Communications & Engagement Manager

Albemarle County; Charlottesville (VA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Benefits Eligible

VRS Eligible

Job summary

Albemarle County in Charlottesville, VA seeks a Communications & Engagement Manager to lead the Communications & Engagement Section and serve as a strategic adviser to County leadership.

The role supervises staff, develops countywide editorial plans, leads community engagement initiatives, and provides communications counsel across departments, with a focus on public awareness campaigns and multi-channel storytelling.

Qualifications

• Strong oral, written communication and facilitation skills.
• Knowledge of public relations, mass communications, and marketing principles.
• Experience in data analysis and data visualization.
• Knowledge of media production; including print, photography, video, graphics and web design principles.
• Ability to work under pressure.
• Ability to make effective presentations to diverse internal and external audiences, along with communications and engagement planning.

Responsibilities

• Supervise and develop staff within the Communications & Engagement Section.
• Lead section operations and strategic planning with the Director.
• Provide strategic communications support to assigned departments, including communications planning, public awareness campaigns, marketing, messaging, and multimedia storytelling.
• Oversee countywide content across digital, print, web, video, podcast, social media, email, and other channels; manage editorial calendar.
• Lead the County’s community engagement efforts, including advisory committees and public participation programs.
• Provide strategic guidance on communications, public engagement, branding, outreach, and related practices.
• Evaluate communications and engagement effectiveness using performance measures and analytics; recommend improvements.
• Oversee digital communications and web governance across platforms.
• Represent the office on cross-functional teams and external partnerships.
• Support emergency communications and on-call PIO responsibilities.

Skills

Oral communication

Written communication

Public relations

Mass communications

Data analysis

Data visualization

Media production

Presentations

Job description

Communications & Engagement Manager

Communications and Public Engagement Office

Full Time, 12 Months

Exempt, Paygrade 35

Benefits Eligible; VRS Eligible

Job Summary/ Objective

The Communications & Engagement Manager leads the Communications & Engagement Section while serving as an active communications strategist and department liaison. The position provides day-to-day leadership for the section and is responsible for implementing the County's strategic communications and community engagement programs in coordination with the CAPE Director. In addition to supervising staff, the manager leads communications planning for assigned departments, oversees countywide editorial planning and engagement initiatives, develops content and marketing campaigns, and provides communications counsel to County leadership and departments.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Provides supervision

Essential Functions

• Supervises and develops staff by establishing priorities, assigning work, managing workloads, and evaluating performance within the Communications & Engagement Section.
• Leads section operations and strategic planning by developing work plans, operational priorities, performance measures, policies, procedures, and staff development initiatives in coordination with the Director.
• Serves as a communications strategist and department liaison, providing strategic communications support to assigned departments, including communications planning, public awareness campaigns, marketing, messaging, and multimedia storytelling.
• Oversees countywide content and communications across digital, print, web, video, podcast, social media, email, and other communication channels, including management of the editorial content calendar and major recurring communications initiatives.
• Leads the County’s community engagement efforts, including advisory committees, community outreach, online engagement platforms, public participation programs, and other initiatives designed to facilitate meaningful community input.
• Provides strategic guidance and training to County departments and leadership on communications, public engagement, messaging, branding, outreach, marketing, and related practices.
• Evaluates communications and engagement effectiveness using performance measures, participation data, digital analytics, community feedback, and other metrics, and recommends improvements based on results.
• Oversees digital communications and web governance initiatives, ensuring coordination and consistency across County communications platforms and related projects.
• Collaborates across the organization and with external partners by representing the Communications & Public Engagement Office on cross-functional teams, committees, and intergovernmental initiatives.
• Supports emergency and incident communications, including assigned Emergency Operations Center and Joint Information Center activations and backup Public Information Officer on-call responsibilities.

Competency: Knowledge/ Skills/Abilities:

• Strong oral, written communication, and facilitation skills.
• Knowledge of public relations, mass communications, and marketing principles.
• Experience in data analysis and data visualization.
• Knowledge of various media production; including print, photography, video, graphics and web design principles.
• Ability to work under pressure.
• Ability to make effective presentations to diverse internal and external audiences, along with communications and engagement planning.

Required Education