Council District 5 Office - Council Assistant U (Public Relation & Community Relation Associate)

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About the Department

The City of San José, the Capital of Silicon Valley, is one of the nation's best managed cities and one of the top ten cities in which to live, work, and do business. Moreover, San José is the center of cultural, government and economic activity for the region. The employees of the City of San José have embraced the following values: Integrity, Innovation, Excellence, Collaboration, Respect and Celebration. The San José City Council is seeking an individual whose values align with the values of the City's employees.

The San José City Council consists of ten Councilmembers elected by district and a Mayor elected at-large, each for four-year terms. The Mayor and Council are responsible for representing the residents of San José, providing accountability, reviewing public policy
and programs, and adopting those policies which best meet the needs of the residents, visitors, and businesses in San José.

The Office of Councilmember Peter Ortiz is seeking a dedicated and dynamic Public Relations/Community Relation Associate with experience in the political landscape. This full-time role will be crucial in crafting and executing comprehensive media and communication strategies, acting as a spokesperson, and effectively managing media relations and public appearances for the councilmember.

Position Duties

The position requires an employee with strong and effective organizational skills; ability to handle multiple assignments; excellent written and oral communications skills, and the ability to develop and maintain effective and collaborative working relationships with community members and neighborhood organizations, key stakeholders, and City staff.

Candidates must be willing to work evenings and weekends as needed, and as exempt management employees, are not eligible for overtime compensation.

Employees in this classification are not members of the classified civil service and are appointed "at will." Each appointment is for a specified period-of-time to be determined by the appointing Councilmember and does not extend past the end of the elected
official's or appointing authority's term. This unclassified position requires a disclosure of outside investments, real property interest, income, and business positions.

Typical Duties:
The Public Relations/Community Relation Associate will be primarily responsible for the following tasks:
- Develop and implement media and communications strategy for the councilmember.
- Serve as a media liaison for the councilmember.
- Gathering background information relative to issues before the City Council
- Draft speeches, press releases, media advisories, op-eds, and record statements for the councilmember
- Managing the councilmembers social media

Other Duties:
- Analyzing a wide variety of materials on assigned projects, programs, and topics
- Preparation or assisting in preparation of speeches, articles, or other communications for the Councilmember
- Attending and representing the Councilmember at City-related meetings and activities, meeting with governmental agencies, private industry, and related meetings
- Planning and managing special events and coordinating arrangements for community meetings and programs
- Performing shared office duties including constituent database maintenance and constituent recognition
- Facilitating the City Councilmember's attendance at community events
- Performs other duties of a similar nature or level as required

Qualification:
Any combination of training and experience equivalent that provides the knowledge, skills and abilities to advise the Councilmember on matters of public policy, democratic processes, constituent service or citizen involvement.

Minimum Qualifications

Competencies:
The ideal candidate will possess the most desirable combination of training, skills, and experience, which will allow him or her to serve as a member of the District 5 Team.

Desirable experience, knowledge and skills for this position include:
- A BA/BS in Political Science, Public Policy, Public Administration, Communications, or related field is highly desirable.
- Knowledge of Public Administration; management, and administrative methods; budgeting, land use, house, transportation, public relations, customer/constituent relations, etc.
- Ability to plan and manage special events, including the ability to coordinate with multiple event stakeholders and manage multiple even planning tasks at the same time to ensure that deadline are met.
- Proficiency in the use of software applications such as Microsoft Word, Power Point, Excel, Outlook, or equivalent.
- Website management skills are highly desirable.
- Ability to effectively plan workflow and manage multiple projects to deliver quality products in a timely manner evidenced by
through strong organizational, administration, and management skills.
- Ability to express themselves clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing (email, letters, report writing and editing).
- Skill in research techniques and applications - collecting, compiling, analyzing, and interpreting data.
- Strong work ethic, professionalism, flexibility.
- Ability to communicate effectively with others and facilitate groups to achieve common objectives; understand and identify key issues and make recommendations in complex situations.
- Ability to establish and maintain effective working relations with others and to provide excellent service to internal and external customers, stakeholders and colleagues.
- Ability to present yourself in a professional and effective manner.
- Ability to work in a team environment and work as an effective team contributor.
- Demonstrate ability to work independently, prioritize work, and independently manage multiple, diverse, and competing priorities while meeting deadlines.
- Possess a CA driver's license.
- Preferred Spanish/Vietnamese speaker

Other Qualifications

Selection Process:
The selection process will consist of an evaluation of the applicant's training and experience based on the application, resume and answers to the job-specific questions. Only those candidates whose backgrounds best match the position will be invited to interview.

You will be prompted to answer the following job-specific questions during the online application process:
- Sample work of marketing, media releases, graphics, and social media graphics
- Please describe your work style and the techniques you use to manage your responsibilities.
- Please describe a specific example of a successful team experience, your role and responsibilities, and the technique you used to develop and maintain excellent working relationships, which resulted in the timely and effective delivery of a project, product, or
service.

You must answer all job-specific questions in order to be considered for this vacancy or your application will be deemed incomplete and withheld from further consideration.

If you have questions about the duties of this position, the selection or hiring processes, please contact charulatha.thiyagarajan@sanjoseca.gov.

This job posting will remain open until filled and applications will be reviewed continuously; therefore, we encourage applicants to apply as soon as possible. Please allow adequate time to complete the application and submit before the deadline or the system may not save your application. If your online application was successfully submitted, you will receive an automatic confirmation email to the email address you provided. If you do not receive the confirmation, please email CityCareers@sanjoseca.gov and we will research the status of your application. Please contact Human Resources at (408) 535-1285 or via email at Human.Resources@sanjoseca.gov if you have any questions.

Employment Eligibility: Federal law requires all employees to provide verification of their eligibility to work in this country. Please be informed that the City of San Jose will NOT sponsor, represent or sign any documents related to visa applications/transfers for H1-B or any other type of visa which requires an employer application.

Please note that applications are currently not accepted through CalOpps or any other third party job board application system.

This recruitment may be used to fill multiple positions in this, or other divisions or departments. If you are interested in employment in this classification, you should apply to ensure you are considered for additional opportunities that may utilize the applicants from this recruitment.

Please allow adequate time to complete the application and submit before the deadline or the system may not save your application. If your online application was successfully submitted, you will receive an automatic confirmation email to the email address you provided. IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE THE CONFIRMATION, please email CityCareers@sanjoseca.gov and we will research the status of your application.

Additional Information:

Employment Eligibility: Federal law requires all employees to provide verification of their eligibility to work in this country. Please be informed that the City of San Jose will NOT sponsor, represent or sign any documents related to visa applications/transfers for H1-B or any other type of visa which requires an employer application.

Please note that applications are currently not accepted through CalOpps or any other third party job board application system.

This recruitment may be used to fill multiple positions in this, or other divisions or departments. If you are interested in employment in this classification, you should apply to ensure you are considered for additional opportunities that may utilize the applicants from this recruitment.

Please allow adequate time to complete the application and submit before the deadline or the system may not save your application. If your online application was successfully submitted, you will receive an automatic confirmation email to the email address you provided. IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE THE CONFIRMATION, please email CityCareers@sanjoseca.gov and we will research the status of your application.

The City of San Jose offers a wide range of core health benefits including Medical, Dental, Vision, Employee Assistance Program, Life Insurance, Disability, and Savings Plans. Please visit the City's benefits pagefor detailed information on coverage, cost, and dependent coverage.

For information on the City’s Retirement Plan(pension for full-time employees), please visit the Office of Retirement Services website. You will be able to view information based on different Sworn/Federated job classification.

In additional to the benefits above, there is an additional perks siteto explore further benefits of working for the City of San Jose like paid leave, educational reimbursements, and holiday pay are specific to the job classification and union membership.

• 

• City of San Jose

• 408-535-1285

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