Public Relations Specialist jobs in Toledo, OH

Job Description Lucas County Juvenile Court

Job Title: Public Relations and Community Engagement Coordinator

Department: Administration

Job Code: 10 Reports To: Court Administrator
FLSA Status: Non-Exempt Supervises: N/A

Job Purpose: Lucas County Juvenile Court (LCJC) is seeking a highly motivated public relations professional who will assist to inform, educate, and demonstrate how Juvenile Court serves, uplifts, and improves the lives of court-involved youth and families.
The chosen candidate will foster and develop media coverage that supports our mission, goals, and objectives. The individual in this role will assist in managing external and internal organizational communications and media issues with the highest degree of integrity to serve the public and the Court. This individual will formulate and coordinate the internal and external communications, marketing, and public/community relations activities for the LCJC. Responsible for developing and implementing the LCJC Communications Plan, along with marketing and public relations initiatives. Required to develop and maintain community relationships through management of social media, in person and online meetings, public service campaigns, special events, networking, media contacts, and volunteer recruitment.
The ideal candidate brings extensive experience in developing and executing culturally relevant and innovative campaigns and communications that connect the court and local communities on issues focused on court-involved youth. This person must bring a passion and expertise in digital/online engagement, social media platforms, and has a deep understanding and connection to cultural nuances.

The candidate must have experience in strategic planning, leading digital and in person communications projects, events, and publications. Candidate should have a connections to media contacts and be able to engage with the media and issue press releases on behalf of the court. A strong educational background in communications and digital graphic design utilizing the Adobe Creative Software
Suite (Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, Acrobat, etc…).

Minimum Position Requirements:

Education/Training: Bachelor Degree in Public Relations, Marketing, Communications,
Graphic Design, or a closely related field.

Experience/Knowledge/Background: At least five (5) years relevant work experience required at a large company or organization; 7 (7) plus years preferred. Educational certification and knowledge of media and public relations, social media, and graphic design is a must. Consideration will be given for any combination of education and experience that provides equivalent knowledge, skills and abilities. Advanced knowledge of and professional experience with Microsoft Office programs, project management programs, and social media platforms. Recent work portfolio samples demonstrating public relations and graphic design experience is required.

Skills: Advanced ability to develop and maintain productive and appropriate relations with news media and community organizations. Advanced ability to operate and instruct others in the operation of video/audio/desktop publishing hardware and software. Advanced artistic ability to manage digital graphic, video, audio and printed materials as needed.
Demonstrated excellence in oral and written communication skills required. Demonstrated ability to model effective interactions and communication skills in cross-cultural situations and environments.
Demonstrated skills of basic photography and editing software.

Appearance/Personality: Professionalism is essential. Must have the ability to work well with a diverse group of people.

Special Requirements: Must be a minimum of twenty-one (21) years of age; have a valid driver’s license; and submit to a pre-employment screening and drug screen,) a criminal record check and in-depth reference check. Must be able to use awareness of cultural values and biases to work effectively with people of diverse cultural backgrounds.

Court Expectations of Employee:
 Adheres to Court Policy and Procedures
 Acts as a role model both within and outside the Court
 Exhibits a professional manner in dealing with others and works to maintain constructive working relationships
 Maintains a positive and respectful approach both verbally and in writing with superiors, colleagues, and individuals inside and outside the Court
 Performs duties as workload necessitates in a timely, accurate and thorough manner and is conscientious about assignments meeting Department productivity standards
 Communicates regularly with supervisor about Department issues
 Demonstrates flexible and efficient time management and ability to prioritize workload
 Consistently reports to work on time, prepared to perform duties of position meeting Court attendance standards
 Exceptional interpersonal communication skills with the ability to listen effectively, interview internal sources, gather and synthesize information, and write and edit effective public relations content.
 Ability to professionally manage multiple projects at once and meet all deadlines - Needs to be flexible and adaptable to handle unexpected changes and requests effectively.
 Ability to exercise sound judgment, take decisive action, and evaluate risk, consequences, and interests while simultaneously working in consultation with and approval by the Administration Team.
 Self-motivated and detail-oriented with a positive and professional approach to teamwork
 Ability to respect values and actively support the contributions and diversity of all team members
 Ability to be on-call for media after hours as needed.

Essential Job Functions:
 Support Court Administrator and Administrative Judge with media information requests and facilitate necessary interviews promptly, providing research and guidance to Administration and Judicial spokespersons as appropriate.
 Create and distribute proactive public relations content, including press releases, media advisories, articles, and talking points.
 Establish and maintain cooperative relationships with media outlets across the region and country and ensure proper media handling of youth information when managing challenging media situations.
 Create reactive media statements and talking points for each situation in collaboration with other departments
 Monitor national news for trending Juvenile Justice topics to generate media pitch ideas proactively
 Participate in strategic media relations planning and engagement sessions by the Court.
 Prepare regular Court reports and newsletters (internal or external).
 Coordinate media events and special projects as assigned
 Uphold established departmental policies, procedures, objectives, quality, confidentiality, and safety standards
 Bring a point of view that showcases a deep understanding of today’s culture and cultural nuances, applying this point of view to strategically engage with specific communities
 Develop PR plans and media engagement protocols.
 Plans, develops and directs a comprehensive external communication campaign to educate the public about the LCJC’s goals, objectives and activities.
 Reviews, modifies and implements the LCJC Communications Plan on an annual basis.
 Works to enhance community engagement by designing strategies to address identified awareness needs through advertising, public awareness events, public speaking engagements, publications, and non-purchased media.
 Works with LCJC Judges and Administrators to implement community engagement strategies.
 Oversees internal communication to ensure accuracy and consistency.
 Works with LCJC departments and staff members to foster positive internal and external relations.
 Serves as spokesperson for LCJC at the discretion of the Administrative Judge and Court Administrator including key community events. Prepares other LCJC personnel to serve as LCJC spokesperson as necessary.
 Develops and provides oversight to presenters from LCJC Speaker’s Bureau, to ensure the message of LCJC is clear and consistent.
 Works with the Information Systems Department to develop and maintain a comprehensive database of LCJC stakeholders, Friends of Juvenile Court (FOJC) members, committee members, judges, LCJC employees, etc.
 Work with the FOJC to recruit, engage, and actively promote and support the mission and services of LCJC.
 Assists in the development of the FOJC website, which will link to the Lucas County website, ensuring both sites have the most current information available.
 Develop, maintain, refine and expand mentors/volunteers for LCJC clients in conjunction with the HR Department.
 Responsible for keeping communities throughout Lucas County and Northwest Ohio aware of LCJC services, programs, successes and advise the public of how they can help.
 Responsible for keeping the media current regarding LCJC programs, events and developments. Must maintain strong and productive contacts with print, radio, television and electronic media professionals.
 Responsible for marketing LCJC success stories, services, programs for print feature stories, news releases, report card to the community, and television/radio public service announcements.
 Responsible for utilizing all areas of social media to tell the story of LCJC, including Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
 Responsible for planning and implementing public awareness events which integrate with critical partner events such as Ohio

Department of Job and Family Services, Lucas County Children Services, Toledo Public Schools, a Renewed Mind, C.H.O.I.C.E.S.

Behavioral Health Care, Board of Lucas County Commissioners, Toledo Grows, Lucas County Mental Health and Recovery Services
Board, Lucas County Youth Advocate Program, TASC of Northwest Ohio, Inc., Unison Behavioral Health Group, Zepf Center, etc.

 Responsible for designing and producing the annual report to accurately reflect LCJC programs and financial accountability to the citizens of Lucas County, Ohio.

 Responsible for developing and distributing monthly newsletter (or eNewsletter) to LCJC employees and FOJC members.
 Develop LCJC Identity Brochure/View Book promoting LCJC mission, services and volunteer opportunities.

Other Job Duties and Responsibilities:
 May be required to assist in the collection of research or information for special projects.
 May be required to work irregular hours.
 Attend mandatory staff meetings and trainings as assigned.
 Provide support and backup to other employees as needed or requested.
 All other duties as assigned.

Language Skills:
 Outstanding verbal and written communication skills a must.
 Requires the ability to utilize a wide variety of reference, descriptive and advisory data and information such as technical operating manuals, statutes, procedures, guidelines and routine and non-routine correspondence.
 Must write legibly.

Mathematical Skills:
 Requires the ability to perform basic arithmetic, including the ability to calculate percentages and decimals (calculate descriptive statistics.)

Computer Skills:
 Must have basic keyboarding skills and a good knowledge of how to operate a computer with a Windows environment, word processing software, general databases and email.
 Requires the ability to utilize and create spreadsheets (Excel) and generate statistical reports.

Reasoning Ability:
 Requires the ability to exercise sound judgment, make informed decisions, apply common sense, carryout instructions and independently problem solve situations that arise and require immediate resolution.

Physical Demands:
 Tasks involve the ability to exert light physical effort, to include the ability to walk (to include up and down multiple flights of stairs), stoop, bend, kneel, use hands, move objects, reach, and push and pull on a regular basis.
 Tasks may require the employee to occasionally lift, carry, push and/or pull objects weighing from five to ten pounds.
 Must be able to hear and also talk in a clear and concise manner.
 Tasks may involve extended periods of time at a keyboard or workstation.

Work Environment:
 Tasks are regularly performed in safe and comfortable surroundings.
 Exposure to adverse environmental conditions while making home, school or other location visits is probable and may include exposure to dirt, dust, pollen, odors, wetness, humidity, rain, fumes, temperature and noise extremes, machinery, vibrations, electric currents, traffic hazards, animals/wildlife, toxic/poisonous agents, violence, communicable diseases or pathogenic substances.

I have read all minimum position requirements, court expectations, essential job functions and other information contained within this job position description and understand that I will be held to performance standards related to this information.

___________________________________ _________________________________________ __________________________
Employee’s Printed Name Employee Signature Date

Last Update: 02/25/2021

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: From $23.71 per hour

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Retirement plan
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift

Experience:

• Writing skills: 1 year (Preferred)

Work Location: In person