Salem Public Schools

Salem is a small, diverse city with a proud maritime and immigrant history.  Salem Public School leaders are passionate about urban education and understand the urgency of improving student achievement.  They respect and value the racial, cultural, and linguistic diversity of our students and their families, and have a strong commitment to the Salem community.  Salem Public Schools seeks individuals who are able to serve all of our students, regardless of ability or language. Applicants who have experience working in urban schools and have bilingual skills are strongly encouraged to apply.

What You’ll Do:

Reporting to the Superintendent, the Chief of Public Relations will lead the development and implementation of a district-wide communications strategy and multi-year plan that informs, engages, unites, and celebrates the Salem Public Schools community in meeting district goals. Key responsibilities include strategic communications design and execution, core message development, digital and traditional media relations, marketing and public relations, and community engagement. Target audiences include parents/families, members of the public, current staff, and potential staff being recruited to work in the district.

Role Responsibilities:

• Organize the core messages related to the work of the district and craft a unified, strategic communications plan across the district’s diverse audiences in collaboration with the Salem Public Schools Leadership Team and constituents
  
  • Target messages with key audiences using a variety of communications channels, ensuring appropriate timing and alignment with district-wide plans and initiatives
  
  • Ensure that accurate and timely news about schools, programs, achievements of students and staff, opportunities for input, decisions and district policies, programs, procedures, and emergencies are communicated to target audiences.
  
  • Develop and maintain a parent and community newsletter and other outreach vehicles and/or communications strategies to inform and engage families and community partners
  
  • Develop and strengthen the district’s internal communications strategy to ensure that all district staff are informed and engaged
  
  • Manage the development, distribution, and maintenance of all external and internal print and web-based materials including but not limited to newsletters, brochures, promotional materials, reports, presentations.
  
  • Manage content for the Salem Public Schools website and coordinate website maintenance—ensure that new and consistent information (links to resources, announcements, and events) is posted regularly and that the content aligns with the district’s core messages.
  
  • Develop and manage a robust social media strategy, including the SPS Facebook account and other social media outlets; ask as the public spokesperson or the District to the medial and in other forums as assigned.
  
  • Prepare and review presentations to School Committee and other target audiences
  
  • Manage media relations including development of contacts, press and media inquiries, press releases and public information.
  
  • Collaborate with the district’s leadership team to develop a district-wide community engagement & communications strategy that creates and improves efforts to engage diverse stakeholders in the Salem community.
  
  • Provide leadership in the development of a district-wide and school-level marketing strategy that supports both student and educator recruitment and retention. Responsible for market research, branding, development of collateral/print materials and marketing channels.
  
  • Support the district’s efforts to strengthen translation services to expand ability to reach all of Salem’s diverse stakeholders.

What You’ll Bring:

We are looking for candidates who have diverse backgrounds and experiences, are inspired by our mission and are highly motivated to change children’s lives through education. You’ll be right at home here if you are a reflective practitioner who values collaboration with colleagues and pushes yourself, your work and the people around you to the next level.  We expect our SPS employees to:

• Hold a deep commitment to students and families and value diversity - The SPS community is vibrant, diverse in background, ethnicity, language, and perspective. You embrace and affirm the backgrounds of all members of the SPS community and view our diversity as a powerful resource that supports us each in learning and doing our best work.
• Hold high expectations for yourself, students, and colleagues – You see potential in all, especially our SPS students, and maintain high expectations for achievement, while providing the support necessary to meet that bar. You hold yourself to high expectations, modeling SPS values and seeking opportunities to continuously improve.
• Build authentic, caring relationships with colleagues, students, and families – You build strong relationships across students, families, and colleagues that are collaborative in nature and contribute to the individual and collective success of SPS. You partner with families and colleagues to make decisions in the best interest of students and learning.
• Embrace feedback – You are a reflective practitioner who learns from failure, using mistakes and challenges as opportunities for growth. You model persistence and growth mindset and thrive in a culture of feedback.

Job Requirements:

1. Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Journalism, Marketing, Public Administration, related fields or relevant experience; Master’s degree preferred
2. Minimum of five (5) years experience in communications with experience in working within local or state agencies, preferably educational organizations.
3. Experience designing marketing collateral such as websites, brochures, flyers, etc.
4. Excellent problem solver, independent and entrepreneurial.
5. Bilingual in English & Spanish. (Highly desired)
6. Highly collaborative, flexible and adaptive work style, with the ability to work very irregular hours, be on call for emergencies, and able to prioritize competing demands.
7. Outstanding written and verbal communication skills required.
8. A strong track record as an implementer who thrives on managing a variety of key initiatives concurrently.
9. Strong knowledge of social media and digital communications.
10. High energy, maturity, and leadership with the ability to serve as a unifying force and to position communications discussions at both the strategic and tactical levels.
11. Sincere commitment to work collaboratively with all constituent groups.
12. Self-starter, able to work independently and entrepreneurially; enjoys creating and implementing new initiatives
13. Must be computer proficient with word processing, desktop publishing, website management, social media and other communication platforms
14. Ability to deal effectively fairly and courteously with people in a variety of environments.
15. Ability to collaborate and build relationships with multiple stakeholders, both internally and externally.
16. Demonstrated commitment to urban public education and the district’s strategic direction.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Salem Public School District is committed to maintaining a work and learning environment free from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, pregnancy, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital/civil union status, ancestry, place of birth, age, citizenship status, veteran status, political affiliation, genetic information or disability, as defined and required by state and federal laws. Additionally, we prohibit retaliation against individuals who oppose such discrimination and harassment or who participate in an equal opportunity investigation.