Communications Coordinator (Communications Consultant 4) #2019-NWP2055-00884

We protect Washington State's environment for current and future generations. Every day. Our culture is invested in making a difference. Join us if you're looking for a team that is highly effective, collaborative, and with leadership that embraces the value individuals bring to our work.

Our Nuclear Waste Program seeks to fill a Communications Coordinator (Communications Consultant 4) position, located in our Richland, WA, field office.
 
The successful candidate will be an experienced communications and media relations professional who can help tell the story of Washington State's work to regulate the cleanup at the Hanford nuclear site. Our new communications coordinator will join the Nuclear Waste Program and our agency-wide communications team. The ideal candidate will possess excellent people skills, be able to work across a variety of communications channels, and be able to deal with the media in both routine and in highly stressful breaking news situations.

As an agency, our mission is to protect, preserve and enhance Washington's environment for current and future generations. We invest in our employees to create and sustain a working environment that encourages creative leadership, effective resource management, teamwork, professionalism and accountability. See some of our recent stories on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or our blog.

Duties

The Nuclear Waste Program's mission is to oversee the effective and efficient cleanup of the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site, ensure sound management of mixed hazardous wastes in Washington, and protect the state's air, water and land at and adjacent to Hanford.

The agency's communication team is considered among the best, most forward-looking in Washington State government. Our program communication team is collegial, collaborative and dedicated to doing the best job possible. Collectively, we have many years of experience in the nuances of Hanford, in outreach, in effective writing and editing, in communications, and in media relations.

The Communications Consultant keeps our web pages accurate, fresh and relevant; maintains and bolsters our social media presence; identifies and adapts to new trends in communication strategies; writes a variety of content that illuminates the program's role; works with the media to ensure that reporters receive timely, accurate and insightful responses; tracks and shares analytics; helps with program outreach.

The position determines how best to represent the program on the web, on social media, at live outreach opportunities and to the media, analyzes new trends and strategically adopts those that will improve our ability to tell our story, and deals with major and breaking news events that either represent initiatives from our program or are reactions to federal policy or events on Hanford.

This is an opportunity to work for a program that oversees the cleanup of one of the most contaminated places on Earth. It's a vitally important mission and one that will require public knowledge, understanding and support for decades in order to ensure adequate funding to complete the cleanup. It's an opportunity to work with seasoned professionals who are passionate about the Hanford cleanup, about best communications practices, about excellent writing and about supporting the growth and development of our individual communications team members. In addition, this position offers opportunities to advance.

Some of the key work activities of the Communications Coordinator position are: 

• Maintaining the program's web pages.
• Taking primary responsibility for NWP social media.
• Writing a variety of content – news releases, web pages, social media, blogs and more.
• Serving as a media liaison for the program, both with the communication manager and as the primary liaison when the Communications Manager is unavailable. 

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

A Bachelor's degree in English, communications, journalism, public relations or related field and three (3) years of writing/editing experience, of which two (2) years must include:

• Writing/editing experience. Applicable experience can be substituted year for year for education. 
• Developing web content strategy, writing/editing and managing web content.
• Experience working with the media.
• Using project management tools to prioritize work and meet deadlines.
• Working effectively both as part of a team and independently.
• Proficient use of Microsoft Office, SharePoint, and Adobe products, such as Photoshop, Acrobat Pro and InDesign.
• Proficient use of content management systems.

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience with a content management system.
• Experience with InDesign or similar graphic production software.
• Experience with video recording and editing.

Special Requirements / Conditions of Employment:

• Must possess and maintain a valid driver's license.