Communications Advisory Services Senior Manager

This Opportunity

WSP is currently initiating a search for a Senior Communications Advisory Services Manager for our Baltimore, Maryland office. Be involved in projects with our Communications Advisory Services Practice and join a growing organization that meets our client’s objectives and solves their challenges.

The position will lead public communications and engagement efforts on a major infrastructure project in the Baltimore region and support a range of communications and public involvement needs. The position may support other WSP communications and public involvement efforts regionally and nationally, as needed. This is an exciting opportunity to join our national team of talented communications and public outreach/public information professionals.

Your Impact

• Manage communications and public engagement program and team on major infrastructure project,
• Serve as a key communications and outreach consultant on infrastructure projects,
• Develop and implement effective communications, public outreach, and marketing strategies and plans for high profile and complex infrastructure projects,
• Oversee, coordinate and manage all outreach and engagement activities in coordination with client and the technical team,
• Serve as liaison between the project team and the community,
• Coordinate in-reach materials and strategy,
• Provide guidance on public inquiries,
• Take initiative and ownership of public involvement tasks and guide the public engagement team and subconsultants to develop effective strategies to solicit feedback and input from the public,
• Facilitate, coordinate, and participate in virtual and in-person open houses, workshops, public hearings, neighborhood meetings, ground breakings, ribbon cuttings, workshops, and other public events,
• Prepare and manage talking points, strategic messaging, multi-media presentations, newsletters, public exhibits, display boards, meeting summaries and documentation, and other collateral for the public and stakeholders,
• Research and write content for a variety of communication channels, including website, social media, talking points, presentations, marketing materials and media notifications and requests,
• Work closely with clients to ensure public engagement alignment with agency,
• Attend virtual and in-person external project, agency, and community meetings to provide public involvement updates and identify public involvement issues,
• Interact with the public utilizing a wide range of traditional and innovative communication methods,
• Produce and maintain stakeholder databases and lead stakeholder issues identification,
• Interact in a clear and concise manner with a variety of diverse audiences,
• Analyze the effectiveness of outreach campaigns, including website and social media content
• Collaborate with graphics and video creatives to develop high quality assets to support project goals
• Manage public involvement staff,
• Develop and expand client relationships and business development efforts,
• Build strong relationships with technical team members and assist with business development activities
• Support business development with copywriting and proposal development, as needed, and,
• Performs other duties as assigned or required by WSP USA Inc. and our clients.
• Talent is the essence of meeting our client’s objectives, goals and challenges. If this sounds like a fit for you, we’d love to have that first discussion of you joining our team.

Who You Are

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Communications/Public Relations, Public Engagement, Journalism, or a related field
• 12+ years of communications/engagement experience
• A record of delivering work products on time and within scope and budget and prior experience with quality assurance/quality control
• Ability to work well with the public and interact effectively with all organizational levels, including agency staff, senior management, executive leadership, board members, community leaders, and city/county/state representatives
• Ability to understand and translate complex, technical information into easy-to-understand content for public consumption
• Ability to help de-escalate and mitigate community concerns
• Experience working with public agencies, consultants, and cross-discipline technical teams on one or more publicly funded programs
• Excellent verbal, writing, and presentation communication skills
• Ability to work effectively with teams and demonstrate initiative to lead tasks
• Ability to work beyond standard business hours on some nights and weekends
• Ability to work on-site in the client's office multiple days a week
• Deadline driven with the ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment
• Superior organizational and time management skills with a high attention to detail
• Strong computer skills, including experience with Microsoft Office, Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, and PowerPoint
• Candidate must be able to immediately work in the United States on a full time permanent basis
Proven track record of upholding workplace safety and ability to abide by WSP’s health, safety and drug/alcohol and harassment policies

Preferred Qualifications

• Communications/public involvement experience with infrastructure (transportation, construction, etc.) projects in Maryland
• Established relationships with local public agency staff
• Previous experience with team management
• Contract management and business development experience, including developing proposals, scopes and budgets
Local candidates preferred

WSP Benefits:

WSP provides a comprehensive suite of benefits focused on a providing health and financial stability throughout the employee’s career. These benefits include coverage related to medical, dental, vision, disability, and life; retirement savings; paid sick leave; paid vacation (or other personal time); paid parental leave; and paid time off for purposes of bereavement, voting, and/or attendance at naturalization proceedings.

Compensation:

Expected Salary (all locations): $119,000 - $160,000

WSP USA is providing the compensation range that the company in good faith believes it might pay and offer for this position, based on the successful applicant’s education, experience, knowledge, skills, abilities in addition to internal equity and specific geographic location. WSP USA reserves the right to ultimately pay more or less than the posted range and offer additional benefits and other compensation, depending on circumstances not related to an applicant’s sex or other status protected by local, state, and/or federal law.