Manager of Community Engagement and Communications; SY

Director Of Community Engagement And Communications

This position requires flexibility that includes working evenings and some weekends.

Location:

Bruce

C. Bolling Municipal at 2300 Washington Street, Roxbury, MA 02119, and the Timilty Middle School at 205 Roxbury St, Roxbury, MA 02119

Position Summary:

In January 2024, Boston Public Schools issued a Long-Term Facilities Plan that details our vision for high-quality learning environments for every student and high-quality teaching environments for every educator. Alongside this vision, we identified the physical spaces necessary to support this vision and evaluated our current physical infrastructure. The aim of the Long-Term Facilities Plan is to build a sustainable foundation to continue forward momentum for decades.

To make good on our commitment, we have entered an 18-month cycle of proposed school mergers (the joining of two or more school communities), closures, reconfigurations, alongside planned renovations and new builds. Mergers and closures are difficult, and new construction and renovation projects take longer than any of us would like. The Office of Capital Planning seeks a motivated, detail-oriented, strategic Director of Community Engagement and Communications to support this ambitious and challenging rightsizing, capital planning, and investment agenda.

As BPS implements its Long-Term Facilities Plan to benefit all students, we must deeply and authentically engage stakeholders in the process. The Director of Community Engagement and Communications plays a pivotal role in shaping and managing the strategic direction for public relations and dialogue, and listening to and valuing the expressed needs of a diverse community of parents, school leaders, students, and other stakeholders.

The Director of Community Engagement and Communications will design and strategize authentic community engagement processes, systems, and structures to proactively inform and involve stakeholders in district decision-making and policy changes. The Director will efficiently develop, implement, and manage these effective communications and outreach systems and strategies to ensure the BPS community and BPS staff are aware of and involved in the work of the Capital Planning Department.

The Director will build relationships with a portfolio of organizations and partners connected to the BPS capital planning work, building trust through transparency and timeliness and creating the space for collaborative work with the district.

The Director also leads all strategic communications, marketing, and outreach activities for the Department, including media relations, print and digital communications, special events, community engagement, and public opinion research. They will triage and develop strategic public relations approaches to ongoing and emerging issues. The Director ensures the City's commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is incorporated in communications and public outreach initiatives and actively contributes to an inclusive Capital Planning department.

They will maintain a regular working relationship with the BPS Chief of Communications and the Chief of Engagement and contribute as assigned to BPS and Citywide communications and Engagement priorities. The Director is also responsible for managing the workload of the Communications Manager, who will carry out the strategic plans developed by the Director.

The ideal candidate will possess strong interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to design, facilitate, and manage community-based models of engagement and communication. They will be flexible and an excellent strategic thinker. The Director will pay keen attention to detail, have excellent organizational and communication skills, and have a high bar for quality. They will be a self-starter and operate effectively across projects with competing deadlines.

They must be a critical thinker with sound judgment in strategizing and prioritizing tasks.

Specific

Duties and Responsibilities: