Transit Press Officer — Media Relations & Communications

SEPTA; Philadelphia (Philadelphia County); On-site; USD 73,000 - 91,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive healthcare benefits

Retirement and pension plans

Paid time off and holidays

Public transit pass

Tuition reimbursement

Job summary

SEPTA in the Philadelphia region seeks a Press Officer to respond to media inquiries, promote SEPTA initiatives, and highlight the agency's role in the community.

The position requires a Bachelor’s degree and at least three years of experience in major market journalism or public relations, with strong writing and media-relations skills. The role includes managing beat coverage and drafting releases.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree required and a minimum of three (3) years experience in major market journalism and/or public relations required.
• Excellent professional writing skills.
• Professional computer skills, web content management experience preferred.
• Excellent interpersonal and speaking skills, ability to communicate professionally and comfortably with varied audiences, especially the media required.
• Willingness to be permanently assigned to early morning shift, beginning at 6 a.m., or late shift ending at 7 p.m.
• Willingness to respond to emergencies 24/7 – 365 required.

Responsibilities

• Responds to requests from journalists about all aspects of SEPTA operations and management. Involves maintaining professional relations with all levels of SEPTA management.
• Maintains assigned “beat” responsibilities, gaining expertise on certain specific technical, procedural or policy areas of SEPTA.
• Researches, writes and distributes press releases and statements to all variety of media.
• Supports media interviews and other requests, including preparing talking points along with scheduling and logistics
• Writes feature articles about SEPTA employees, accomplishments and other topics for transit industry publications.
• Monitors breaking SEPTA and related news from all outlets; compile daily news reports.
• Creates and curates content for Media Relations channels on social media
• Performs as a “duty” press officer, periodically assigned to be on-call to the media 24/7.
• Responds to emergencies, as required 24/7- 365.
• Be available to work any shift between 6a.m. and 7p.m.
• Performs other duties as required.

Skills

Writing skills

Interpersonal & speaking skills

Media relations

Communication with varied audiences

Emergency readiness

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Tools

Web content management

Job description

SEPTA in the Philadelphia region seeks a Press Officer to respond to media inquiries, promote SEPTA initiatives, and highlight the agency's role in the community.

The position requires a Bachelor’s degree and at least three years of experience in major market journalism or public relations, with strong writing and media-relations skills. The role includes managing beat coverage and drafting releases.