• Monitor broadcasts, blogs, industry publications and social media to identify opportunities to promote the college and for may result in negative or crisis matters
• Answer queries from the media, gather facts and data to distribute to the media, and arrange interviews
• Work collaboratively with internal legal counsel and external media consultants while exercising sound judgement in responding to inquiries from the news media
• Maintain the college’s media lists
• Write, edit, and distribute press releases and other informational materials to the public
• Explore emerging technologies that could lead to new opportunities to employ social/non-traditional media
• Create crisis communications responses/materials and assist Emergency Management efforts when needed
• Work directly with the college President as needed on specialized communications
• On-call for emergency, weather, and other urgent communications and is a member of the college Incident Management Team (IMT)
• Represent Peninsula College on the Public Information Commission (PIC) as the college PIO; including by attending meetings and trainings, sharing information, monitoring listserv for updates and information

Project Management and Office Support

• Coordinate all marketing support requests which includes routing requests to the appropriate Marketing & Communications department staff member, communicating with customers for clarification, resources, etc.
• Coordinate photo/video shoots with internal staff photographer or contracted photographer and relevant staff and students as needed for marketing and/or media support
• Edit and proof college publications and collateral materials when needed
• Support the Marketing & Communications department in implementing the college’s brand guidelines to help ensure all staff communicate consistently

Duties of the position require knowledge and experience:

• Excellent writing skills; strong line-editing, copy editing and proofreading skills.
• Research skills—ability to synthesize information from multiple sources, present evaluations and summarize key findings precisely and succinctly.
• Strong “reporter” mindset—seeks out interesting stories and asks probing questions to identify key highlights to share.
• Oral communication—speaks clearly and persuasively; possesses ability to engage others; listens and gets clarification; responds well to questions; actively participates in meetings.
• Digital fluency—foundation understanding of behaviors in the digital space and digital platforms.
• Proven experience working collaboratively with campus colleagues at all levels within an organization to identify and develop communications issues and strategies.
• Project management experience to see a concept through to execution

Duties of the position require the ability to:

• Vary writing style to meet needs and present data effectively.
• Handle multiple tasks, work well under pressure, meet tight deadlines and be proactive.
• Demonstrated ability for organization, attention to detail, prioritizing.
• Work effectively with individuals of diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Able to team-build, consensus-build and earn trust of co-workers and direct reports.
• Ability to achieve the highest degree of accuracy with quick turnaround and juggle many projects.

Physical and working environment:

• Work is typically performed in an office which requires sitting, keyboarding, or standing for extended periods of time
• Ability to use computers and office equipment is essential
• Repetitive arm, hand and finger movement
• Ability to work with frequent interactions and interruptions
• Work under pressure and prioritize competing demands
• Attend meetings both on campus and other off-site locations
• Ability to read printed materials and computer screen
• Ability to lift up to ten pounds
• Ability to communicate in English both in person and through other appropriate means

Required work schedule:

• 40 hours per week typically during normal business hours, with occasional irregular hours when publicized situations or incidents affect the college.
• After-hours social media monitoring for issue management, as necessary.

Required education or certificates:

• The preferred candidate must possess a Bachelor’s degree in Communication, Public Relations, Journalism, Marketing, or similar related field.
• Work experience should include two years in public relations, journalism, or similar related field, experience with maintaining a social media presence and as a PIO.

EMPLOYMENT PAY AND BENEFITS INFORMATION

• Full-Time Exempt position.
• Annual Salary Range: $87,500.00 - $91,000.00 (DOE)
• Anticipated starting monthly salary: $7,292.00 - $7,583.00

Full Time Employee Benefits:

• Excellent benefits package including medical, dental, life, and long-term disability insurance; paid vacation and sick leave; retirement plan options; optional credit union and tax-deferred annuity programs. Peninsula College contributes $1,130 per month towards the cost of the Washington State employee insurance programs. The college also supports professional development.
• Peninsula College is a qualified employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. If you work for the College full time, have had Direct Loans and are on an eligible repayment plan, you are eligible to apply.
• Full-time employees are eligible to apply and participate in the Peninsula College Employee Tuition Program.
• Sick leave accrual is 8 hours per month.
• Vacation Leave accrual is 16 hours per month.

Application Submission Procedure:

A complete application file will include:

• a college employment application
• a cover letter addressing specific qualifications of this position, and provide a one to two sentence statement on how you may be able to contribute to a culture of equity at Peninsula College
• a current resume
• Unofficial Transcripts
• three current professional references qualified to assess your experience and ability to perform the duties specified. Please include references’ email addresses and telephone numbers
• In compliance with the Immigration and Naturalization Act, proof of authorization to work in the United States will be required at the time of hire.
• Prior to a new hire, a background check including criminal record history will be conducted. Information from the background check will not necessarily preclude employment but will be considered in determining the applicant’s suitability and competence to perform in the position.

Application materials may be uploaded electronically, by mail, or email:

Human Resources

Peninsula College

1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd.

Port Angeles, WA 98362

Phone: (360) 417-6298

Email: pchr@pencol.edu

Applications submitted electronically will be accepted without signatures.

Jeanne Clery Statement:

Notice of Availability of Annual Security Report—Peninsula College’s Annual Crime/Security Report is available here, containing mandated information about current campus policies concerning safety and security issues, required statistics, and other related information. To obtain a paper copy of the report, please call 360-417-6559.

Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment:

Peninsula College is compliant with Title IX best practices. For more information visit, Anti-Harassment and Nondiscrimination | Title IX.

Peninsula College does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, national origin, families with children, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, including gender identity, age, honorably discharged veteran or military status, genetic information, or the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability in its programs and activities. Coordination of compliance is the responsibility of the Human Resources Officer, Krista Francis, titleixcrd@pencol.edu, (360) 417-6212.

Requesting Accommodations for Employment:

Please contact the Peninsula College Human Resources office, 360-417-6298 or email pchr@pencol.edu to request for any accommodations.

Peninsula College is an equal opportunity employer.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $87,500.00 - $91,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Health insurance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift
• Monday to Friday

Work Location: In person