External Relations Specialist
- Employer
- Alexandria City Public Schools
- Location
- Alexandria, Virginia
- Closing date
- Feb 15, 2022
View more
- Industry
- Education
- Function
- School and Teaching
- Hours
- Full Time
- Career Level
- Experienced (Non-Manager)
Job Details
Works in the School and Community Relations (SCR) department to help ensure that the ACPS community has clear and accurate information about division-wide issues ranging from instruction to policy, capital planning, transportation, health and safety measures, and more. The external relations specialist receives inquiries, shares constituent feedback across departments, and provides information, both directly to stakeholders and__in coordination with SCR colleagues__to broader audiences through ACPS communication channels. The ability to work collaboratively, organize incoming inquiries in the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, and communicate information in a clear, accurate, and timely manner is essential.
This position reports to the school engagement and community outreach manager.
Qualifications
Education: Bachelor's degree in a job-related area. Degree in communications, writing, English, marketing, or related field preferred.
Certificates & Licenses: None required.
Experience: Two years of experience in an external or constituent relations role preferred; experience with a CRM system would be a plus; K-12 education experience a plus.
- Strong external and constituent service approach and skills.
- Proven track record in supporting communications with constituents or customers using a CRM system.
- Strong research skills and ability to produce clear and accurate writing.
- Ability to organize and prioritize incoming inquiries and work cross-departmentally to coordinate timely responses.
- Ability to maintain cooperative working relationships with staff in central office and schools, meet tight deadlines, and solve problems.
- Comfortable providing training and guidance to colleagues in the use of a CRM system.
- Commitment to equity and tailoring communications to diverse audiences.
- High attention to detail and ability to help analyze information.
Essential Functions
- Provide communications support to the school division, schools, and communications team by serving as the school division's lead with the CRM system.
- Review and respond to questions and feedback from community members.
- Develop key internal relationships across departments and familiarity with ACPS information resources.
- Research information and gather content from a range of ACPS sources to draft replies to stakeholders.
- Work with the supervisor to organize and maintain subject areas in the CRM system and the response process.
- Coordinate with translation services as necessary and tailor messages to meet the communication needs of recipients.
- Work with the communications team to help develop a user-friendly, online knowledge base for stakeholders in order to increase customer self-service
- Recommend innovative approaches to increase efficiency in information sharing and customer service, including automated platforms.
- Provide training and support to department CRM contacts.
- Work with webmaster to ensure that online information about how to engage with ACPS via the CRM system is up-to-date, including the online feedback form.
- Track status of messages in the CRM system and follow up to ensure timely responsiveness.
- Report on metrics related to the CRM system.
- Provide insight on common subjects of inquiries, particularly potential areas of confusion or misinformation within the ACPS community, and help develop Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
- Stay up to date on the work of communications, community engagement, and capital planning teams to be aware of current issues of interest to families and community members and ensure consistency of messaging.
- Support the School and Community Relations department in meeting all goals and implementation tasks, and may perform other additional duties or tasks as designated by the supervisor.
Clearances
- Criminal Justice Fingerprint/Background Clearance.
- Tuberculosis Skin Test.
Public Health Compliance
- Proof of COVID vaccination. Exemptions for religious/medical will be reviewed.
- Must follow safety and health protocols.
WP
Primary Location:
Central Office
Salary Range:
$65,644.80 - $80,755.20 / Support SUP-34
Shift Type:
Full-Time
Company
Alexandria City Public Schools is one of the most diverse school systems in the country and we celebrate that diversity. Our students come from more than 80 different countries, speak more than 60 languages, and represent a rainbow of ethnic and cultural groups. They are economically diverse, but all are rich in that the residents of Alexandria are dedicated to ensuring that each and every one of them achieves success.
The children of Alexandria have benefited significantly from the strong support of City Council and the Alexandria community over the years. Tremendous gains have been made in student achievement and ACPS continues to be in the forefront of technology integration.
T.C. Williams High School is on the cutting edge, both inside and out. The award-winning building features numerous environmentally sound features, such as a 450,000-gallon underground cistern that collects and stores rainwater for building use, and a rooftop garden that provides stormwater management. The redesigned educational program at T.C. consists of smaller learning communities designed to increase academic achievement and the level of student engagement. Students feel more connected to caring adults, and teachers have more opportunity to know and support their students.
The City of Alexandria was recently named one of the Top 100 Communities for Young People by America's Promise, partly because of the quality of our schools and programs. A recent City survey indicates that the number of people who made the decision to live in Alexandria based on the quality of the schools has increased since 2004. We have many reasons to celebrate. ACPS is truly an urban success!
- Location
-
2000 N Beauregard St
Alexandria
VA
22314
US
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