Senior Director, Communications

Sonoma County Tourism (SCT) is seeking an experienced communications professional to lead the organization’s internal and external communications efforts as the Senior Director, Communications. Bridging both corporate and consumer public relations and communications, this leader will help ensure the organization connects with internal audiences, stakeholders, travel professionals and potential domestic and international visitors through salient, compelling and timely communications across the most applicable channels. The key job responsibilities touch each of the organization’s departments, helping ensure enterprise-wide success.

While significant technical expertise in strategy, writing, materials development and personnel management is needed, SCT is looking for someone who brings a spirit of innovation, disruption and creativity to this post.

Organizational Mission: Inspire overnight travel to Sonoma County that bolsters the region’s economy and encourages responsible stewardship of the community’s abundant resources.

Organizational Vision: Sonoma County will be the premier destination in North America for responsible travelers who enjoy, protect, and preserve the area’s bountiful natural and cultural resources.

The Essential Duties Include, But Are Not Limited To

Corporate Communications

• Manage corporate communications, including local public affairs, developing and maintaining records of SCT presentations, facts, figures, and other key information.
• Coordinate executive communications including enewsletter communications (Tourism Industry News & Resources, Tourism Industry Performance & Insights, Partner Alerts and event specific communications), and occasionally interfacing with partners.
• Conceptualize and create communication strategies and methods to communicate value of tourism and Sonoma County Tourism to various stakeholder groups including elected officials and residents.
• Create, edit, and maintain a series of branded presentations (e.g. PowerPoint) to be used by all SCT employees for presentations, including to the board of directors, community, partners, and municipalities, as well as sales, marketing, and public relations presentations.
• Support the CEO in the creation of organization wide documents, such as the Strategic Plan.
• Work across teams to compile and create SCT’s annual report and coordinate production of Year in Review video, including data and milestone tracking throughout the year.
• Work across teams to compile and create quarterly tourism updates and partner reports for various municipalities across the County.
• Support the executive team with public speaking engagements through creation of presentation materials and talking points.
• Create communications on behalf of the organization while maintaining brand voice.
• Assist with creation and execution of National Travel and Tourism Week associated messaging.
• Edit and proofread other company documents, as needed.
  
  

Domestic Consumer Public Relations – Program Management

• Work with the Marketing team to ensure a compelling brand story and key appeals that help elevate awareness and coverage of Sonoma County within consumer media markets and media outlets.
• Work with the PR team to administer a robust and ongoing consumer media outreach program that continues to extend relationships with traditional and social media journalists and influencers within targeted categories.
• Manage the PR team and SCT’s Agency of Record (AOR) in the creation and administration of media hosting opportunities and FAM tours, ensuring SCT’s level of participation matches the potential ROI of the media hosted.
• Participate in press trips in a host capacity; ensure other senior SCT management staff are notified and included in press trips as appropriate.
• Collaborate with PR team and AOR to ensure press releases and pitches align with the brand and key destination experiences.
• Collaborate with peers in Marketing to maximize value-added PR opportunities that come through paid media buys.
• Work with the SCT team to produce the Neighborhoods Project segments.
  
  

International Media Relations

• Oversee international media outreach program in collaboration with the Director, Public Relations and the Director, Travel Trade.
  
  

Travel Trade and Meetings Industry (sales) Media Outreach

• Oversee the production and execution of quarterly newsletters to clients, and sales partners.
• Develop a plan to actively source travel trade and meetings industry journalists and design a pitching strategy to increase stories relating to both industries.
• Work with industry related media outlets to pitch stories and fulfill requests.
• Source independent writers and contributors to create stories and blogs for the Travel Trade and Meetings section of SCT’s website.
• Host Familiarization Tours (FAM) with industry media.
• Support the team in content creation, including reviewing program documents for clarity, brand alignment, and grammar.
  
  

Crisis Communications

• Work enterprise-wide to plan for and manage crisis situations as they arise.
• Ensure messaging and outreach to domestic and international consumer media aligns with the messaging distributed by the organization.
• Tenaciously evaluate domestic and international consumer media coverage of the crisis, both within traditional and social media outlets and make recommendations for modification of messages based on the coverage.
• Develop ongoing reporting of media coverage and a wrap report that provides an overview of coverage throughout the crisis.
  
  

Vendor Management

• Manage vendor relationships including the PR side of the integrated marketing agency; help ensure full transparency of work as communicated through monthly reports.
• Track vendor budget and manage monthly activity versus billing.
• Collaborate with SCTs AOR, providing PR-related guidance on SCT initiatives, campaigns, and goals.
• Work in tandem with SCT’s AOR, to lead the effort to strategize and create the destination’s earned media initiatives that align with SCT’s strategic goals and messaging tactics.
• Create and administer request for proposals/qualifications/information to secure vendors.
  
  

Program and Team Administration

• Manage the Communications Team including the Director of Public Relations and the Senior Manager Consumer Public Relations. Identify and achieve stated Key Performance Indicators and provide a roadmap to success; conduct ongoing one-on-one meetings, identify professional development opportunities, draft and conduct performance reviews, identify and mitigate performance issues.
• Work enterprise wide to ensure strategic and tactical communications are delivered at the highest level, provide timely outreach and help ensure the organization meets and exceeds its mission and vision.
• Manage department budget line items; work closely with the VP of Finance and Operations to monitor and report the budget.
• Identify and report the ROI of all programming.
• Identify and coordinate educational sessions for SCT partners and SCT staff related to public relations, and media relations subject matter.
• Create and produce monthly department Board of Directors report – amalgamating information from all departments.
• Represent Sonoma County Tourism in media interviews as identified. Ensure messaging is consistent with overall organizational messaging, per topic.
  
  

Required Education And/or Experience

• Minimum of ten years of experience in Journalism, Communications, Marketing, or related field with a minimum of 2+ years of supervisory or management experience required.
• Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, Communications, Marketing or related field preferred
  
  

Required Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

• Corporate Communications, including reputation management, crisis communications and overall strategic positioning.
• Knowledge of supervisory best practices and ability to motivate a highly collaborative team.
• Extensive experience writing and designing communications materials including presentations, annual reports, electronic newsletters, etc.
• Experience developing both a corporate and consumer public relations strategy and key performance indicators to showcase success.
• Experience managing external vendors relating directly to public relations functions.
• In-depth understanding of Sonoma County is highly desired.
• Experience managing a multi-faceted department budget.
• A spirit of innovation, disruption and creativity.
  
  

Physical Requirements

• Ability to lift up to 40 lbs. Frequently sits, stands, and walks. Occasionally twists/turns, bends, kneels, and reaches overhead. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.
  
  

Work Environment

• Hybrid office position (combination of in-office and work from home) in a professional and creative office environment.
• Low to moderate noise level.
• Some out-of-state and potentially international travel required.
  
  

Compensation: From $125,000.00 to $145,000.00 per year