Senior Public Affairs Specialist

Stantec•Sacramento, CA

About The Position

Stantec’s Water Resources, Planning, and Management Group is a multi-disciplinary team of water resources professionals who approach water as an interconnected system with unique but related functions and responsibilities. A key component of this group is our Public Affairs team, a multi-disciplinary group of communicators who advance water planning through strategic, collaborative, and community-focused actions that connect decision-makers and other interested parties to solutions. By combining technical expertise with meaningful engagement, we deliver innovative and practical consulting solutions for clients across local, regional, state, and federal levels. Your Opportunity Stantec’s Sacramento office located on C Street has an immediate opening for a senior-level Public Policy and Engagement Specialist to join our team working on integrated water management and safe drinking water projects in the Western United States. This is a role for a talented and entrepreneurial individual who is passionate about water with experience in strategic communication, management consulting, public relations, government affairs, elected official engagement, program and contract management, and multi-party collaborative processes. The selected candidate will join a multi-disciplinary team of public policy and engagement professionals, each committed to delivering sound and strategic consulting services to a range of local, regional, state, and federal clients. You should be able to work independently to lead on both small and large projects and possess advanced knowledge of state and federal laws and regulations associated with integrated water management. Your Key Responsibilities This position is an external client-facing position with our Public Policy and Engagement Team.

Requirements

Knowledge and understanding of the process, tools and techniques of community policy development and implementation.
Project management experience in tracking and managing project financials and leading teams in performance of tasks as defined in scopes of work approved by clients.
Strong attention to details for quality deliverables.
Demonstrated experience in organic and new business development in communication and engagement services in the integrated water resource field.
Present and share technical and policy analyses in an interactive work setting while being able to make adjustments in a live setting.
Excellent skills in inclusive community engagement using a variety of tools and techniques suited to a variety of communities and audiences.
Strong interpersonal abilities for working in diverse team environments with staff, clients, and interested parties.
Strong familiarity with California water challenges associated with water supply, water management and environmental stewardship.
Working knowledge of and interest in state and federal government organizational structure, budgeting / reporting, and types of services they provide is required.
Proficiency with Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Adobe Acrobat Pro and other business systems required.
Excellent written and oral communication and presentation skills.
Self-starter capable of efficiently and proactively working independently as well as with a geographically dispersed team on multiple projects simultaneously.
Strong sense of Team. Always willing to step in and take on additional responsibility for the good of the entire Team.
Willing to travel as needed. Travel may be up to 20%.
Must have a good driving record and valid driver’s license.
Greater than twenty (20) years of experience supporting communities, agencies and policy makers with engagement, education, and decision-making related to water, natural resources, utilities, or similar.
Master’s or bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university with major coursework in journalism, public relations, communications, political science, English, or a closely related field.
Excellent written and oral communication skills with a demonstrated ability to adapt to different audiences.
Strong interpersonal and entrepreneurial abilities and a proven track record for working independently was well as part of a diverse team of staff, clients, and interested parties.
Demonstrated ability to lead and management of projects and teams, including supervision of direct reports.

Responsibilities

Coordinate and collaborate with community members, clients, project managers, project engineers and staff, regulatory agencies, and subcontractors to create effective public policy.
Management of project financials and task implementation of large scale, complex water resource programs.
Organic and new business development in communication and engagement services in the water resources and related fields.
Prepare initial assessments and communications plans, facilitate meetings, serve as a strategic advisor and drive collaborative solutions.
Lead preparation of presentations for client exhibits, in-person and online community engagement events, public presentations, and plan documents for online and hard copy publication.
Leverage your experience with state and federal agency staff and elected officials about topics including water resources, environmental justice, watersheds, water-related infrastructure, applicable laws/policies/regulations.
Lead multi-disciplinary teams of technical experts to develop curriculum tailored to the specific information needs of various audiences and communities to be engaged on complex water and environment topics.
Implement educational components through proactive steps to deliver information matched to the needs, learning styles and most used language of the target audience.
Mentor and supervise early- and mid-career level staff.
Serve as an independent reviewer of analysis prepared by colleagues at all levels staff to ensure technical accuracy and appropriateness of methods and tools being utilized as well as solutions being evaluated.