Plays a critical role in supporting the Communications team by providing a variety of specialized support and coordination that enables efficient communication activities, including researching and tracking media and potential pitches, serving as a Communications team liaison to internal teams and external partners, and providing assistance to ensure the department and team goals and mission are achieved.

Posting Opens: Friday, 9/20/2024

Posting Closes: Sunday, 10/20/2024

Interview Timeline : 1st round of interviews beginning late October

Anticipated Start Date : 12/2/2024

Do you have a passion for Oregon, along with an appreciation for the unpredictable and somewhat maverick nature of this place we call home? Working for Travel Oregon is more than a job. It is a life less ordinary, an eternal quest to share the next farm-to-table meal, powdery slope, coastal sunrise, or cultural experience. Our mission is to inspire travel that uplifts Oregon communities. We work with our communities to be stewards of Oregon, we work to optimize economic opportunity, advance equity, and respect the ecosystems, cultures, and places that make Oregon…Oregon.

Communications Coordinator Role

At Travel Oregon, the Communications team helps bring the agency's 10-Year Strategic Vision to life through sharing stories about the people and places that make up the tourism industry. Sometimes that means writing a story about how a team of industry professionals banded together to earn a designation deeming Southern Oregon as "the largest Dark Sky Sanctuary in the world." Other times that means hosting journalists and travel writers from all across the world so they can see and experience the magic of Oregon for themselves.

The Communications Coordinator will play a critical role in supporting the Communications team with these activities. The person in this position provides a variety of specialized support and coordination that enables efficient communication activities, including researching and tracking media and potential pitches. This role serves as a Communications team liaison to internal teams and external partners, as well as provides assistance to ensure the department and team goals and mission are achieved.

The successful candidate has a passion for sharing Oregon’s story and will bring exceptional organization, interpersonal communication, and customer service skills to the team.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS/MAJOR DUTIES

Project Coordination ~50% of time

• Compile information, documents and departmental reports; support tracking and reporting; and draft and review documentation, presentations and other materials for internal and external audiences to support accurate, efficient operations of the Communications team.
• Draft and support communications internally and externally, including industry partners and media.
• Review and edit presentations and reports to ensure appropriate messaging and accuracy of content.
• Support Communications team with the planning and execution of tradeshows, media missions press trips, Regional Destination Management Organization (RDMO) tours and other events.
• Support planning of industry/consumer events such as National Travel and Tourism Week and others.
• Coordinate purchasing and delivery of media giveaways.
• Work cross functionally with other teams’ Coordinators to share information and ensure alignment and efficiency in supporting programs and operations.

Project Coordination ~30% of time

• Coordinate project activities and tracking to support project completion on time and in alignment with identified objectives.
• Determine appropriate involvement from other staff on projects, track project status from inception to completion, work independently and with internal teams as well as external agency partners to assist with completion of projects, anticipate roadblocks and problem-solve.
• Manage small projects with defined scope and budget, including coordinating task completion across a small project team.
• Support Communications Managers in monitoring Communications project activities for alignment with goals and objectives. Bring capacity to projects by providing additional support, acting on urgent project elements, or providing other support, as needed.
• Support tracking of contractor and vendor deliverables.

Administrative Support ~20% of time

• Coordinate meetings for the team and partners, as needed.
• Coordinate contract management, including tracking contract expiration dates, contract limits and supporting contract managers with contract development. Support tracking of contractor and vendor deliverables.
• Answer and route phone calls and emails from the public, media and partners related to communications priorities and outcomes.
• Capture and follow-up on action items identified in project and team meetings.
• Provide back-up administrative support to Executive Assistant as needed, such as providing invoice tracking support.

Minimum Qualifications:

• A bachelor's degree in a relevant field OR any combination of education/coursework/training and work experience necessary to meet position requirements.
• A minimum of two (2) years of experience in professional business environment supporting a communications/public relations team.
• Experience must include project planning and coordination, skill in building relationships with both internal and external partners, and an understanding of media relations.
• Experience with high proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office Suite, including strong calendar management skills in Outlook, presentation development in PowerPoint, Adobe Acrobat, and digital signature software. Proficiency in the use of video and audio-conferencing platforms such as Zoom.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Skill in editing written communications, documents, and presentations; thorough knowledge of Associated Press style a plus.
• Ability to use/experience with project management and collaboration tools such as ClickUp, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, Dropbox and others.
• Experience developing/implementing processes to support team organization and efficiency.
• Ability to prioritize competing priorities and meet multiple overlapping deadlines.
• Skill in communication with the ability to represent and champion team priorities to both internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience in or understanding of tourism and/or hospitality industry.
• Knowledge of project management best practices including managing conflict, and bringing groups to consensus, with skill in managing project tasks project tasks and prioritizing deadlines for multiple team members.
• Experience monitoring team budgets, tracking contract budgets, understanding what falls within and outside of a contract’s scope of work.

To review the full job description, please visit our Careers site here.

Flexible Worktype Policy

This position is designated as Hybrid Remote. Business needs may require the employee to come into a designated workplace on a periodic basis. Occasional travel, including overnight travel, approximately 2 days per quarter, may be required for this position.

Travel Oregon offers flexible schedules and work arrangements that meet the needs of the agency and our staff while aiming to balance that flexibility with the value of in-person collaboration and best serving our mission. As a semi-independent state agency, we feel strongly about cultivating and nurturing strong relationships, both across our workforce and with our many partners and stakeholders throughout the state. To support that aim, 0ur employees working in roles designated as Mobile or Hybrid Remote must reside in Oregon or the Portland Metro area.

Compensation

This position is non-exempt and eligible for overtime. The annualized equivalent starting salary range is $58,100-$69,700.

Benefits

• Annual accrual of 12 paid vacation days and 12 paid sick days plus 3 days personal business leave; 11 paid holidays, 3 days paid volunteer leave, and available paid bereavement leave.
• 100% of health care premiums for core benefits (medical/dental/vision) for employee and family are paid by Travel Oregon. Optional health care and dependent care flexible spending accounts (FSAs) as well as other optional benefits are available. Get an overview here.
• After six full months of employment, participation in the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS), including generous Travel Oregon contributions with no employee match required; optional participation in a 457(b) account **_(Oregon Savings Growth Plan) _**is also available.

About Travel Oregon

Travel Oregon was formed in 1995 and in 2003 we became a semi-independent state agency. We are committed to a vision of Oregon that is a welcoming destination where tourism drives economic prosperity, benefits the natural environment, and celebrates rich, diverse cultures. Our passionate and results-driven staff (~65 employees) enjoy working together in a friendly and supportive virtual-first atmosphere, striving to embody Travel Oregon’s values of integrity, equity, community, and stewardship in our workplace.

In addition to inspiring, promoting and serving up expert travel advice on traveloregon.com and our social channels, our work includes engaging with partners to ensure tourism enhances our communities, places and people – creating positive outcomes and safeguarding against unintended impacts for Oregon’s most vulnerable communities. On any given day, Travel Oregon's dedicated team is engaged in a broad scope of activities, including convening community engagements in rural Oregon, attending national/international trade shows, executing creative marketing campaigns to inspire visitors, conducting research, supporting projects and organizations across the state with our grants program, working with media and journalists and more. To optimize this work, we have adopted a destination stewardship approach that employs three “lenses” to guide our future decisions, programming, and actions: Prosperity Lens, Racial Equity Lens and Regenerative Tourism Lens. Our industry website contains a wealth of information and you can read Travel Oregon’s 10-Year Strategic Vision here.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Travel Oregon is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices based on race, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, color, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital or parental status, pregnancy or childbirth, disability, age, religion, creed, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. We encourage and respect different viewpoints and experiences as being essential to the process of innovation. We strive to acquire, grow, and maintain a diverse and inclusive workplace that applies principles and standards equitably while supporting the needs and accommodations of the individual employee.

Consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and federal and state laws, it is the policy of Travel Oregon to provide reasonable accommodation when requested by a qualified applicant or employee with a disability, unless such accommodation would cause an undue hardship. If you require reasonable accommodation in completing the employment application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please contact jobs@traveloregon.com.

Veterans’ Preference

Travel Oregon provides qualifying veterans and disabled veterans with preference in employment. Please review the information linked **here **on eligibility for veterans' preference in state employment. In your application materials, please indicate your status and submit documentation along with your resume/other materials.