City of St. Louis Office of Violence Prevention
City of St. Louis Office of Violence Prevention
Public Information Officer I
About the Office
The Office of Violence Prevention (OVP) is a division of the City of St. Louis created in July 2022 whose purpose is to act as a coordinating body for the City’s efforts to create safe and healthy neighborhoods free of violence. The office works with community based organizations, government bodies, and healthcare systems on a public health approach to addressing violence. OVP coordinates partners and provides strategic direction and oversight for various citywide Community Violence Intervention (CVI) initiatives, including but not limited to the following:
1. Supportive Re-entry services that deliver support to individuals returning to the community from the criminal legal system in a trauma-informed, anti-racist, evidence-based, client-centered, participatory, community-driven, and collaborative fashion, which emphasizes the clients’ right to self-determination through flexible, non-punitive, and low-barrier service provision.
2. Crisis Response work that builds on, but does not rely on, existing emergency services such as 9-1-1, with an aim to prioritize the use of non-law enforcement responses and interventions when most appropriate to address the social, health, and mental health needs of individuals and communities.
3. Youth Diversion work that will expand resources available to justice-involved youth and their families to positively impact St. Louis communities and enhance public safety.
About the Role
The City of St. Louis Office of Violence Prevention (OVP) seeks a Public Information Officer I (office title subject to change) to develop, coordinate, and monitor all communications and public affairs efforts for the division. The person in this role will be responsible for effective messaging that amplifies OVP’s strategies, progress, and impact. This position requires strong alignment with OVP’s values as well as demonstrated success, sound judgement, and flexibility working in a complex, fast-paced environment.
Key Responsibilities
● Create digital, video, audio and print content related to OVP programs and projects including marketing and promotional materials, newsletters, and simple infographics
● Write and edit public reports, talking points, press releases, news articles or features, briefings, memos, and other correspondence
● Coordinate and/or assist in coordination of public relations activities such as press conferences, public appearances, speaking engagements, interviews, and special events
● Act as a division spokesperson as requested; answer questions from press; present information to news media and public
● Create and manage OVP’s social media accounts
● Ensure new information including articles, links, and events is posted regularly to the OVP website and social media channels
● Record and/or take photos for use in publications, slide shows, special events, and social media
● Act a communications liaison for OVP and collaborate with external agencies on engagement strategies
● Monitor media for coverage of division activities
● Track engagement across various platforms
● Other duties as assigned
Qualifications
● A Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, English, or a related discipline and/or at least three years of communications, marketing, public relations or other related experience
● Excellent written communication, verbal communication and presentation skills
● Familiarity with St. Louis, and a strong commitment to creating safe and healthy communities in St. Louis
● Experience developing and project managing digital content
● Demonstrated knowledge and proficiency with communications technologies
● Familiarity with social media platforms and social media marketing
● Familiarity with Adobe Creative Cloud (InDesign, Premiere Pro)
● Experience with search engine marketing, Google Analytics, and Google AdWords preferred
● Working knowledge of content management systems, HTML coding, and digital graphics production preferred
● Must be a proactive, self-starter who is able to take the lead on tasks with minimal direction
● Effective communicator with strong interpersonal skills and proven ability to develop productive, positive working relationships
● Consistent ability to exercise sound judgment and discretion
● Strong analytic and organizational skills with demonstrated attention to facts and detail
● Ability to effectively manage multiple projects simultaneously
● Ability to identify pressing needs and prioritize those as needed, without losing track of other tasks and responsibilities; Ability to effectively manage time and resources
● Attention to detail and ability to correlate topics and information
● Expertise with Microsoft Office and Google Workspace suites (including Gmail, Drive, and Sheets)
● Expertise with Salesforce is a plus
Salary Range: $38,636 – $60,372
To Apply: To submit an application on the City jobs website, please visit: https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/jobs/job-detail.cfm?job=6088&detail=1
