Assistant Public Information Officer

• A general salary increase (GSI) of of 4.0% effective December 24, 2023 and 3.5% effective December 22, 2024.
• New Hire/Retention/Referral Incentive: New hires may be eligible for a one-time New Hire Incentive up to 10% of the current annual base wage. (Subject to the applicable section of the Management Resolution (Secs. 625 – 627)
• Educational Incentive for completion of an associate degree (2.5%), a bachelor's degree (3.5%), or a graduate degree (5%).
• Annual Leave Redemption: The option to cash out up to 100 hours out of 208 total accrued Annual Leave hours per year. A candidate selected for this position will earn 208 hours per year increasing to 288 hours after 5 years of service.
• Deferred Compensation: Section 457 Plan and/or 401(k) Shared Savings Plan with up to a 3% match on your 401(k) contributions.
• Health Plans: You are afforded an annual flexible credit allowance for purchasing medical, dental, and/or vision insurance from a group of authorized plans.
• Flexible Spending Accounts: Pre-tax benefit towards eligible medical, dental, and vision care expenses.
• Pension Plan: Participation in the County's defined benefit plan which has reciprocity with CalPERS.
• Bilingual Incentive: Proficiency levels by exam are $.69 per hour (Level I), $1.00 per hour (Level II), or $1.32 per hour (Level III).
• Holidays: 12 paid days per year which includes a scheduled floating holiday.

• Knowledge and experience in marketing and public relations techniques, technologies, and platforms, including social media and content creation strategy and tactics, special events planning, community engagement, visual storytelling, and data visualization;
• Knowledge and experience with all aspects of publication project management and production, including planning, printing, graphic design, and distribution methods
• Demonstrated experience functioning in a dynamic and fast paced environment, including crisis communications planning and response;
  
• Ability to respond quickly and with flexibility in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment;
  
• Familiarity with public sector functions and objectives, or a comparably complex private sector organization is desired.
  
• Experience with video production is highly desired .
• Spanish and/or Tagalog bilingual is desired, with experience in translation/interpretation and written communication
  

Duties may include, but are not limited to the following:

• 
  Assists in managing communications for the County Executive Office by implementing communication strategies for County programs, initiatives, services, and events;
• Actively engages with the County's social media platforms for maximum outreach and communication with the community;
• Builds relationships and regularly meets with community stakeholders, including businesses, residents, churches, schools, hospitals, other governmental entities, community organizations, and environmental groups to more effectively understand community needs;
• Creates community outreach plans, provides or obtains information or explains services, policy and procedures relative to county services and shares information with the public;
• Assists with the County's efforts to provide information and materials to communities having limited English proficiency, including translation and interpreters;
• Uses data analytics from website and social media to evaluate communication needs and identify enhancements;
• Strategically markets county services to increase public awareness; and develops a diverse and inclusive communications plan;
• Assists the County Public Information Officer in the Emergency Operations Center during large incidents or disasters to coordinate the release of emergency and/or recovery information;
• Develops relationships with media contacts, community-based organizations and local governments;
• Establishes trusted relationships with community groups;
• Develops materials, including writing and producing letters, brochures, editorials, talking points, speeches, videos, and online communications;
• Coordinates special events (groundbreaking ceremonies, ribbon cutting ceremonies, public meetings, community forums, press conferences), providing customer service to clients and the public on various projects;
• Performs other related duties and special projects as assigned.

These are entrance requirements to the examination process and assure neither continuance in the process nor placement on an eligible list.

EDUCATION, TRAINING, and EXPERIENCE
Any combination of training, education and experience which has led to the knowledge, skills and abilities required for the position.

Examples of qualifying education and experience are:

• 
  A bachelor's degree in Public Relations, Journalism, Communications, English, Business, or a related field; and
• Three (3) years of professional experience in journalism, public relations, or media managing the communication and information with one (1) or more years of experience providing communications, translating and managing information for a public or large complex private sector organization.

• Must possess a valid CA driver license.
• The ability to make effective public speaking presentations.
• Excellent written communication skills must be demonstrated in the completion of the employment application and supplemental questionnaire.

• Some experience in emergency information or crisis communications.
• Written and oral bilingual skills in English and Spanish.
• Bilingual fluency in Tagalog is also desired.

FINAL FILING DATE: This is a continuous recruitment and may close at any time; therefore, apply as soon as possible if you are interested in it. Your application must be received by County of Ventura, Human Resources no later than 5:00 p.m. on the closing date.

To apply on-line, please refer to our web site at www.ventura.org/jobs. If you prefer to fill out a paper application form, please call (805) 654-5129 for application materials. Our address is: County of Ventura, Human Resources Division, 800 South Victoria Avenue, L-1970, Ventura, CA 93009.

NOTE: If presently permanently employed in another "merit" or "civil service" public agency/entity in the same or substantively similar position as is advertised, and if appointed to that position by successful performance in a "merit" or "civil service" style examination, then appointment by "Lateral Transfer" may be possible. If interested, please click here (Download PDF reader) for additional information.

Applicants must provide sufficient information under the Education/Work experience portion of the application and supplemental questionnaire in order to determine eligibility. A resume may be attached to supplement your responses in the above-referenced sections; however, it may not be submitted in lieu of the application.

SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE – qualifying: All applicants are required to complete and submit the questionnaire for this examination at the time of filing. The supplemental questionnaire may be used throughout the examination process to assist in determining each applicant's qualifications and acceptability for the position. Failure to complete and submit the questionnaire may result in the application being removed from consideration.

APPLICATION EVALUATION – qualifying: All applications will be reviewed to determine whether or not the stated requirements are met. Those individuals meeting the stated requirements will be invited to continue to the next step in the screening and selection process.

TRAINING & EXPERIENCE EVALUATION: A Training and Experience Evaluation (T&E) is a structured evaluation of the job application materials submitted by a candidate, including the written responses to the supplemental questionnaire. The T&E is NOT a determination of whether the candidate meets the stated requirements; rather, the T&E is one method for determining who are the better qualified among those who have shown that they meet the stated requirements. In a T&E, applications are either scored or rank ordered according to criteria that most closely meet the business needs of the department. Candidates are typically scored/ranked in relation to one another; consequently, when the pool of candidates is exceptionally strong, many qualified candidates may receive a score or rank which is moderate or even low resulting in them not being advanced in the process.

NOTE: The selection process will likely consist of an Oral Exam, which may be preceded or replaced with the score from a Training and Experience Evaluation (T&E), contingent upon the size and quality of the candidate pool. In a typical T&E, your training and experience are evaluated in relation to the background, experience and factors identified for successful job performance during a job analysis. For this reason, it is recommended that your application materials clearly show your relevant background and specialized knowledge, skills, and abilities. It is also highly recommended that the supplemental questions within the application are completed with care and diligence.

ORAL EXAMINATION/PRACTICAL EXAMINATION– 100%: A job-related examination will be conducted to evaluate and compare participating applicants' knowledge, skills, and abilities in relation to those factors which a job analysis has determined to be essential for successful performance of the job. Written documents produced by candidates may also be discussed with the panel in the oral examination. Applicants must earn a score of seventy percent (70%) or higher to qualify for placement on the eligible list.

NOTE: The oral examination/practical may be consolidated into one process or expanded into two separate exam components contingent upon the size and quality of the candidate pool.

If there are three (3) or fewer qualified applicants, an oral/practical examination will not be conducted. Instead, a score of 70% will be assigned to each application, and each applicant will be placed on the eligible list.

ELIGIBLE LIST
Candidates successfully completing the examination process may be placed on an eligible list for a period of one (1) year. The eligible list established from this recruitment may be used to fill current and future Regular (including Temporary and Fixed-Term), Extra Help and Intermittent vacancies for this positions and similarly situated. There is currently one (1) Regular, full-time vacancy available within the County Executive Office.

BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: A thorough pre-employment, post offer background investigation which may include inquiry into past employment, education, criminal background information, and driving record may be required for this position.

For further information about this recruitment, please contact Monika Maine by e-mail at Monika.Maine@ventura.org or by telephone at (805) 654-2419.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
The County of Ventura is an equal opportunity employer to all, regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability (mental and physical), exercising the right to family care and medical leave, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religious creed, sex (includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and related medical conditions), and sexual orientation.