Communication and Outreach Specialist - req# 35406

The Southwest Environmental Finance Center (Southwest EFC) within UNM’s Center for Water and the Environment is searching for a creative Communications & Outreach Specialist to help grow and strengthen our marketing and communications impact. The Communications & Outreach Specialist will work closely with the current Communications & Outreach Specialist and Project Directors to support and enhance our communication, marketing, and engagement efforts across a variety of Southwest EFC projects. This position includes developing educational videos and podcasts, contributing to research and writing, and providing administrative support. This position will require travel, which could be in-state or out of state, for drone piloting/filming, documenting technical assistance work that our technical staff conduct, and community engagement or other communication or outreach related activities.

Our group provides solutions to environmental problems via training and technical assistance on various topics associated with drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, and other environmental arena. The Southwest EFC was created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) in 1992 to serve the states within EPA Region 6 (including NM, TX, AR, OK and LA). Since then, the Southwest EFC has greatly expanded its work to serve the entire country, including the five U.S. territories. While a background in environmental science or water resources is not needed to succeed in this position, an interest in learning is an important factor in growing into a successful contributor to our group. Understanding the work we do, and why it is important, will help the selected candidate identify areas where we can improve our outreach and increase (and communicate) our impact.

Position Duties

• Design and conduct outreach activities, marketing strategies, and communication materials for Southwest EFC projects (ranging from traditional to digital/social media marketing).
• Write, edit, and review a variety of materials intended for an audience of stakeholders including blog posts, promotional materials, educational/training materials, and more.
• Prepare and manage the preparation of visual aids including fliers, reports, and presentations.
• Manage podcast production/publishing and assist with writing and editing scripts, recording, and editing audio files. Lead efforts to add audio and video elements and otherwise increase engagement.
• Manage educational video production and develop ideas, create scripts, assist with filming, and edit raw footage. This aspect of the position includes both filming and drone operations.
• Serve as an initial point of contact for water systems who request assistance. This includes scheduling intake calls over the phone or on Zoom and facilitating introductions with technical staff.
• Light touch modifications to the Southwest EFC website (Wordpress) including uploading resources (blogs, videos etc.) and website analytics reporting.
• Provide write-ups on various outreach and marketing activities for project reports (quarterly and final).
• Advertise SW EFC activities via various outlets as necessary (LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, X etc.).
• Perform support tasks, including creation, typing, and editing of program correspondence, PowerPoints, project handouts, reports, and other project deliverables.
• Design, plan, and coordinate special events such as showcases, community events, and regional meetings.
• Analyze and solve problems independently. Perform tasks with minimal supervision. Work both independently and as part of a small team.
• May supervise student employees, volunteers and/or interns specifically related to this work.
• Perform miscellaneous job-related duties as assigned.

See the Position Description for additional information.

High school diploma or GED; at least 7 years of experience directly related to the duties and responsibilities specified.

Completed degree(s) from an accredited institution that are above the minimum education requirement may be substituted for experience on a year for year basis.

• Bachelor’s degree in journalism, communications, environmental science, water resources, geography, biology or related field.
• Experience with MailChimp or similar programs.
• Experience with Adobe Creative Cloud including Photoshop, Illustrator, Audition, and Premiere.
• Experience with/knowledge of ArcGIS StoryMaps or similar programs.
• Experience with drone operations, drone pilot license or willingness to become licensed as part of onboarding.
• Experience with social media manager software such as Buffer or Hootsuite.
• Experience with or willingness to learn Smartsheet.
• Experience with WordPress/Divi Builder for webpage design.
• Experience with Microsoft Office suite, Teams, SharePoint, and Zoom.
• Experience working with water or wastewater utilities, tribal entities, state environment departments, and/or the Environmental Protection Agency.
• Proficiency in an additional language a plus.

Only applications submitted throughthe official UNMJobs site will be accepted. If you are viewing this jobadvertisement on a 3rd party site, pleasevisit UNMJobs to submit an application.

Positions posted with a Staff Type of Regular or Term are eligible for the Veteran Preference Program. See the Veteran Preference Program webpage for additional details.

The University of New Mexico is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class.

The University of New Mexico requires all regular staff positions successfully pass a pre-employment background check. This may include, but is not limited to, a criminal history background check, New Mexico Department of Health fingerprint screening, New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department fingerprint screening, verification of education credentials, and/or verification of prior employment. For more information about background checks, visit https://policy.unm.edu/university-policies/3000/3280.html. Refer to https://policy.unm.edu/university-policies/3000/3200.html for a definition of Regular Staff.