Director of Community Engagement

Stafford County Government; Stafford (VA); On-site; USD 127,000 - 174,000; Full time

Job summary

Stafford County Government seeks an accomplished director to lead its community engagement and communications function. The role shapes how a fast-growing Virginia community communicates, connects, and builds trust with residents, employees, businesses, media, and partners.

The executive will listen as well as inform, ensure a clear and credible voice across departments, and coordinate with elected officials and leadership to advance public engagement initiatives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in English, communications, or public relations and 6 years in public relations.
• Local government experience preferred.
• Strong leadership and strategic thinking for executive-level communications.

Responsibilities

• Directs the county's comprehensive communications and engagement program with transparency.
• Develops strategic communications plans supporting Board priorities and leadership.
• Oversees media relations, FOIA requests, and crisis communications.
• Manages customer service and engagement operations to improve access to services.
• Coordinates with officials and partners to identify communication needs and issues.
• Produces multimedia content across websites, social media, and publications.

Skills

Public information laws

Social media

Branding

Crisis communications

Video production

Public relations

Community engagement

News gathering

Education

Bachelor's degree in English, communications, or public relations

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft PowerPoint

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Access

Adobe Creative Suite

Drupal

WordPress

Job description

Stafford County, Virginia, is seeking an accomplished, innovative, and strategic communications leader to serve as its Director of Community Engagement.

This senior executive position will lead Stafford County's comprehensive communications and community engagement function, helping shape how one of Virginia's fastest-growing communities communicates, connects, and builds trust with its residents, employees, businesses, media, and community partners.

This is more than a traditional public information or communications position. Stafford is seeking an executive leader who understands that effective community engagement requires listening as well as communicating, connecting residents with government services, strengthening relationships across the organization and ensuring that the County communicates with one clear, credible and accessible voice.

The hiring range for this position is $126,817.60 to $174,387.20 annually based on experience.

The salary range for this position is $126,817.60 to $221,936.00 to provide opportunity for growth and development.

Examples of Duties

• Directs and oversees the County's comprehensive communications and community engagement program to ensure accurate, timely, and transparent information is provided to residents, employees, media, and other stakeholders;
• Develops and implements strategic communications plans that support the priorities of the Board of Supervisors and County leadership, including public information campaigns, branding initiatives, and digital communication strategies;
• Serves as the primary point of coordination for media relations, public information requests, and crisis communications, ensuring consistent messaging across all departments;
• Overseas the management and operations of the County's customer service and contact center functions to improve resident access to government services and information;
• Ensures compliance with public information laws and responsibilities, including applicable requirements related to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), public records management, and transparency standards;
• Supervises communications and engagement staff, contractors, and consultants; establishes departmental priorities; and ensures work products meet professional standards and organizational goals;
• Coordinates closely with elected officials, executive leadership, departments, and community partners to identify communication needs, address emerging issues, and support public engagement initiatives;
• Oversees the production and distribution of multimedia communications including video, photography, graphics, publications, and digital content across websites, social media platforms, and other communication channels;
• Leads efforts to evaluate communication effectiveness using data, public feedback, and engagement metrics to inform strategies and improve outreach efforts;
• Provides strategic communications support during emergencies, major public events, and sensitive issues to ensure clear, timely, and coordinated information is provided to the public;
• Manages multiple projects and priorities simultaneously while ensuring deadlines are met and communications activities align with organizational objectives;
• Performs related work as required, including work during evenings, weekends, or emergency operations when necessary to support County communications needs.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Demonstrate knowledge of best practices in newsgathering, reporting, public information laws and responsibilities, social media, marketing and branding, internal and external communications, community engagement, video production and crisis communications;
• Working knowledge of and/or familiarity with photojournalism, video production, and graphic design;
• Comprehensive knowledge of federal and state laws, regulations and directives pertaining to governmental public information, including FOIA;
• Demonstrate an overall knowledge of the County, its structure, and operation;
• Excellent use of written and verbal communication skills, thorough knowledge of English grammar, usage, and spelling;
• Supervisory skills and interpersonal skills that are collegial, decisive, direct and approachable;
• Computer skills, particularly Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, etc.) and design and multimedia applications (such as Adobe Creative Suite, Drupal, WordPress, etc.) as related to the position;
• Effective time management skills and the ability to work under specific time constraints;
• Ability to apply innovative, strategic approaches to proactively identify issues and develop effective solutions;
• Ability to create and implement a communications plan containing essential plan elements;
• Ability to work cooperatively with County employees, citizens, elected officials, and the media;
• Ability to articulate a compelling vision and motivate people to act with a shared vision;
• Ability to work flexible hours.

Education and Experience

A combination of education and experience equivalent to a bachelor's degree with a major in English, communications, or public relations, and 6 years of successful experience in public relations. Local government experience preferred.