Public Awareness Communications Specialist

State of Colorado•Denver, CO

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

This position is responsible for the ongoing implementation of the hotline and child abuse prevention components of the CO4Kids public awareness campaign. The specialist will coordinate with other communications staff within CDHS and OCACS, and report to the OCACS communications manager. The role involves supporting media relations, marketing campaigns, and special events to promote a positive image of the CO4Kids campaign and OCACS. Content development for various channels, including social media, websites, newsletters, and events, is a key aspect of this role. The position also involves managing the CO4Kids social media channels, coordinating audience-specific communication campaigns, attending community outreach events, and providing graphic design, writing, editing, marketing, and presentation support. Additionally, the specialist will manage the Office constituent email database, create and design email marketing campaigns, write press releases and talking points, update website content, and proofread documents.

Requirements

Graduation from an accredited college or university with a bachelor's degree in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, Marketing, or related field (4 years)
Two (2) years of professional experience working in marketing, communications, business, human services, or public relations.
Experience developing and executing communication strategies targeted for internal and external audiences of the organization.
Experience with Social Media and website maintenance.
Experience executing communications to a variety of audiences from policy makers to the general public.
Experience with PowerPoint, Excel, Google Docs, and media analytics tools.
Experience using social media and other electronic resources to engage partners, customers, and the public.
Strong written communication skills.
Ability to leverage and develop new partnerships to efficiently and effectively target audiences and to develop content.
Ability to create work that is visually appealing and complies with CDHS brand guidelines.
Must submit a writing sample, such as a press release, media statement, or other work that demonstrates writing skills.

Nice To Haves

Fluent in Spanish/English (Bilingual Speaker)
Effective communications planner with extensive experience in supporting government or other human services organizations.
Excellent communicator, writer, strategic thinker and planner with strong problem-solving skills.
Ability to work independently and as a contributing member of a team.
Demonstrated ability to work with multiple, competing deadlines daily; ability to easily transition from one priority to another and manage constant interruptions, while remaining productive and meeting deadlines.
Highly motivated and organized; methodical self-starter; proactive planner; shows initiative and likes being busy; ability to switch gears quickly without losing sight of other priorities; ability to follow up and escalate appropriately.
Professional experience and knowledge of child welfare and child abuse prevention.

Responsibilities

Project coordinator for the Hotline and child abuse prevention portion of the CO4Kids campaign.
Contribute to the overall team’s brainstorming and implementation of ideas.
Facilitate communication between OCACS communications and vendors, and coordinate logistics such as scheduling.
Work directly with Colorado families and outside vendor(s) to share their stories through awareness videos and online narratives.
Serve as the primary staff point of contact for the CO4Kids website, including responding to inquiries, approving submitted events, and creating user accounts.
Post blog updates and updates to Hotline and prevention information on the website.
Write and update messaging and content for various audiences for newsletters, brochures, websites, toolkits, talking points, and social media.
Write first drafts of press releases related to the Hotline and prevention portions of the CO4Kids campaign.
Project coordinator for Child Abuse Prevention Month press conference/partner event each April.
Coordinator for Domestic Violence Awareness Month campaign each October.
Implement identified logistics and track implementation progress of contracted marketing vendor.
Manage day-to-day operations of the CO4Kids social media channels, including monitoring comments, engagement, content creation, and metric measurement.
Project coordinator for audience-specific communication “mini campaigns” to deliver key messages to targeted audiences.
Attend community outreach events and fairs on child welfare-related topics.
Write blog content on child welfare trends and child abuse prevention-related topics.
Review, track, and submit invoices from contracted vendors and services.
Track working budget of hotline and prevention expenses.
Support the communications manager in amending contract language and budgets.
Promote and distribute branded materials to counties and community partners.
Work with counties and community partners to encourage them to use updated and accurate materials and messaging.
Serve as the point person for the annual Hotline marketing campaign.
Collect and track data to measure the performance of the Hotline and prevention portion of CO4Kids campaigns.
Provide graphic design support, writing and editing support, marketing and awareness support, and creation of slide deck presentations for program staff.
Manage the Office constituent email database.
Provide training to employees in OCACS on the email marketing system.
Create and design email marketing campaigns via MailChimp.
Write first draft of press releases, talking points, presentations related to various topics.
Update OCACS content (excluding DYS content) on the CDHS website.
Proofread and copyedit documents within OCACS prior to final release.
Perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

PERA Defined Benefit Plan or PERA Defined Contribution Plan plus 401(k) and 457 plans
Medical and dental health plans
Employer-supplemented Health Savings Account
Paid life insurance
Short- and long-term disability coverage
11 paid holidays per year
Vacation and sick leave
State of Colorado Employee BenefitHub Resource Center
Employee Wellness program
Excellent work-life programs, such as flexible schedules, training and more
Remote work arrangements for eligible positions
Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (for some positions)