About the City
City of Greater Geelong is Victoria’s largest regional municipality providing services to a growing population of 244,000 residents across 1247km2 comprised of urban, suburban, rural and coastal environments located 75km from Melbourne. The spectacular beauty of the natural environment and the creative design and historical significance of its built environment make the municipality a major tourism magnet for local and international visitors.

Our people take pride in their work and are committed to making a positive impact in the lives of residents of the Geelong region. Employees are provided with engaging and rewarding work and a culture of respect and collaboration. On offer are professional development opportunities, flexible working arrangements, parental leave – 14 weeks paid leave, health & wellbeing program, discounted gym memberships at council facilities and the opportunity to be part of a dedicated and professional team, working together for the community.

About the Corporate Communication & Marketing Department
This department is part of our Governance Strategy & Performance Division, and is responsible for providing communication, marketing and media services to support the City and its elected Mayor and Council communicate and engage with internal and external stakeholders.

About the Role
This role will implement a staged community engagement and communication strategy to support the delivery of a major partnership project between the City and the Victorian Government, known as the Revitalising Central Geelong Action Plan. The plan is focussed on driving change in Geelong’s central activity area (CAA).

The plan comprises a number of inter-related projects for delivery over the next 1–5 years that will be delivered through the Revitalising Central Geelong project team. These projects play a vital role in shaping Geelong’s future, and their success relies on public participation in determining how the outcomes are designed and implemented. 

Project delivery will involve major disruption to and/or changes to Geelong’s current CAA, and will therefore require significant ongoing and two-way engagement and information sharing to ensure it enjoys the understanding and support of all affected parties. Now in its third year of delivery, the plan will be realised through the Geelong City Deal, with co-investment between the Federal and State Governments, and the City of Greater Geelong. 

The project team has prepared an overarching Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Strategy. The officer’s role is to work with the team to implement that strategy by ensuring all affected stakeholders are meaningfully informed and engaged. This will involve breaking down the work-plan into its smaller projects, and developing individual operational engagement and communications plans to minimise impacts to businesses and the community.

This includes developing and maintaining key strategic relationships, plus daily contact with those affected to ensure works are staged to consider key trading, major events and other activity periods.

Later stages will increase the spectrum of stakeholders needing to be engaged – especially as the visitor, working and residential population grows.

This position will report to the City’s Manager Corporate Communications and Marketing, and be part of the City’s Corporate Communication and Marketing team. However, on a day-to-day basis, the role will be embedded with the project team at its dedicated office in Geelong’s CAA, and will take day-to-day direction from the RCG’s Project Director.

Some of the key responsibilities in this role will include

1. Working as part of a close-knit partnership team to deliver the overarching Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Strategy for the RCG project.
2. Using the strategy to develop and implement separate engagement/communication strategies for each of the inter-related sub-projects that make-up the overall RCG project (including communications and marketing collateral suited to each project).
3. Identifying, monitoring and managing the key engagement and communication risks relevant to the project, to ensure a ‘no surprises’ approach to the project.
4. Responding to media and public inquiries about the Revitalising Central Geelong Action Plan, its projects and sub-projects.
5. Liaising with all partners in the various projects to coordinate joint messaging and approvals for media and other public statements and updates.
6. Organising media or photo events, engagement opportunities, launches and other public relations activities as required.
7. Updating online/website information for the project, monitoring social media, and assisting with appropriate responses, as required.
8. Regularly reporting to the project director, manager and partnership team on all engagement and communication activities.

About You
To be successful in this role, you will require

• A relevant tertiary qualification in community engagement, journalism, communications, media, public relations, etc. and/or specialist training suitable to the position.
• Extensive experience in personally implementing community and stakeholder engagement (according to IAP2 methodology) to ensure successful ‘buy in’ and understanding from all interested parties.
• Demonstrated ability to understand community issues related to major projects and warmly and honestly engage with a range of people – including influencing key internal and external stakeholders on matters relating to their areas of responsibility.
• Relevant media management and communication experience – including excellent written, interpersonal and verbal communication skills.
• Extensive, demonstrated hands-on experience producing and delivering communication collateral (such as media releases and statements; speaking notes; ad copy; information kits and flyers; social media posts; video scripts and production, etc.).
• A proven ability to project manage and deliver multiple high-quality strategy elements in short timeframes.
• High-level analytical, negotiation, conflict resolution and problem-solving skills, including understanding of the complexities of working with diverse communities.
• A good understanding of local and state government processes and approvals, and proven political ‘nous’.
• A current employee Working With Children check.

Applications and Enquiries
Click the APPLY NOW button below to submit your application or find out more about this opportunity. 

Enquiries: Geoff Russell | 03 5272 4131 | GRussell@geelongcity.vic.gov.au

Applications close 5:00pm Friday 23 August 2019.

City of Greater Geelong values equal opportunity, fairness and enjoys a diverse and inclusive workforce. Applications are encouraged from people with a disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent, and people of all other cultural backgrounds.