Communications Specialist

Job Description Summary

Department - Communications and Graphic Services

Job Description

OPEN UNTIL FILLED

Job Type: Unclassified

Job Classification: 1513 - Communications Specialist

Salary Grade: 11

Pay Range
Hiring Range: $52,251 - $62,701 Annually 
Full Range: $52,251 - $73,151 Annually 

Salary offers are based on the candidate's equivalent experience and internal equity with other employees within the same job classification.  

The first review of applications will be on 04/04/2025.

The Communications Office is seeking an experienced social media content creator to join our team as a Communication Specialist. In this role, you will be responsible for developing engaging content, managing multiple social media accounts, and executing paid ad campaigns to expand our reach and impact.

The ideal candidate will have experience creating and optimizing content for Meta, TikTok, and YouTube, as well as using social media scheduling tools to ensure consistent and timely posting. This role requires someone who can craft compelling messages that resonate with diverse audiences and confidently serve as an on-camera presence for interviews and promotional videos. Additionally, the candidate will assist in content creation for Spanish-language platforms, ensuring effective outreach to Spanish-speaking communities. Flexibility is key, as this position may require working evenings and weekends to provide coverage for events.

We are looking for candidates with experience managing social media for a large organization. The ideal candidate will have strong organizational and time management skills to effectively oversee content for multiple platforms. Fluency in Spanish is preferred to support bilingual content strategies but not required. 

If you have a passion for digital storytelling and audience engagement and want to work for an outstanding employer with excellent pay and benefits, this is the place for you.

Essential Functions:

As defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act, this classification may include any of the following tasks, knowledge, skills, and other characteristics. This list is ILLUSTRATIVE ONLY and is not a comprehensive listing of all functions and tasks performed by incumbents of this class. Work assignments may vary depending on the department’s need and will be communicated to the application or incumbent by the supervisor.

• Writes content for all Office communications and marketing materials, including but not limited to: press releases, newsletter articles and feature stories, advertising content and slogans, webpages, social media posts, fliers, posters, and other collateral materials;
• Serves as secondary contact between the Communications Office and assigned client departments or within an Elected Official's office and develops relationships with departmental staff and an understanding of the department's communications and marketing needs and goals;
• Maintains an awareness of the status of current or planned projects for the assigned departments and acts as a secondary monitor of work quality and progress completion;
• Analyzes issues and generates story ideas for the approval of the client department;
• Acts as an advocate for the client department's interests or Elected Official with the Communications Office and acts as a Communications Office advocate with the client department;
• Researches and gathers information from various sources within County government to compose articles in non-technical, readable prose for posting to the County website or other media outlets;
• Edits text produced by client staff;
• Works with Communications Coordinator to cultivate and maintain working relationships with external media representatives;
• Advises media representatives on complex issues and connects reporters to proper sources within County government.

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university, with a major in journalism, communications, public relations, media communications, English or other closely-related field as determined by the department head at the time of recruitment, AND one year of experience in journalism, public relations, technical writing, or media relations.

(Relevant experience and/or education from an accredited college or university may be substituted.)

OR:

Five (5) years of experience in journalism, public relations, technical writing or media relations.

Qualifying education and experience must be clearly documented in the "Education" and "Work Experience" sections of the application. Do not substitute a resume for your application or write "see resume" on your application.

Preferred Qualifications: (Be specific in describing your experience in your application. Ensure the descriptions provided illustrate your competencies, specifically addressing the required and preferred qualifications.):

• Minimum three (3) years experience with social media and content creation.
• Experience with/knowledge of managing social media accounts for large organizations.
• Experience with/knowledge of social media trends, best practices, and audience engagement strategies.
• Experience with/knowledge of running paid social media campaigns (Meta, TikTok, Google).
• Experience with/knowledge of other digital ad platforms (audio streaming, web ads, etc.).
• Experience with analyzing campaign performance and optimizing for better results.
• Experience with/knowledge of social media scheduling tools (Buffer, Hootsuite, Sprout Social).
• Experience with project management.
• Experience meeting deadlines.
• Bilingual (Spanish/English).

Selection Procedure:

Pima County Human Resources Department reserves the right to admit to the selection process only those candidates that meet the minimum qualifications. All applications will be assessed based on an evaluation of the listed education and experience. The hiring authority will interview and select the successful candidate from a referral list provided by Human Resources. Additional assessments/testing may be required as part of the selection process.