Communications Specialist II

McCormick Taylor • Verona, VA

13d • Hybrid

About The Position

McCormick Taylor, Inc. is a progressive full-service multimodal transportation planning, civil engineering and environmental services consulting firm providing creative solutions to everyday challenges. For 80 years we've focused on our relationships with people - our employees, clients, and the diverse communities we serve. Our culture matters because our people matter. We strive to create pathways for career advancement that suits the individual. We embrace hybrid work flexibility and a greater work life balance. We've grown as a company by building our team around people who share our passion for meaningful and engaging work. This Role’s Reach A Communication Specialist II is an integral member of McCormick Taylor's Planning & Communication Services group, supporting our clients’ projects and the wider community. This role entails client-facing opportunities including supporting projects and programs for clients including state DOTs, tolling authorities, transit agencies, and county and local governments. Specific work activities may include supporting communications and/or public outreach tasks for multimodal transportation planning projects, working with project teams in the completion of project deliverables, working with public and elected officials, stakeholders, and residents in the development and implementation of public engagement and/or communications strategies and programs, and supporting business development initiatives across various markets. Who We’re Looking For McCormick Taylor has an immediate opening for a creative and detail-oriented Communications Specialist II in its growing Communications & Planning services group. The Communications Specialist II should have an understanding of various transportation modes, and experience supporting effective, inclusive, well designed public involvement programs. The applicant should bring strong communications skills and have experience with the delivery robust community outreach and public engagement programs designed to meaningfully engage communities while achieving client goals and project objectives. The applicant should have experience developing public engagement plans that effectively inform, educate, and engage audiences in our clients’ project development process at any stage ranging from the study phase through final engineering design and/or construction. They will assist with the implementation of public engagement opportunities that enable interested individuals to learn more about planning processes and projects that shape their local communities; help government agencies, transit agencies, and non-profit advocacy groups solve problems; and educate the public and decisionmakers with creative visualizations, interactive web tools, and other innovative resources and methodologies. The ideal candidate brings strong writing, organizational, and presentation skills, and can translate complex technical information into clear, engaging, and accessible communications. This role includes serving as a task lead on select assignments, supporting client coordination, meeting facilitation, public speaking, and quality control of project deliverables. The applicants experience should also include participation in the development and implementation of public-facing communications plans and public engagement programs supported by various outreach platforms and publicity tools like social media, websites, videos, infographics, newsletters, fact sheets, reports, and presentations. This role will include client-facing opportunities in support of projects across McCormick Taylor's various office locations.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in public relations, strategic communications, transportation planning, community and regional planning, or environmental planning/resiliency, civil/transportation engineering, transportation public policy or other related, professionally recognized equivalent discipline
• 4 -7 years of communications/public engagement experience
• Understanding of the transportation project development process
• Understanding of the best practices and concepts of public engagement
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and presentation skills
• Strong organizational, time management, and critical thinking skills with attention to detail
• Knowledge of planning/communications best practices and concepts
• Ability to work collaboratively with groups of planners, engineers, graphic designers, web designers, and communication specialists
• Ability to organize and present data and technical information in an efficient and clear manner
• Experience in writing, proofreading, and editing
• Maintain high standards and work quality while demonstrating innovation and creativity on client projects
• Strategic and creative mindset

Nice To Haves

• IAP2 Public Participation Practitioner Certification
• NTI Public Involvement in Transportation Decision-Making Certificate
• Facilitation Certification
• Extensive working knowledge in Microsoft 365
• Working knowledge in Adobe Creative Suite
• Experience in coordinating graphic design, website design, video creation, and/or content production
• Knowledge of social media platforms and digital content strategy
• Knowledge of digital accessibility best practices, including plain language, alternative text, color contrast, and semantic structure

Responsibilities

• Assisting with public outreach and communications activities for multimodal transportation projects, including those requiring NEPA documentation
• Assisting with developing and implementing public engagement plans for multimodal transportation projects in various stages of design ranging from the study phase to construction
• Assisting with composing technical documents that present findings using clear language and graphical elements
• Ability to serve as a task lead, including field work (site visits, community meetings, posting fliers in the community, etc.) and agency/client coordination.
• Assisting with organizing and facilitating meetings with officials, stakeholders, and the public
• Maintaining high standards and quality of work while demonstrating innovation and creativity in developing solutions for client projects
• Researching and creating content for project websites, social media programs, infographics, blogs, and newsletters, and other communications collaterals
• Assisting with the evaluation of the results of outreach and/or communication campaigns
• Cultivating relationships with clients and industry partners
• Acquiring and continuing to gain knowledge of industry activities, and keeping up-to-date with relevant policies, legislation, and regulations
• Maintaining knowledge of leading-edge communication practices, public outreach strategies, and engagement practices

Benefits

• We offer an unparalleled, comprehensive benefits package—including free vision and dental plans, programs to enhance work-life balance, and flexible and hybrid work schedules.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 101-250 employees