Communications Specialist

Think Small

Think Small, Minnesota’s leader in early learning, is dedicated to advancing early childhood care and education. We have worked for 50 years to support the full potential for every child, have committed to championing policies andpractices of equity that empower a just, inclusive and equitable care and education system for children in their crucial early years. The quality of a child's early experiences greatly influences his or her success later in life and that there is much that can be done to improve the quality of early childhood settings to optimize a child's development.

https://www.thinksmall.org/

Position Details

Communications Specialist
Job
Full-time
11/1/2022
Twin Cities Metro
St. Paul, MN

This position creates, implements, assesses, and adjusts a comprehensive, unified and effective communication plan for the advancement of the agency brand and mission.

Essential Job Functions:

Communication

  • Develop and execute traditional and social media initiatives 
  • Monitor local press and media to track EC topics and agency news 
  • Ensure the agency’s brand and graphic identity are maintained in the use of all communication tools 
  • Develop and communicate information to inform public of agency’s issue positions 
  • Implement internal communications to increase awareness and coordination and to promote productivity 
  • Create and refine metrics to assess effectiveness of communications efforts 
  • Manage agency-related media contacts

Employee Expectations

  • Perform all job duties to department expectations and standards 
  • Perform other duties as assigned 
  • Maintain regular, reliable attendance 
  • Collaboration with customers, coworkers and external partners 
  • Timely, engaged participation in meetings 
  • Safe job performance 
  • Competency in required computer programs
  • Prepare reports as required and requested 
  • Current, valid certifications as required

Requirements:

Education

  • Bachelor’s degree in Marking or Communications preferred

Experience

  • 5 years demonstrated work experience managing communications, public affairs and/or public affairs 
  • Experience in or deep knowledge of early childhood field or nonprofits strongly preferred 
  • Excellent written, visual, and verbal communication and presentation skills 
  • Experience in media relations Ability to cultivate relationships and work effectively with internal and external constituents Ability to manage multiple priorities and anticipate issues 

Technical Demands

  • Expert knowledge of social networking sites 
  • Intermediate knowledge of Microsoft 365 including Teams, Outlook, SharePoint, PowerPoint, Excel, and Word 
  • Working knowledge of design tools such as Adobe Creative Suite, Canva, etc 
  • Proficient in web site maintenance with working knowledge of HTML/CSS or other web language a plus

Physical Demands

  • There is frequent keyboarding, computer use and communicating via phone, email and in person

Travel Demands

  • Occasional travel to headquarters for all-staff meetings

This position is available immediately.

Wage hiring range: $51,500 - $64,000 depending on experience and education

Benefits:

  • Medical, dental, short and long term disability, life, vision, disability, critical illness; medical and dependent care flex, HSA, legal and ID protection plans. 
  • Pre-tax and ROTH 401k with 5% employer match. 
  • 23 days of sick/vacation time earned the first year PLUS 8 scheduled holidays and 5 floating holidays for those whose needs don’t conform to the federal holiday calendar. 
  • We recently introduced 2 new-parent benefits – 6 weeks paid parental leave and infants-at-work program (available after 1 year of employment.)

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