Community Outreach Specialist

WSP • New York, NY

15h • Hybrid

About The Position

This Opportunity WSP is seeking a motivated, community-driven, and highly talented Community Outreach Specialist to support a truly transformative public infrastructure initiative. In this role, you will be at the center of one of the most significant transportation redevelopment efforts in the region: The Port Authority's Midtown Bus Terminal Replacement (MBTR) Program. The Community Outreach Specialist will support the Major Capital Projects Department (MCP), Government and Community Relations Offices for New York and New Jersey (GOCOR NY/NJ), and other Port Authority departments as part of the MBTR Program Management Team (under a third-party consultant team). Reporting to the Port Authority’s GOCOR NY/NJ teams, and MCP department, this professional will serve as a key public facing representative for the Program. The selected candidate will oversee daily operations of the Community Outreach Office and act as a liaison between the MBTR Program and a wide range of stakeholders — residents, commuters, bus terminal users, elected officials, local businesses, community boards, advocacy groups, and partner agencies. Their work will help ensure that community voices are heard, concerns are addressed, while supporting the project’s goals and schedules, and engagement remains strong during Phase 1 of the project (with the potential to be extended through Phase 2). We’re looking for a outreach professional who thrive in fast paced public infrastructure environments and bring a proactive, solutions-oriented approach to communication, issue resolution, stakeholder coordination, and measurable community engagement.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent relevant work experience
• 3-5 years relevant experience
• Demonstrated experience managing public outreach, stakeholder engagement, or community relations initiatives, preferably for infrastructure, transportation, redevelopment, or public-sector projects
• Experience developing and implementing outreach and engagement strategies
• Strong written, verbal, organizational, and presentation skills
• Experience preparing presentations, outreach materials, flyers, newsletters, and meeting documentation
• Ability to work collaboratively with community stakeholders, elected officials, agency staff, consultants, and contractors
• Familiarity with communities and stakeholders throughout Manhattan and Northern New Jersey
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and respond effectively in a fast-paced public-facing environment
• Self-motivated with the ability to work independently and collaboratively
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, including PowerPoint, Word, Excel, and Outlook, Teams, Forms, as well as Constant Contact and Salesforce
• Understanding of public-sector ethics standards and professional conduct expectations

Nice To Haves

• Bilingual candidates, particularly Spanish-speaking candidates, are preferred
• Experience supporting community outreach for large-scale construction, transportation, or infrastructure projects or similar front-facing experience representing organization’s goals, agendas and deliverables.
• Experience managing community complaint response and issue resolution processes
• Familiarity with public meeting facilitation and stakeholder coordination
• Experience working with government agencies, elected officials, and public-sector leadership

Responsibilities

• Manage daily engagement operations of the Community Outreach Office, including walk-in engagement and response coordination for community inquiries and complaints.
• Field and track incoming concerns received through the project desk line, email correspondence, public meetings, and in-person interactions and coordinate concerns with the project’s logistics team.
• Serve as a visible “boots on the ground” representative for the Midtown Bus Terminal Replacement Program and support issue identification and resolution in the field.
• Develop and implement outreach initiatives designed to increase stakeholder engagement and outreach participation with goal of advancing the project’s schedule and deliverables.
• Conduct recurring outreach to residential buildings, local businesses, commuters, bus terminal users, bus carriers, community organizations, and advocacy groups impacted by Program activities.
• Organize and staff monthly mobile outreach office hours within elected officials’ offices, public libraries, and other public-facing locations throughout Manhattan and New Jersey communities, as well as in the current Bus Terminal.
• Coordinate and support public meetings, stakeholder briefings, community information sessions, and outreach events.
• Prepare outreach materials including flyers, notifications, newsletters, presentations, handouts, displays, and digital communications.
• Publish routine community and commuter updates through print and electronic communication channels.
• Maintain and regularly update stakeholder contact databases, complaint logs, outreach metrics, and engagement tracking reports.
• Prepare weekly and monthly reporting summaries documenting: Number and type of stakeholder engagements Complaint response and resolution tracking Outreach activities completed Community concerns and trends Engagement metrics and participation levels Upcoming outreach initiatives and events
• Report on how these activities supported and promoted the project’s schedule and deliverables
• Capture meeting minutes and action items for quarterly Port Authority Bus Terminal Advisory Council Meetings, monthly MBTR Community Construction Task Force Meetings, and other stakeholder meetings.
• Coordinate outreach activities with Port Authority departments including MCP, TB&T, Office of Media Relations, and Office of Diversity Equity and Inclusion (ODEI), as well as consultants, contractors, and bus operators.
• Support workforce development and community opportunity initiatives, including coordination of job fairs and community resource events.
• Represent the Program at community events and stakeholder meetings as needed.
• Assist MCP Department’s Logistics Office to monitor site stipulations and adherence to permit requirements as well as overall coordination on a multitude of activities within the Logistics office as they intersect with public facing activities.
• Perform other related outreach and stakeholder engagement duties as assigned.
• Support measurable outreach and engagement objectives, including but not limited to: Increasing community and commuter engagement participation and outreach visibility Ensuring timely responses and follow-up to public complaints and stakeholder inquiries Conducting recurring outreach activities within impacted neighborhoods, commercial corridors and passenger transit areas Hosting regular mobile office hours and community engagement sessions in coordination with elected officials and other community stakeholders. Maintaining accurate stakeholder databases and outreach tracking systems Producing consistent weekly and monthly outreach activity reports and engagement summaries
• Track office’s efforts and measure how they successfully promoted the project’s schedule and construction deliverables.
• Supporting proactive dissemination of project updates, construction notifications, and public information materials to community residents, businesses, elected officials, commuters, and other interested parties.
• Working with MCP to provide support in updating the MBTR Project website by uploading advisories, presentation decks, outreach materials, and other relevant public‑facing content to ensure timely and accurate information is available to stakeholders.
• Strengthening relationships with community boards, local businesses, advocacy organizations, and elected officials throughout New York and New Jersey

Benefits

• coverage related to medical, dental, vision, disability, and life
• retirement savings
• paid sick leave
• paid vacation (or other personal time)
• paid parental leave
• paid time off for purposes of bereavement, voting, and/or attendance at naturalization proceedings

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level