Digital Communications Specialist

Effingham County Board of Commissioners•Springfield, GA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The purpose of this classification is to support accurate, timely, accessible, and effective communication between Effingham County, its employees, residents, community partners, and the public by creating and managing social media and digital content for official County communication channels. The position develops platform-ready content, maintains a communications calendar, monitors social media activity, tracks engagement analytics, supports public information campaigns, and ensures digital communications comply with County branding, approval, public records, accessibility, copyright, and security requirements.

Requirements

Associate degree in communications, public relations, journalism, marketing, digital media, graphic design, public administration, or a closely related field; and two (2) years of professional experience creating social media, digital content, public information, marketing, communications, journalism, or multimedia content; or any equivalent combination of education, training, and experience which provides the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities for this job.
Portfolio or work samples demonstrating social media writing, graphics, photography, video, campaign content, analytics, or digital storytelling may be required.
Must possess and maintain a valid driver's license if duties require travel to County facilities, project sites, meetings, or events.
Knowledge of social media platforms, digital content standards, public communication practices, and audience engagement methods.
Knowledge of public records, copyright, brand standards, digital accessibility, comment moderation limits, and confidentiality principles applicable to public-sector communications.
Skill in writing clear, concise, accurate, plain-language content for diverse public audiences.
Skill in creating graphics, short-form video, photography, captions, posts, stories, and campaign materials appropriate for official government use.
Skill in using analytics to evaluate performance and improve public communication outcomes.
Ability to manage multiple deadlines, coordinate information from several departments, and maintain accuracy under time pressure.
Ability to respond professionally to public inquiries, criticism, misinformation, sensitive topics, and controversial issues.
Ability to preserve neutrality and avoid political advocacy, personal opinion, or unauthorized policy positions in official County communications.
Ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise sound judgment with sensitive, emergency, personnel, legal, or security-related information.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's degree in communications, public relations, journalism, marketing, digital media, graphic design, public administration, or a closely related field.
Experience in local government, public-sector communications, public safety communications, emergency communications, media relations support, or community engagement.
Experience with social media management tools, analytics dashboards, content calendars, content management systems, Canva, Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft 365, photography, video editing, and/or accessible digital content production.
Bilingual communication skills, especially English and Spanish, are desirable when aligned with community needs.

Responsibilities

Creates, schedules, publishes, and monitors content for official County social media channels in accordance with approved messaging, branding standards, and communications priorities.
Develops short-form written content, graphics, photographs, video clips, captions, reels, stories, event notices, public service announcements, and other digital materials for County platforms.
Maintains a social media and digital content calendar aligned with County meetings, public notices, departmental programs, community events, service updates, emergency information, capital projects, recruitment campaigns, and strategic communication initiatives.
Coordinates with County departments to collect accurate information, verify facts, obtain approvals, and translate technical or policy-heavy information into clear, resident-focused content.
Monitors comments, messages, tags, and public interaction on official County accounts; routes service requests, complaints, questions, or sensitive issues to the appropriate department or designated official for response.
Supports emergency, severe weather, public safety, road closure, facility closure, and service disruption communications by preparing and posting approved time-sensitive updates.
Tracks and analyzes platform metrics including reach, impressions, engagement, shares, video views, audience growth, referrals, conversions, and campaign performance; prepares routine reports and recommendations.
Assists with website updates, online event calendars, newsletters, Engage Effingham App promotion, employee communication content, and other digital communication channels as assigned.
Captures photo and video content at County events, meetings, facilities, project sites, and community activities; organizes and maintains digital media assets for future use.
Maintains records of published content, comments, messages, analytics, source files, and approvals in accordance with applicable public records and retention requirements.
Ensures content is accurate, professional, accessible, plain-language, and appropriate for public-sector use, including alternative text, readable graphics, captions when practical, and copyright-compliant media.
Assists with public information campaigns that promote County services, public meetings, programs, events, initiatives, employee recognition, citizen engagement, and community trust.
Identifies misinformation, emerging concerns, reputational risks, accessibility issues, or operational questions surfaced through social media and promptly escalates them through the communications chain of command.
Maintains awareness of social media platform changes, digital communication trends, public-sector communication practices, analytics tools, and accessibility expectations.
Uses discretion when handling sensitive information and does not disclose confidential, protected, privileged, personnel, law enforcement, cybersecurity, or legally restricted information.
Serves as a content producer and platform administrator only as authorized; does not serve as the official County spokesperson unless specifically designated by the County Manager or Communications Director.
Provides communications support for County-hosted events, public meetings, campaigns, and outreach activities.
Assists with media lists, press release distribution, photography archives, public information materials, and department communication requests.
Provides assistance to other employees or departments as needed.
Performs other related duties as required.