COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR

GS 21

The City of Alexandria is located in Northern Virginia and is bordered by the District of Columbia (Potomac River), Arlington and Fairfax counties. With a population of approximately 160,000 and a land area of 15.75 square miles, Alexandria is the seventh largest city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Alexandria has a charming waterfront and is a unique and historic place to live and work. About one-quarter square miles in the city have been designated as a national or local historic district. We proudly embrace our rich history and seize the endless opportunities that lie ahead. If you are interested in working for the vibrant City of Alexandria, we invite qualified candidates to apply for the Community Engagement Coordinator position within the Department of Planning & Zoning (P&Z).

An Overview

The City of Alexandria is a diverse, energetic, caring community with a city government that reflects these values. The Department of Planning and Zoning considers the Alexandria community an active partner in planning for the future of the City, as articulated in Alexandria’s civic engagement policy establishing principles for inclusive, meaningful, and collaborative engagement. Our goal is to use new and innovative approaches to reach people where they are, using strategies and tactics that remove barriers to participation and address language access, the digital divide, and issues around social equity. As the City of Alexandria looks ahead to future challenges, the C ommunity Engagement Coordinator will work to create opportunities for all members of our diverse community to have an equal and meaningful opportunity to have a voice in planning for the future.

The Community Engagement Coordinator will be responsible for designing and executing innovative and inclusive community engagement strategies within the Department of Planning and Zoning and will be a champion of the All Alexandria vision to improve equity citywide. The successful candidate will be an experienced professional with community engagement in comparable settings and will have a passion for connecting with and building positive relationships among historically marginalized populations and all members of our community to ensure that all diverse perspectives are heard and understood in developing an inclusive vision for the future.

The candidate will be an experienced professional with knowledge about the full range of current communications, social media, and public engagement strategies and an understanding of tactics, techniques, formats and platforms in a comparable position.

The candidate will have an understanding of the issues facing urban municipalities like Alexandria, and will be expected to gain an understanding of the most important and complex issues in the City.

The candidate will have knowledge of the social media landscape and experience using social platforms, digital content, and graphics to grow public awareness and engagement, and to convey complex information in simple accessible ways.

What You Should Bring

• Passion for ensuring that all residents, particularly those in historically marginalized populations, have the opportunity to participate in shaping the public policies that affect them;
• Experience building trust among communities who typically don’t participate in local government;
• Proven track record designing and implementing equitable community engagement/organizing strategies that successfully apply a variety of low- and high-tech tools to involve the community in public policy decision making;
• Fluency in written and verbal Spanish to engage members of the community who may not otherwise participate;
• Demonstrated skill and ease in presenting to a range of small and large audiences, and the ability to explain complex concepts in a clear and engaging manner;
• Ability to convert technical and complex concepts into concise and accessible language or graphics for all audiences;
• Experience with media relations, developing social media campaigns, and digital engagement; and
• Capacity to quickly assimilate complex information, discern challenges, and devise effective innovative solutions.

The Opportunity

• Conduct community organizing in neighborhoods citywide to establish positive relationships with community stakeholders (non-profit organizations, civic/homeowner organizations, faith-based groups, educational institutions, individuals, etc.) to ensure that planning initiatives are informed by broad inclusive community engagement;
• Develop and implement community engagement plans for major City initiatives that incorporate a variety of high- and low-tech engagement strategies tailored to meaningfully engage a broad variety of stakeholders;
• Collaborate with the City’s Race and Social Equity Officer and City equity teams to ensure implementation of the City's All Alexandria vision in community engagement and equity efforts;
• Develop social media campaigns through a range of platforms to promote community engagement initiatives that reach a diversity of residents; and
• Create simple, engaging, accessible messaging and graphics that enable all members of the community to participate in creating a vision for the future.

About the Department
P&Z works closely with communities to carry out the City's Strategic Plan, fostering amenity-rich, service-oriented and equity-balanced neighborhoods; protecting historic and cultural resources; and supporting diverse and creative businesses. In developing neighborhood plans, reviewing development proposals, and promoting economic vitality, we continue our commitment to collaborate with all stakeholder groups to honor the character of each neighborhood and to strengthen and sustain them, and Alexandria as a whole, for now and in the future.

Minimum & Additional Requirements

Four-Year College Degree from an accredited college or university in regional, or urban Planning, or a closely related field such as Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Geography, Urban Studies, Public Administration, Physical Sciences, Historic Preservation, or Environmental Studies and five years of relevant planning experience or two years and a Master's Degree; or any equivalent combination of experience and training which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities.

Preferred Qualifications

In addition to the requirements above, ideal candidates may also have a background in communications, journalism, or political science, and should have five or more years of progressively responsible work experience in community organizing/civic engagement or comparable tasks, with success in reaching historically marginalized communities. Ideal candidates will also have fluency in Spanish, proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite (or comparable) to produce creative, engaging and informative material for a variety of audiences, demonstrated expertise in oral presentation, and experience with media relations and digital engagement.

Notes

This position requires the successful completion of pre-employment background checks.