Summary
Are you ready to amplify cutting-edge science to improve the lives of people, salmon, and orca? We have an opportunity for a standout candidate to join the innovative and dynamic Science and Technical Support Section in King County’s Water and Land Resources Division. In this role, you will play a critical role in achieving clean water and healthy habitat within a generation.
About the Role: As the Science Communications Specialist (Communications Specialist III), your mission will be to amplify the impact of our science. You will curate and create web content and social media to reach priority audiences, ensuring key messages resonate across multiple platforms. You will develop and implement communication strategies and communications for our team. You'll craft compelling narratives that explain scientific findings in ways that everyone can understand. With a focus on engaging communities, you'll collaborate with scientists, manage contracts, and serve as the point of contact for external audiences. If you're passionate about maximizing the reach and impact of scientific discoveries and thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment, we invite you to join us in fostering a culture where useful science is not just communicated but celebrated.
This position performs work remotely and onsite.
About the Team:
This is a great opportunity for you to join an organization that ‘walks the talk’ by making things better for people and our environment. Too many people in King County face communication barriers that limit access to critical information about their environment. This impacts their ability to make safer life choices and participate in policy decisions. In this position, you’ll remove communication barriers to advance environmental justice, improve access to scientific evidence, and engage priority audiences. Your work will advance our Clean Water Healthy Habitat Plan, which aims to achieve six goals within a generation: healthy forests and more green spaces; cleaner, controlled stormwater runoff; reduced toxics and fecal pathogens; functional river floodplains; better fish habitat; and resilient marine systems. Each goal has three parts, braided together for strength: environmental outcomes, benefits to people, and racial equity. Join our team and help us achieve these goals!
Commitment To Equity and Social Justice:
King County, named after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is a diverse and vibrant community that represents cultures from around the world. Our True North is to create a welcoming community where everyone can thrive. We prioritize equity, racial and social justice, making it a foundational and daily expectation for all employees. As a Science Communications Specialist, you will actively apply these principles in all aspects of your work. Learn more about our commitment at http://www.kingcounty.gov/equity .
Apply now for a rewarding career at the Water and Land Resource Division of King County Department of Natural Resources & Parks (DNRP). Join our talented workforce in protecting and restoring the natural environment and promoting more resilient, sustainable, and equitable communities. Enjoy training, comprehensive benefits , and growth opportunities.Job Duties
What You Will Be Doing: - Work with Science Section staff, community groups, agencies, partners, and clients to identify key audiences and understand their science-related issues of concern; develop responsive communication strategies, objectives, techniques, plans, and contracts.
- Create, curate, and coordinate targeted science communications materials such as websites, storyboards, blogs, podcasts, social media, news releases, publications, fact sheets, posters, presentations, videos, and seminars.
- Cultivate and promote the public image and brand for the section and develop analytics to evaluate effectiveness at reaching priority audiences and increasing engagement.
- Serve as liaison with King County Public Affairs, Web Managers, Engagement Team, occasional media spokesperson, and point of contact for community members.
- Lead, coordinate, and promote special events, services, and/or projects to boost the impact of our scientific findings and cultivate and promote our team’s visibility and reputation for producing useful and credible science.
Experience, Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills
Qualifications You Bring:- Skills in synthesizing and communicating technical information in ways that everyone can understand.
- Skills in identifying and assessing the communication needs of targeted or segmented audiences.
- Relevant work experience or education in marketing, journalism, science communications or related field.
- Proficiency with digital and social media platforms and curating web content.
- Experience developing and implementing plans with colleagues and/or collaborators.
Competencies You Bring: - Cultivates Innovation: Creating new and better ways for the organization to be successful.
- Builds Networks: Effectively building formal and informal relationship networks inside and outside the organization.
- Strategic Mindset: Seeing ahead to future possibilities and translating them into breakthrough strategies.
- Tech Savvy: Anticipating and adopting innovations in business-building digital and technology applications.
- Customer Focus: Building strong customer relationships and delivering customer-centric solutions.
- Communicates Effectively: Developing and delivering multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences.
It Would Be Great if You Also Bring: - BA/BS degree and two years of experience in marketing, journalism, science communications, or related field or equivalent experience.
- Demonstrated experience developing and implementing communication strategies and plans for a STEM field.
- Creativity, self-motivation, and a passion for compelling stories that matter to people and environmental science.
- Experience designing communications for people with limited English proficiency, or impaired vision/hearing.
- Skills and experience working on behalf of people often marginalized or underrepresented because of their race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, or disability.
- Working proficiency with Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Microsoft Office and tools for managing web-based content.
Supplemental Information
Working Conditions:- Remote and Onsite Work Details: Employees in this role work remotely from a home location, with onsite reporting requirements typically 2 days per month. This is expected to increase in the future. The frequency of onsite work is determined by business needs and may be adjusted accordingly. Onsite reporting locations may be at various King County worksites including the collaboration space at King Street Center (201 S. Jackson St, Seattle, WA 98104). This work arrangement promotes work-life-balance and reduces carbon footprint under the department’s vision of Green Where We Work .
- Remote Work Location Requirement: Employees must reside in Washington State and be within a reasonable distance to their King County worksite to meet workplace reporting requirements.
- Work Schedule: This full-time position works a 40-hour work week. This position is exempt from the overtime provision of the Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) and is not overtime eligible. The typical work schedule is 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Monday- Friday.
- Union Representation: This position is represented by King County Teamsters Local 117-P&T bargaining unit.
Application and Selection Process:
We welcome applications from all qualified applicants. We value divers ity , diverse perspectives and life experience and encourage people of all backgrounds to apply. This posting may be used to create an eligibility list for future vacancies in similar positions over the next six months.
Application materials will be screened for clarity, completeness and alignment with the experience, qualifications, knowledge, and skills essential for this role to determine which candidates may be invited to participate in one or more panel interviews.
To apply, submit a:- Complete online application.
Note: Additional documents won't be considered during minimum qualification screening.
Who to Contact: For more information regarding this recruitment, please contact Isaac Good at (206) 848-0576 or igood@kingcounty.gov .
Discover More About the Water Land & Resources Division: Visit our website .
Discover More About DNRP: Visit our website , explore an
interactive map of our recent accomplishments and check us out at Facebook , X (formerly Twitter) , LinkedIn , TikTok , Instagram , YouTube and
Keeping King County Green News .
Sign up for Job Alerts to be notified of additional career opportunities with King County. Select the
Natural Resources category for DNRP opportunities and explore other categories of interest. Forbes recently named King County as one of Washington State's best employers. Together, with leadership and our employees, we're changing the way government delivers service and winning national recognition as a model of excellence. Are you ready to make a difference? Come join the team dedicated to serving one of the nation's best places to live, work and play. Guided by our "
True North ", we are making King County a welcoming community where every person can thrive. We value diversity, inclusion and belonging in our workplace and workforce. To reach this goal we are committed to workforce equity. Equitable recruiting, support, and retention is how we will obtain the highest quality workforce in our region; a workforce that shares and will help advance our guiding principles--we are one team; we solve problems; we focus on the customer; we drive for results; we are racially just; we respect all people; we lead the way; and we are responsible stewards. We encourage people of all backgrounds and identities to apply, including Native American and people of color, immigrants, refugees, women, LGBTQ+, people living with disabilities, and veterans.
King County is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer: No person is unlawfully excluded from employment opportunities based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation and pregnancy), age, genetic information, disability, veteran status, or other protected class. Our EEO policy applies to all employment actions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, selection for training, promotion, transfer, demotion, layoff, termination, rates of pay or other forms of compensation.
To Apply: If you are interested in pursuing this position, please follow the application instructions carefully. If you need this announcement in an alternate language or format, would like to request accommodation or assistance in the application or assessment process or if you have questions related to this recruitment process, please contact the recruiter listed on this job announcement.
King County offers a highly-competitive compensation and benefits package designed to meet the diverse needs of our employees and support our employees' health and well-being. Eligible positions receive the following benefits and have access to the following programs:
- Medical, dental, and vision coverage: King County pays 100% of the premiums for eligible employees and family members
- Life and disability insurance: employees are provided basic coverage and given the opportunity to purchase additional insurance for both the employee and eligible dependents
- Retirement: King County employees are eligible to participate in a pension plan through the Washington State Department of Retirement Systems and a 457(b) deferred-compensation plan
- Transportation program and ORCA transit pass
- 12paid holidays each year plus twopersonal holidays
- Generous vacation and paid sick leave
- Paid parental,family and medical, and volunteer leaves
- Flexible Spending Account
- Wellness programs
- Onsite activity centers
- Employee Giving Program
- Employee assistance programs
- Flexible schedules and telecommuting options, depending on position
- Training and career development programs
For additional information about employee benefits, visit our Benefits, Payroll, and Retirement Page .
This is a general description of the benefits offered to eligible King County employees, and every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy. If any information on this document conflicts with the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), the CBA prevails.
NOTE: Benefits for Term Limited Temporary (TLT) or Short Term Temporary (STT) positions, including leave eligibility and/or participation in the pension plan through the Washington State Department of Retirement Systems, will vary based upon the terms and details of the position.Short Term Temporary positions are not eligible for an ORCA transit pass.
For inquiries about the specifics of this position, please contact the recruiter identified on this job posting.
Closing Date/Time: 5/12/2024 11:59 PM Pacific
