Public Information Officer

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Department

Job Summary

Under minimal supervision, this position is responsible for Denver Health's day-to-day public relations and media relations activities, and providing input to the development of the team's media and strategic communications objectives and plan. The position is focused on communicating the values, mission and strategic priorities of Denver Health to external audiences, with the goal of building and protecting the organization's reputation in the media and with the public. The position holder will respond to media inquiries and develop content and story ideas to pitch to the media. During crisis events and in dealing with negative media issues, the position holder will be adept in managing issues and running crisis communications to mitigate reputational damage, considering internal and external messaging and audiences. Central to the role is the ability to formulate strategies and tactics, compile information, analyze data and use sound judgment to make decisions that both promote and protect the reputation of DH. The role requires the individual to exercise individual judgment in providing expert advice on communications to senior level managers that will ultimately contribute to the success of the organization. The position holder will identify, train and coach subject matter expert staff members to act as spokespersons for the media. The position holder will act as a team player and take on other communications and media duties as assigned by the communications director.

The position holder will also lead/manage communications strategies and execution for various campaigns for the organization and marketing team with an emphasis on public health and crisis communications. The campaigns may fluctuate depending on communication priorities for the team and Denver Health.

As part of this role, this person will lead, manage and collaborate with marketing and communication team colleagues on the key messages for campaigns as well as the execution needed to communicate to both internal and external audiences. This person will ensure campaign strategies and creative clearly convey information to staff and maximize the value of Denver Health content, across earned, owned and paid media. The role will require this person to meet and communicate on a regular basis with key executives, providers and department leads throughout the organization.

Essential Functions:

• Contributes toward the development of the media and strategic communications objectives and plan, in collaboration with communications director and team members. Writes media releases and manages the distribution to local and national media as appropriate. Acts as Denver Health's (DH) point person in responding to inquiries from the media and participates in shared responsibility of carrying on-call media phone calls. Manages day-to-day media requests, including evaluating opportunities, consulting with appropriate leadership, preparing spokespeople and staffing interviews. Represent Denver Health with city partners and local area hospitals on joint media and in groups such as ESPIOC, CHA, and others. (20%)
• Maintains and builds relations with the local, state, national and specialist media; conducts media tours and outreach activities. Develops a sound understanding of the Denver media landscape and its players. Ensures that Spanish language media, as well as minority media is fully represented in media relations strategy and outreach. (10%)
• Develops ideas and works with marketing communications colleagues on media pitches, including patient stories with the objective of improving the public relations and media reputation of Denver Health. Develops story pitches based upon priority service lines, organizational goals, as well as the media and strategic communications objectives and plan, while aiming to meet the needs of targeted media outlets, social media, subject matter experts and relevant team leaders. (5%)
• Collaborates with marketing department colleagues, service line teams and other departments to contribute to the development of fully integrated communications campaigns. Maximizes the value of Denver Health content internally with staff and stakeholders as well as externally, across all owned, earned and paid media. Works closely with content and social media strategist to ensure that content and communication is integrated and consistent, by using web, internal comms, social media, video, photo and other channels. (5%)
• Identifies subject matter experts among staff who can represent Denver Health in the media on a range of clinical, and professional areas to enhance the organization's reputation, specifically around priority objectives and service lines. Stays connected with these experts to develop their messaging/ talking points, coaches them on interview skills and seeks opportunities to place them in the media on an ongoing basis. (5%)
• Exercises independent judgment in responding to media inquiries while serving as a member of the on-call media team for the hospital. Responsible for 24/7 media line during on-call days. (5%)
• Responds to all media inquiries. Uses judgment to seek input from supervisor and colleagues, prior to responding to any significant or sensitive inquiries. This duty may require occasional on-site presence after hours. In instances of large-scale incidents, is prepared to coordinate media presence, identify media spokesperson and act as back-up spokesperson if required. (5%)
• Following HIPAA guidelines, serves as liaison between patients, families and/or visitors and the news media. (5%)
• Maintains a record of all ongoing media inquiries, including status of request and relevant contact details for reporters. (5%)
• Tracks, measures and monitors the reputation of Denver Health on an ongoing basis, through the performance of key metrics, including sentiment, media placement, and impressions for positive and negative media coverage. Assesses performance goals set out in the strategy and compared to peer organizations and competitors. (5%)
• Develops dashboards to visualize results on Domo, Meltwater, Tableau and summarizes analytics and insights. Shares the results with the team and measure performance vs competitors and goals. Works with the marketing team to make sure content contains trackable links, optimizes strategy/ execution based on insights. Provides periodic updates on media performance and publishes annual results. (5%)
• In instances of large-scale incidents, serves as a member of the incident command team within the hospital's incident command structure. In incident command, is responsible for hospital wide communication huddle sheets, coordination within section chiefs and responsible for information dissemination to marketing team for intents and purposes of creating internal and external materials. Other duties in a crisis include, but are not limited to:
  * Works with other departments to ensure key stakeholders are informed of the crisis and continues to share information and navigate a way forward. Creates communications material.
  * Gathers information from relevant sources to determine the exact nature of the crisis, and associated risks to Denver Health.
  * Drafts statements for the media, gains approval from IC and hospital leadership, risk and legal, and determines if senior staff members need to brief the media.
  * Moves quickly to communicate Denver Health's statement/position via email and social media, and if necessary, holds a press conference. As a follow up, Denver Health determines what, if any, subsequent actions are required to mitigate against future crisis of the same nature.
  (5%)
• Handles crisis communication to protect and mitigate damage to Denver Health's reputation during crisis events and/ or due to negative media coverage. Works with the wider communications and marketing team to contribute toward the development of crisis communication plan and crisis recovery strategies, to rebuild reputation following negative media coverage. Uses judgment and considers internal and external messaging, media relations, press conferences, town hall meetings as well as other appropriate communication channels. Coordinates with marketing communication team members to ensure consistency of message on web, email, social and other channels. Works in coordination with other city agencies, managing staffing and after-hours media call procedures as required. (5%)
• Coaches and provides support for staff members of the organization who request media and public relations assistance. (5%)
• Creates internal communications to share information about stories and media coverage by distributing media links on a periodic basis. (5%)
• As needed, helps to manage the public relations response to requests under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) including communicating with requestor, consulting with leadership and collecting information. (5%)
• (0%)

Education:

• Bachelor's Degree from an accredited school in a related discipline required.

Work Experience:

• Six years' experience in marketing and/or media/communications required.
• 1-3 years' experience in implementing media strategy and objectives required.
• 1-3 years' experience working with media required.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Proven writing skills and adept in AP style.
• Good judgment/ability to work cooperatively in an integrated team environment.
• Service-oriented working style, excellent organizational abilities, and strong interpersonal skills.
• Capability in analyzing data and adept in developing dashboards and using Domo, Tableau, Meltwater or similar.
• Self-starter who works with limited supervision and guidance.
• Demonstrates an understanding of and support for diversity within the workplace.
• Completes own work efficiently and accurately and then assists co-workers with theirs.
• Demonstrated skills in providing excellent customer service.
• Capable in project management and uses time productively, coordinating with others to achieve common goals and objectives.
• Experience and capability in crisis communication: experience in developing and implementing crisis communication strategy and step-by-step process; capability to train executives and staff on crisis communication skills.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite.
• Proficient in Social Media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and others.
• Video editing, design and photo editing experience preferred.

Shift

Work Type

Salary

Benefits

• Outstanding benefits including up to 27 paid days off per year, immediate retirement plan employer contribution up to 9.5%, and generous medical plans

• Free RTD EcoPass (public transportation)

• On-site employee fitness center and wellness classes

• Childcare discount programs & exclusive perks on large brands, travel, and more

• Tuition reimbursement & assistance

• Education & development opportunities including career pathways and coaching

• Professional clinical advancement program & shared governance

• Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) eligible employer+ free student loan coaching and assistance navigating the PSLF program

• National Health Service Corps (NHCS) and Colorado Health Service Corps (CHSC) eligible employer

Our Values

• Respect

• Belonging

• Accountability

• Transparency

All job applicants for safety-sensitive positions must pass a pre-employment drug test, once a conditional offer of employment has been made.

Denver Health is an integrated, high-quality academic health care system considered a model for the nation that includes a Level I Trauma Center, a 555-bed acute care medical center, Denver's 911 emergency medical response system, 10 family health centers, 19 school-based health centers, Rocky Mountain Poison & Drug Safety, a Public Health Institute, an HMO and The Denver Health Foundation.

As Colorado's primary, and essential, safety-net institution, Denver Health is a mission-driven organization that has provided billions in uncompensated care for the uninsured. Denver Health is viewed as an Anchor Institution for the community, focusing on hiring and purchasing locally as applicable, serving as a pillar for community needs, and caring for more than 185,000 individuals and 67,000 children a year.

Located near downtown Denver, Denver Health is just minutes away from many of the cultural and recreational activities Denver has to offer.

Denver Health is an equal opportunity employer (EOE). We value the unique ideas, talents and contributions reflective of the needs of our community.

Applicants will be considered until the position is filled.