Deputy Press Secretary

City of New York•New York City, NY

About The Position

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) is dedicated to promoting quality and affordability in the city's housing, fostering diversity and strength in its neighborhoods, and ensuring every New Yorker has a safe, affordable place to live in a neighborhood they love. HPD focuses on maintaining building and resident safety and health, creating opportunities through housing affordability, and engaging New Yorkers to build and sustain neighborhood strength and diversity. The Office of Communications is responsible for all public relations, crafting proactive strategies to promote agency initiatives, programs, and accomplishments to the media, partners, staff, and the public. This division manages all media interactions, social media channels, the agency's website, internal communications, and digital and print materials.

Requirements

At least 3-5 years of full-time experience in communications, public relations, journalism, or related fields.
Handle multiple deadlines in a fast-paced and quickly changing environment.
Strong analytical and organization skills, attention to detail, and ability to fact-check and synthesize complex issues on a range of housing and urban policy topics.
Discretion in handling sensitive and confidential matters and excellent judgment.
Ability to work well independently and as a team player, switching often between the two.
Passion for new media / social media required.
A Baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Nice To Haves

A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and two years of experience in community work or community centered activities in an area related to the duties described above; or High school graduation or equivalent and six years of experience in community work or community centered activities in an area related to the duties as described above; or Education and/or experience which is equivalent to "1" or "2" above. However, all candidates must have at least one year of experience as described in "1" above.

Responsibilities

Proactively pitch stories and interviews to individual reporters.
Respond to media inquiries, working with staff around the Agency to understand the issues, distill the pertinent information, and shape the Agency’s message. Incoming inquiries often require a few hours turnaround and occasionally need to be handled outside of normal work hours.
Plan and attend Agency press events and other public-facing events; arrange logistics in coordination with City Hall, other agencies, and external partners.
Draft press releases, briefing materials, talking points, public remarks, and op-eds for the Commissioner and senior staff.
Build relationships with new and existing press contacts, continuously grow and update the press list, and identify new media outlets and reporters to cover Agency news.
Prepare HPD’s spokespeople for interviews and public speaking engagements; oversee interviews with local, regional and major national media outlets.
Pore through the news on a daily basis to identify stories relating to the Agency and relevant policy areas, as well as stories that generate new ideas, and share relevant coverage with appropriate agency teams.
Ensure consistency in message, tone, data, and facts in various agency publications and public presentations.
Write and edit content for communicating with agency partners and implement new ways of communicating effectively with partners.
Amplify positive news, in partnership with the Digital team, internally as well as externally.