Public Affairs Manager (WMS BAND 1)

State of Washington • Thurston County – Olympia, WA

3d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Department of Enterprise Services (DES) provides centralized business services to state government agencies, other public entities, and Washington residents. DES' mission is to strengthen the business of government for a sustainable and just future. The Communications division is responsible for ensuring DES connects with its audiences to achieve strategic goals, assess and minimize risk, build and protect the agency’s public reputation and brand, and help customers understand and access DES services. This division plays a critical role in policy and government relations, providing aligned messaging for agency budget and legislative requests, and managing high-risk, sensitive, and politically charged issues. The work includes strategic communication planning, media relations, crisis and emergency response, agency brand management, graphic design, digital platforms (website and social media), internal communications, public outreach, and all internal and external communication activities. The Public Affairs Manager serves as a trusted and confidential advisor on public affairs and media relations to the communications director, division staff, leadership, and the agency cabinet. This position manages the Public Affairs team, overseeing the planning, implementation, and measurement of the agency’s public affairs and media relations activities. As a member of the Communications leadership team, this role helps inform communications policy and reports directly to the Communications Director.

Requirements

• A total of five (5) years of any combination of qualifying education or qualifying experience. Experience may substitute year for year of higher education.
• Supervisory experience does not count towards the required five (5) years of professional communication experience.
• Option 1: Five (5) years of professional experience in communications, public information, journalism, public relations, marketing, or closely related field; AND Two (2) years of supervisory experience.
• Option 2: Bachelor’s degree with major study in English, communications, public information, journalism, public relations, advertising, marketing, or a closely related field; AND One year of professional experience in communications, public information, journalism, public relations, marketing, or closely related field; AND Three (2) years of supervisory experience.
• Leading or supervising others.
• Providing expert strategic advice to leaders and peers.
• Developing and carrying out effective communication and outreach plans, including outreach and engagement, media relations, and public education.
• Providing clear direction, performance expectations, timely feedback, and coaching.
• Deciding and measuring effective tactics using performance data.
• Ability to lead through a highly complex process of communication strategies, consensus building, and issue resolution to lead to successful outcomes.
• Ability to manage multiple conflicting priorities and quickly adjust to a changing environment.
• Ability to navigate complex and technical subject matter and quickly acquire specific sets of subject matter expertise.
• Building collaborative partnerships throughout an organization and with external interested parties.
• Experience coaching and advising top-level management on messaging and presentation delivery.
• Advising top management of audience impacts from public policy decisions.
• Producing and reviewing written, verbal, and visual communication materials for a variety of audiences to meet brand, quality, readability, and accessibility guidelines.
• Experience creating, editing, writing, and delivering effective presentations to diverse audiences in a high profile, public setting.
• Demonstrated ability to work with staff at all levels to receive feedback and buy-in on communication materials.
• Demonstrated ability to work with external partners and communities and within the political environment (media, state agencies, vendors, and private-sector parties).
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively within the public arena through effective interested community and partner interactions, interagency teamwork, and sensitivity to public attitudes and concerns.
• Demonstrated ability to function in an environment that requires concurrent management of multiple complex activities, flexible work hours, tight timelines, frequent periods of high stress, and resource limitations due to being a public-sector program funded by tax dollars.
• Demonstrated ability to form and lead a cohesive team in an environment necessary to develop a broad base of institutional knowledge and opportunities for internal career advancement.
• Leadership skills necessary to guide and inform others in a manner that enables them to reach successful completion while keeping ownership of their assigned responsibilities.
• Take action to learn from new experiences, seek feedback, consider different perspectives, and continuously improve knowledge, skills, communication, and approaches to work.
• Seek to understand the needs and experiences of customers, coworkers, and communities. Identify barriers to access and participation and address them before they become obstacles for the people we serve, providing support that is respectful, timely, and effective.
• Models and champions our culture and values
• Cultivates a shared, strategic vision
• Develops people; drives results
• Fosters learning
• Builds relationships
• Fosters teamwork and collaboration
• Communicates effectively
• Makes things happen as a public servant
• Leads and navigates change
• Embraces and embeds inclusion in decision making.
• Clarity: Honest and upfront about needs and expectations.
• Collaboration: Stay curious and listen to learn. Understand strengths complement each other, and working toward a common purpose.
• Growth: Approach each moment as an opportunity to develop abilities, encouraging curiosity and a love of learning, and evaluating failures and mistakes without shame.
• Accountability: Do what we say, own mistakes, and take steps to do better.
• Empowerment: Take ownership of work and contribute to meaningful decision-making.
• Respect: Value the qualities, skills, and experience of the "whole person" for all team members.
• Empathy: Extend the most generous interpretation possible to the intentions, words, and actions of others. Be curious and brave when a colleague is behaving in a way that is perplexing or not typical for them. Meet people where they are.
• Courage: Have tough conversations, take risks, and be vulnerable with each other, even when the outcome is uncertain.
• FUN: Be intentional to celebrate, play, and find joy together. Take time to connect to other team members in such a way that allows for laughter and shared humor.

Nice To Haves

• Demonstrated ability to write and edit to meet the standards of the Associated Press style guide.
• Experience supporting or leading legislative and policy analysis, development, and implementation.
• Familiarity with FEMA National Disaster & Emergency Management framework and public information officer (PIO) basics.
• Experience in crisis or emergency incident situations.
• Accredited in Public Relations designation (APR).
• Familiarity with user-centered design, graphic design, web content and management principles.
• Group facilitation skills necessary to lead productive and efficient discussion.
• Communication skills necessary to effectively share knowledge with diverse audiences including coworkers, contractors, customers, and special-interest communities to foster informed decision-making.

Responsibilities

• Ensures public communication strategies and content are audience-driven, effective, build agency reputation, and support agency mission and strategic goals.
• Enhances public awareness of DES through outreach and education efforts, including agency operations, sensitive public issues, agency and state projects, and policies, laws, and rules.
• Supports internal communications as part of public communication campaigns.
• Proactively finds and develops public communication strategies that build DES’ brand and convey the value DES brings to the state.
• Identifies issues of reputational risk and advises leadership on appropriate communication strategies.
• Provides tools and resources to other Communication teams to ensure aligned strategies and messaging.
• Manages agency media relation activities.
• Monitors and maintains relationships with news media.
• Consults with the Governor’s Office on media strategy and activities.
• Manages the process for media monitoring, assessment, and archiving.
• Influences and directs agency media relations strategy.
• Serves as a lead agency spokesperson.
• Ensures support standards for media relations.
• Provides daily management of the agency’s crisis communications plan.
• Ensures ongoing training for the Communications team and partners on the crisis communications plan.
• Serves as a lead on-call public information officer (PIO) and manages the PIO duty rotation during crisis response.
• Supervises and directs the work of the Public Affairs team.
• Provides daily management, leadership, decision-making, coaching, issue escalation, and resolution for the Public Affairs team.
• Sets and measures team performance standards, connected to division and agency strategic goals.
• Manages and develops employee performance.
• Contributes as a member of the Communications leadership team.
• Contributes to agency and statewide efforts.
• Assesses impacts and provides analysis.
• Informs Communications policy development.
• Provides cross-coverage for leadership absences.

Benefits

• Eligible for hybrid work with most daily work remote but must be able to come to the Olympia location on an as needed basis.
• Available on evenings and weekends to support communication, public relations, and emergency response needs of the agency.

What This Job Offers

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