COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST III

OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

DEPARTMENT OF EXECUTIVE SERVICES

Annual Salary Range:  $58,756 - $74,477

Job Announcement:  08EF7749
OPEN:  4/21/08        CLOSE: 5/2/08 

 

WHO MAY APPLY: This position is open concurrently to King County career service and career service-exempt employees, and the general public. Preference will be given to qualified applicants in that order.

WHERE TO APPLY: Required forms and materials must be sent or brought to: Office of Emergency Management c/o FMD, Attention: Recruitment Officer, 500 - 4th Ave, Room 450, Seattle, WA  98104.  Application materials must be received by 4:30 p.m. on the closing date.  (Postmarks are NOT ACCEPTED.)  Contact Ellen Fluharty, at 206-296-0603 or by e-mail at ellen.fluharty@kingcounty.gov for further inquiries.  PLEASE NOTE: Applications not received at the location specified above may not be processed.

FORMS AND MATERIALS REQUIRED: Applications must include the following documents:

• Letter of interest detailing your background and your ability to perform the job functions, and describing how you meet or exceed the required and desired qualifications listed below;
• Current resume;
• King County employment application form. The King County application form can be found at: http://www.metrokc.gov/ohrm/jobs/

 

WORK LOCATION: This position is based at 3511 NE 2nd St, Renton, WA 98056.

WORK SCHEDULE: The usual schedule is Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Candidates are required to be available to work additional hours, which may include evenings and weekends, as needed to respond to service needs. This position is exempt from the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and is not overtime eligible.

POSITION DESCRIPTION:  The Office of Emergency Management (OEM) performs specialized, professional work planning and coordinating comprehensive emergency management program activities.  The person in this position will be responsible for developing and maintaining OEM web sites and developing public education and public information materials in coordination with county senior communications staff.  This individual will work in all aspects of emergency management programs including mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.  In addition, this person will perform a critical public information coordination role during Emergency Coordination Center (ECC) activations.  This position is funded by Homeland Security Grants.    

PRIMARY JOB FUNCTIONS INCLUDE:

• Maintain various OEM web sites, coordinating with technicians and content developers.
• Work with other OEM staff to develop web content and post appropriate items to web pages, following King County protocols.
• Promote public education by developing a variety of products that may include brochures, flyers, video, and other forms of media.
• Organize and attend preparedness fairs or other public education functions with other emergency management staff.
• Write news releases for the OEM Director and coordinate them with the Executive’s Communications Director for release to the media.
• Coordinate with other county and regional public information officers to further develop Joint Information Center (JIC) and Joint Information System (JIS) procedures.
• Represent the Office of Emergency Management and King County in interjurisdictional meetings.
• Carry a pager, cell phone and other communications devices 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• During Emergency Coordination Center activations, work as part of the emergency management team to provide coordination of disaster response and recovery activities.  This requires working non-traditional and extended hours which may continue for several days or weeks.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

 

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Highly skilled in written and oral communications for media relations and public outreach purposes.
• Demonstrated ability to work well with customers as well as co-workers
• Technical skills in web development and site maintenance.
• Skill in working in the MS Office environment and web development applications.
• Skills in comprehending, analyzing, interpreting technical information and presenting in appropriate form to targeted audiences.
• Leadership and facilitation skills for working with multi-disciplinary, multi-agency groups.
• Demonstrated ability to present materials to a diverse population and achieve a high level of audience understanding.
• Skills in producing and operating media events, conferences, and related logistical tasks.
• Familiarity with projects that include, but are not limited to, podcasting, webcasting, online conferencing, and emerging forms of online content sharing..
• Skill in being sensitive to the political environment.
• Skill in working under pressure and meeting deadlines.
• Skill in organizing work assignments and setting priorities.
• Skill in developing effective communications strategies.
• Demonstrated ability to prepare reports and documents in a clear, concise and accurate manner.

 

NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

Valid Washington State driver's license and successful completion of a police background check.  Serve in the Emergency Coordination Center (ECC) in an operational capacity or at other locations as may be assigned during exercises, emergencies, or disasters.  Be willing to work extended hours, nights, and weekends during disasters, exercises, or exceptional time-critical assignments.  Be willing to carry a pager, cell phone, 800 MHz radio and reference materials 24 hours a day.

SELECTION PROCESS: The candidate evaluation and selection process will include a preliminary screening of application materials for qualifications, clarity and completeness. The applicants who meet or exceed the required qualifications and indicate that they possess the most competitive background in directly related experience, knowledge, and training may be invited for skills tests and interviews by one or more panels.  Reference contacts will be made with final candidates.

. This position is not represented.

 

CLASS CODE:  2501300                             SEQUENCE NO.:  41-8255-0001