Health Care Agency Public Information Officer

THE POSITION
The Ventura County Health Care Agency seeks a poised articulate bilingual professional with outstanding communication skills to act as the agency public information officer. The ideal candidate will be able to speak act and respond in a variety of situations with various audiences including elected officials community groups and individuals. They must have a positive attitude strong interpersonal skills work effectively in a team and fastpaced environment show initiative and adapt well to change; as well as be organized and detail oriented.

Under general direction this class is responsible for managing the flow of department information internally and externally and for establishing public relations standards goals priorities operational plans policies and procedures. The incumbent will plan coordinate and organize the Health Care Agencys communications with the public and media and implement special events and community outreach and education programs and perform related duties as required.

The county is seeking a candidate who has considerable experience managing organizational communication initiatives and public information programs. Ideal candidates will possess the following competencies and reflect the demonstration of these competencies within their application materials:

Duties may include but are not limited to the following:

• Oversees the public information and community outreach and education programs for the Health Care Agency; aligns program goals and priorities with the Agency mission and strategic plan; coordinates with the County Public Information Officer as appropriate;
• Provides oversight of the agencys website development social media management and marketing.
• Handles high profile incidents and exercises a high level of independent judgment and discretion in advising executive management on public and community relations matters. Addresses the media community groups and general public on behalf of the Agency regarding activities and programs;
• Oversees the preparation and release of Agency information to the media including newspaper television radio and other media outlets;
• Plans organizes and oversees all major Agency events; administers public relations programs that promote the departments standing in the community; participates in budget administration for related programs;
• Supervises the work of assigned staff. Evaluates work performance prepares and signs performance evaluations. Participates in personnel decisions including hiring and disciplinary actions assists in resolving employee grievances and approves leave requests. May provide secondlevel supervision;
• Plans organizes schedules assigns and reviews work; establishes priorities deadlines and work standard;
• Develops and implements policies and procedures pertaining to public relations activities within the Agency. Provides training to department staff in media relations;
• Prepares a variety of correspondence and reports;
• Develops and produces promotional and educational materials as needed;
• Makes speeches and presentations to community groups; represents the Agency at meetings and functions; and
• Performs other related duties as required.

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

EDUCATION TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE
Extensive experience in communications management in the public sector or similar environment which has led to the acquisition of the required knowledge skills and abilities.

An example of a qualifying education and experience is:
Bachelors degree in English Journalism Business/Public Administration Marketing Public Relations Mass Communications or other related field AND

• Agency Public Information Officer I: Two 2 years of recent paid and progressively responsible professional experience in journalism public relations or the media managing the communication and information for a public or private sector organization.
• Agency Public Information Officer II: Two 2 years of recent paid and progressively responsible experience serving as a public information officer in the public sector or similar environment equivalent to that of an Agency Public Information Officer I.
• Agency Public Information Officer III:At least three 3 years of progressively responsible experience in an organization with primary responsibility for organizing coordinating and overseeing outreach projects and programs to provide the public with the information to promote an organizations events and activities.

• Some experience developing and editing brochures newsletters promotional materials for internal and external publications
• Some experience writing news releases and/or press releases
• Some experience creating and managing content for a variety of social media platforms
• Excellent written communication skills must be demonstrated in the completion of the employment application and supplemental questionnaire

• Bilingual (English/Spanish)or Trilingual (English/Spanish/Mixteco)
• Experience working with governmental bodies special districts and/or nonprofit organizations
• Experience with the design and production of communication materials

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 in Ventura California no later than 5:00 p.m. on the closing date.

To apply online please refer to our web site at www.ventura/jobs. If you prefer to fill out a paper application form please callfor application materials and submit them to County of Ventura HumanResources 800 South Victoria Avenue L1970 VenturaCA 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 for additional information.

APPLICATION EVALUATION qualifying: All applications will be reviewed to determine whether the stated requirements are met. Applicants meeting the stated requirements will be invited to continue to the next step in the examination process.

TRAINING & EXPERIENCE EVALUATION comparative: 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 AND RELATED WRITTEN EXERCISE 100: A jobrelated oral examination will be conducted to evaluate and compare participating candidates knowledge skills and abilities in relation to those factors which job analysis has determined to be essential for successful performance of the job. Candidates must earn a score of seventy percent 70 or higher to qualify for placement on the eligible list. As part of the oral exercise candidates may be expected to produce written passages and/or demonstrate written communication skills. Written documents produced by candidates may also be discussed with the panel in the oral examination.

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.

Candidates successfully completing the examination process may be placed on an eligible list for a period of one 1 year.

BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: A thorough preemployment 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 Sabrina Anderson by email at or by telephone at.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
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.