Communications Specialist

Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) is currently looking for a dedicated individual to join our team as a Communications Specialist. This position plays a crucial role in developing and managing the strategic communications and community engagement efforts while raising awareness about the value of water and OWASA’s services through education and outreach.

Key responsibilities include:

• Support the delivery of OWASA’s overarching public service key messages, backgrounders, feature stories, etc.
• Respond to information requests from public and the media.
• Provide support for community engagement and communications to include setting up and staffing OWASA promotional tables at community events; create educational and promotional content.
• Update OWASA’s website regularly to keep it fresh and relevant, including writing, coordinating content across functions and publishing using WordPress.
• Develop and distribute customer communications and educational materials.
• Serves on the on-call Water Line Break Communications Team to provide water outage, boil advisory, and all-clear notifications to customers and partners.
• Support the development and maintenance of stakeholder contact lists and databases.

Successful candidates should have:

• At minimum an Associate degree in Communications or Business Administration with at least 3 years’ experience working in Communications or a similar role, or equivalent combination of education and work experience.
• Experience creating content for social media and building/managing web content, including WordPress.
• Strong written communication skills including press releases, briefings, and short and long form content.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work collaboratively in a team environment.
• Valid driver’s license issued by the State of North Carolina.

Team members are our most important resource. Pay and Benefits include:

• Salary Range is $54,554 - $81,830
• Membership in the NC Local Government Employee Retirement System
• 5% Employer 457 Deferred Compensation contribution
• Retirement Health Savings account
• Employer paid Health, Dental, Vision, Life insurance, Dependent Life, Long-term Disability
• Vacation, Sick, Personal, Bereavement and Parental Leave; 12 Paid Holidays
• Educational Reimbursement, Bonus Pay for Additional Certifications and/or Education
• Cell Phone Stipend
• Ability to transfer unused sick leave from preceding NC Local Government or State agency employer

OWASA is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to continuous improvement, sustainability, creativity, diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. Visit www.owasa.org to apply for this excellent opportunity. This recruitment will close on September 29, 2023.