Community Outreach Manager

Community Outreach Manager 

ABOUT US! 

Come join the Rifeline team and support our mission to help make the world a better place! We are a public involvement and community relations firm serving organizations that rely on public support to achieve their goals. Specializing in engagement, we leverage our deep expertise in community outreach, informed consent, and local issues to develop and execute customized, strategic public involvement plans to fit the specific needs of every project and client we serve. Rifeline has an affinity for facilitating public buy-in using a dynamic combination of grassroots and grasstops outreach, and high-level public affairs. 

While we thrive in complex, controversial, and politically challenging situations, we provide public involvement and community outreach services for all types of projects and initiatives. Currently, Rifeline works heavily on various transportation projects. Some of our current clients include the Texas Department of Transportation (Mobility35), Williamson County (Transportation Corridor Development), Central Health (Health Equity Policy Council and Community Health Champions) and the Brazos River Authority. 

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES 

The Community Outreach Manager will support senior team members in implementing public engagement and community outreach programs on behalf of clients. Responsibilities include: 

• Manage strategy and execution on mid to large projects or portions of large programs, including PI plans, stakeholder & issues identification – seeing the project through the stakeholder’s eyes, open house materials, stakeholder meeting prep, FAQs and informational materials, with review at senior level(s) for larger or controversial items as appropriate 
• Initiate engagement and develop positive relationships with stakeholders 
• Facilitate small group/table discussions as part of larger events 
• Determine appropriate format/strategy for events 
• Review local media/news reports and share with appropriate co-workers 
• Develop, review or manage material development to include the following:   
• Ad/notice copy and event communication materials, including elected official notification letters; social media copy 
• PowerPoint presentations 
• Display boards/exhibits (e.g., slide with snippet of roll plot) 
• Surveys 
• Speaker talking points 
• Annotated agendas; runs of show 
• Brochures, websites, eNewsletters, infographics, fact sheets, direct mail, and other advertisements 
• Communicate with clients regularly to keep them informed of progress and receive assignments 
• Create mechanisms for internal and external evaluation of engagement initiatives 
• Manage contracts  
• Develop progress and activity reports 
• Represent Rifeline at external meetings and events for marketing purposes; mentor staff on deliberately engaging with clients and stakeholders for relationship building  
• Perform other duties as necessary 

ROLE QUALIFICATIONS 

• A bachelor's degree with major coursework in public relations, communications, or a related field and a minimum of five to ten years’ work experience related to the duties described above. 
• Five to ten years project management experience, preferably providing account service in a communications consulting capacity, and/or in another fast-paced environment. 
• Proven ability to prioritize and complete multiple tasks and a high volume of work efficiently and on deadline. 
• Strong organizational skills with a commitment to accuracy and attention to detail. 
• Experience managing defined scopes of work  
• Proven excellence in interpersonal relationship skills 
• Ability to communicate effectively over the telephone, in writing, and in person with many levels of stakeholders.  
• Ability to translate complex technical information and concepts into an easy-to-understand format for the general public. 
• Proven ability to develop outreach and awareness campaign plans and materials. 
• Proven experience with public outreach, community engagement, and relationship-building. 
• Ability to work both independently with little supervision and collaboratively as part of a team. 

OTHER SKILLS AND ABILITIES  

Must haves:  

• Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)  
• Writing and editing experience   
• Comfortable working on controversial issues or projects  
• Flexibility to work after normal work hours and on weekends (occasionally required)  

Great to haves:  

• Event planning/staffing   
• Basic graphic design skills   
• Mediation/facilitation training   
• Social media  
• Proficiency in Spanish   
• Systematic Development of Informed Consent (SDIC) training   
• CRM management (database management system)   
• Survey tools and bulk email platforms such as Survey Monkey, Mailchimp, Microsoft Forms and Google Forms  
• Political campaigns  

BENEFITS AND COMPENSATION 

Rifeline is a hands-on, family-oriented company that strives to always uphold our core values of teamwork, professionalism, responsiveness, connections to the community, honesty, and savviness. We strive to continue our commitment to equality and diversity in everything we do. 

Benefits include: 

• Health insurance and 100% employer paid premium  
• Health savings account (HSA) and annual employer contribution  
• Dental insurance 
• Vision insurance 
• 401(k) retirement plan 
• 401(k) employer matching 
• Monthly cell phone stipend 
• Paid holidays 
• Paid time off (PTO) 
• Maternity/Paternity Paid Leave 
• Flexible working schedule and location (dependent on client needs, event schedules, etc.) 
• Beautiful office located in downtown Austin with free parking, stand/sit desks, an all-glass sunroom, conference rooms, snacks, drinks, and more! 

The typical salary range is $65,000 - $75,000 annually but compensation will be commensurate 

with experience. 

PHYSICAL DEMANDS 

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to sit; stand; walk; reach with hands and arms; talk and hear; and lift weight up to 20 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus. 

Job Type: Full-time 

COVID-19 considerations: Rifeline follows all State, city, and local guidelines, orders, and rules.