Principal Community Relations Officer - Metro NoHo to Pasadena BRT Project

Key Responsibilities

• Provides high-level liaison work between external stakeholders, such as elected officials, businesses, and community and special interest groups regarding Metro’s transit services, systems and programs.
• Serves as the lead staff in planning, implementing and managing assigned construction project business mitigation program efforts and other special projects designed to meet community needs.
• Plans and implements outreach promoting construction mitigation programs to prospective business participants and consumer audiences in the North Hollywood to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit Project area.
• Meets and confers with Metro staff, external stakeholders, and project contractors to resolve conflicting or divergent opinions and to reach mutually acceptable solutions.
• Research incidents, complaints, and concerns, including difficult and sensitive problems, and interfaces with contractors and management to resolve issues.
• Recommends strategies to promote Metro′s strategic goals and objectives.
• Prepares and makes presentations to management, public officials, community groups, schools, and other stakeholders.
• Provides support to project management and the department, and inter-department management in Board presentations, community outreach, and in coordinating construction activities and mitigations.
• Provides input and leads ideation and/or development of useful communication tools, methods, traditional and non-traditional marketing tactics to support additional visibility strategies for businesses that are impacted during construction.
• Develops and coordinates data related to construction milestones, program metrics, business interactions and content for project updates on the program webpage, agency Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, and internal business stakeholder project maps.
• Keeps the community and elected officials informed of construction impacts and business engagement efforts related to construction projects.
• Remains up to date on current and proposed activities and programs, and applicable regulations by attending Board, project, and community meetings.
• Prepares correspondence, reports, newsletter, and talking materials, as requested, by management or public officials.
• Tracks current and proposed construction activities that may impact businesses, and applicable regulations by attending project coordination meetings, Board, council, or community meetings in the North Hollywood to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit Project area.
• Tracks and maintains program collateral, promotional items and inventory of program materials at the North Hollywood to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit Project offices and storage facilities.
• Prepares Request for Proposals (RFPs) for promotional and/or professional services; negotiates and monitors contracts to ensure compliance with project goals.
• Evening and weekend work may be required, due to participation in community meetings and events.
• Contributes to ensuring that the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) policies and programs of Metro are carried out.
• Additional duties as assigned.

Knowledge and Skills

• Knowledge of traditional and digital marketing, content marketing, and social media marketing
• Proficient in Microsoft 365 (Word, Excel, Teams, Outlook and PowerPoint)
• Proficient in Google Workspace (Maps, Sheets)

• Proficient at developing presentation decks on Canva, PowerPoint, etc.
• Experience using Salesforce or other Consumer Relationship Management (CRM)system and/or other program or applications to track community interactions,outreach activities, program participation, and/or performance metrics and team activity, generate reports and coordinate marketing, web, or branding deliverables.
• Attention to detail with an ability to execute plans and logistics in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong interpersonal communications skills.
• Strong ability to synthesize technical information and deliver easy-to-understand messages to a general audience and/or diverse communities.
• Strong project management skills.
• Strong presentation and public engagement skills.
• Strong writing skills for high level reports, newsletters and/or email marketing campaignsand other communications collateral.
• Ability to speak or write in English, Spanish, Armenian, Tagalog and or experience coordinating bilingual presentations.
• Basic design skills.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Journalism, English, Marketing, Media Studies or a related field.
• Five years of relevant experience performing community relations work or similar work; some positions in this class may require specialized experience in the area of assignment.
• Ability to work weekends, early mornings and evenings.
• Must be able to drive to any business or Metro project office in North Hollywood to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit Project Bus Rapid Transit Project area and other Metro facilities in Los Angeles.

• Experience conducting grassroots, targeted, and culturally responsive marketing or stakeholder outreach and engagement in diverse communities in Los Angeles County.
• Experience managing community, client and stakeholder relationships concurrently in multiple areas in Los Angeles.
• Experience developing and managing communications plans.
• Experience coordinating and tracking program budgets and expenses.
• Experience leading and facilitating public presentations for in-person and virtual events.
• Experience coordinating and managing events and/or pop-up booths for large scale and community events.
• Experience coordinating production for marketing and brand campaigns.
• Experience crafting messaging/talking points for company announcements.
• Experience writing reports for executive staff and public-facing communications channels.
• Experience engaging customers or clients in a sales or networking capacity.
• Knowledge of neighborhoods in North Hollywood, Burbank, Eagle Rock, Glendale and Pasadena, including political, residential and business driven and community organizations, and/or transportation needs in all areas.
• Ability to speak, write and present in English and Spanish.