Director, Public Affairs

NOACA•Cleveland, OH

2d•$111,500 - $178,400

About The Position

The Director of Public Affairs is a senior executive leadership position responsible for shaping how the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) communicates its mission, work, priorities, and regional impact to elected officials, stakeholders, partners, the media, and the public. The Director serves as NOACA’s communications strategist and a senior advisor to the Executive Director & CEO, providing leadership on public perception, reputation, executive messaging, stakeholder engagement, media relations, public participation, and high-visibility issues. The Director establishes the vision, strategy, standards, and priorities for NOACA’s Public Affairs function, ensuring communications and engagement activities support the agency’s strategic direction and Overall Work Program (OWP). The role leads development of annual public affairs, communications and marketing, public engagement, and community impact plans; establishes performance measures; and ensures communications are consistent, credible, transparent, accessible, and aligned with the agency’s mission. As a strategic advisor to the CEO and executive leadership, the Director advises on messaging and communications strategy, anticipates reputational risks and emerging issues, leads crisis communications readiness and high-visibility issue management, and serves as chief spokesperson or designates appropriate spokespersons. The Director represents NOACA at executive briefings, regional forums, public events, and other high-profile engagements. The Director leads and develops the Public Affairs team, setting expectations and priorities, supporting professional development, aligning staffing and workflows with agency needs, and fostering collaboration, accountability, trust, and continuous improvement. The position is expected to model NOACA’s Servant Leadership Accountability philosophy by leading with integrity and respect, listening, developing employees, removing barriers, and holding themselves and others accountable. The role measures the impact of communications and engagement, monitors media coverage and stakeholder sentiment, reports on performance, and uses data to improve programs and services. It also ensures that complex technical and policy information—including transportation, infrastructure, environmental planning, economic development, public policy, and regional coordination—is communicated clearly, accurately, accessibly, and appropriately for diverse audiences. The position involves professional office work as well as community and public meeting settings, including occasional evening or weekend outreach events.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, Marketing, Planning, Public Administration, or a related field required.
At least 10 years of progressively responsible leadership experience in public affairs, communications strategy, media relations, marketing, government relations, public engagement, or a related field.
At least 6 years of experience managing and developing professional staff, with a commitment to a Servant Leadership management style.
Demonstrated experience leading complex, high-visibility communications initiatives.
Demonstrated experience advising executive leadership.
Executive-level expertise in communications strategy, media relations, digital engagement, and public participation.
Exceptional written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
Strong strategic judgment and decision-making ability.
Ability to assess risk and anticipate reputational and stakeholder implications.
Capacity to translate technical, planning, transportation, environmental, and policy information into clear public messaging.
Understanding of public governance, transparency, accessibility, and stakeholder engagement.
Strong executive presence and ability to influence at the Board, executive, governmental, and community levels.
Professionalism, discretion, composure, and sound judgment in sensitive or high-pressure situations.
Demonstrated ability to build strong relationships across organizational and functional boundaries.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office and familiarity with digital analytics, creative, marketing, and workflow management tools.
Ability to represent NOACA professionally at public, community, governmental, and executive-level engagements.
Ability to work in a professional office environment as well as community and public meeting settings.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree preferred.
Experience in a public-sector, governmental, metropolitan planning, transportation, environmental, or similar regional organization is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Develop and oversee NOACA’s enterprise-wide communications and public affairs strategy.
Establish policies, standards, and governance practices for communications, media relations, digital engagement, marketing, and public participation.
Ensure communications are consistent, credible, transparent, accessible, and aligned with NOACA’s mission and regional role.
Connect communications strategies to organizational priorities, Board expectations, federal and state public participation requirements, and regional stakeholder needs.
Establish measurable standards for Public Affairs performance and effectiveness.
Lead development of the annual Public Affairs Work Plan, Communications & Marketing Plan, Public Engagement Strategic Plan, and Community Impact reporting.
Advise the CEO and executive leadership on executive messaging and communications strategy.
Anticipate and assess reputational risks and emerging public issues.
Ensure consistency between executive, Board, internal, and external communications.
Lead crisis communications readiness and high-visibility issue management.
Serve as NOACA’s chief spokesperson or designate appropriate spokespersons based on the circumstances.
Represent NOACA at executive briefings, regional forums, public events, and other high-profile engagements.
Set team expectations, priorities, performance measures, and accountability.
Delegate appropriately while retaining accountability for strategic outcomes.
Develop employee capabilities through coaching, feedback, mentoring, and professional development.
Build a culture of collaboration, accountability, trust, and continuous improvement.
Align staff capacity, workflows, resources, and priorities with agency needs.
Address performance and organizational challenges directly, fairly, and constructively.
Encourage employees to think critically, solve problems, and bring forward ideas and solutions.
Model Servant Leadership Accountability through humility, integrity, respect, clarity, listening, transparency, follow-through, employee development, and accountability.
Establish and monitor performance indicators related to communications, media relations, digital engagement, public participation, and community outreach.
Evaluate campaigns, engagement efforts, and communications strategies using meaningful data and metrics.
Monitor media coverage, public discourse, stakeholder sentiment, and emerging issues.
Identify opportunities to strengthen NOACA’s visibility, credibility, and public trust.
Provide quarterly and annual reporting aligned with OWP deliverables and Board expectations.
Use performance information to continually improve Public Affairs programs and services.
Translate complex technical and policy information into clear, accurate, accessible public messaging for diverse audiences.
Represent NOACA professionally at public, community, governmental, and executive-level engagements.
Lead and participate in occasional evening or weekend outreach events.