Publications Manager - National Association of County and City Health Officials
Washington, DC 20005
About the Job
Be a part of a dynamic team whose work enriches the health of communities by strengthening city and county health departments. At the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), we are united by our work to improve our country's over 3,300 U.S. local health departments. We represent the voice of local public health while striving to live out our core values of equity, excellence, participation, respect, integrity, leadership, science, and innovation. We provide our employees with meaningful work, opportunities to learn and grow, a strong work/life balance, and a flexible, hybrid work schedule while being a part of a collaborative team.
We are interested in growing our team with passionate, committed, and innovative individuals. The Publications Manager will join NACCHO at a time of dynamic growth. This position is important in the Government and Public Affairs Department.
POSITION SUMMARY:
A Publications Manager is usually an individual contributor in a specific area of expertise and is accountable for professional functions and/or systems. Work at this level requires substantial knowledge in an area of specialization and both conceptual understanding and sufficient professional experience to work on complex assignments with minimal supervision. These assignments typically require originality and creativity in applying the knowledge and concepts of the area of specialization.
A Publications Manager may provide guidance to other professionals and administrative staff either in a supervisory, project management or technical capacity. The Publications Manager is considered a career level professional and works with minimal supervision. Incumbents only move beyond this level if they develop expert level capabilities – and NACCHO needs this level of skill – or if they take on significant management responsibilities.
The Publications Manager position contributes to the advancement of local public health practice by ensuring that consistently high-quality standards are applied to NACCHO publications. Reporting to the Director of Communications, the Publications Manager serves as managing editor for two periodicals: NACCHO Exchange and Public Health Dispatch; manages the e-newsletter NACCHO Connect and journal article submissions in Journal of Public Health Management and Practice (JPHMP); provides editorial and graphic design support for other NACCHO publications and printed pieces; and assists with association-wide strategic communications activities. The individual is accountable for the effective day-to-day operations and results of the Publications unit within the organization’s broader Marketing and Communications team and develops and implements initiatives to ensure results are attained and quality standards are met. The individual also provides communications support, through publications, graphic design, and social media support to NACCHO's Membership department and NACCHO's annual meetings, as necessary. The position requires strong writing and editing skills, as well as the ability to manage multiple publication activities on strict deadlines. Position responsibilities will require working in close collaboration with NACCHO staff of all program areas, as well as outside contractors.
The ideal candidate will demonstrate:
- Graphic design expertise (especially using InDesign)
- Copyediting skills, including familiarity with editorial best practices
- Project management skills, including management of contractors
- Strong social media, analytics, and branding skills
COMPETENCIES AND EXPECTATIONS:
- Problem Solving - Identifies and resolves problems in a timely manner; gathers and analyzes information skillfully; develops alternative solutions; works well in group problem solving situations; uses reason even when dealing with emotional topics.
- Project Management - Develops project plans; coordinates projects; communicates changes and progress; completes projects on time and budget; manages project team activities.
- Technical Skills - Assesses own strengths and weaknesses; pursues training and development opportunities; strives to continuously build knowledge and skills; shares expertise with others.
- Interpersonal Skills - Focuses on solving conflict, not blaming; maintains confidentiality; listens to others without interrupting; keeps emotions under control; remains open to others' ideas and tries new things.
- Oral Communication - Speaks clearly and persuasively in positive or negative situations; listens and gets clarification; responds well to questions; demonstrates group presentation skills; participates in meetings.
- Written Communication - Writes clearly and informatively; edits work for spelling and grammar; varies writing style to meet needs; presents numerical data effectively; able to read and interpret written information.
- Teamwork - Balances team and individual responsibilities; exhibits objectivity and openness to others' views; gives and welcomes feedback; contributes to building a positive team spirit; puts success of team above own interests; able to build morale and group commitments to goals and objectives; supports everyone's efforts to succeed.
- Quality Management - Looks for ways to improve and promote quality; demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness.
- Ethics - Treats people with respect; keeps commitments; inspires the trust of others; Works with integrity and ethically; upholds organizational values.
- Organizational Support - Follows policies and procedures; completes administrative tasks correctly and on time; supports organization's goals and values; benefits organization through outside activities; supports affirmative action and respects diversity.
- Motivation - Sets and achieves challenging goals; demonstrates persistence and overcomes obstacles; measures self against standard of excellence; takes calculated risks to accomplish goals.
- Quality - Demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness; looks for ways to improve and promote quality; applies feedback to improve performance; monitors own work to ensure quality.
- Quantity - Meets productivity standards; completes work in a timely manner; strives to increase productivity; works quickly.
- Adaptability - Adapts to changes in the work environment; manages competing demands; changes approach or method to best fit the situation; able to deal with frequent change, delays, or unexpected events.
- Attendance/Punctuality - Is consistently at work and on time; ensures work responsibilities are covered when absent; arrives at meetings and appointments on time.
- Dependability - Follows instructions, responds to management direction; takes responsibility for own actions; keeps commitments; completes tasks on time or notifies appropriate person with an alternate plan.
- Initiative - Volunteers readily; undertakes self-development activities; seeks increased responsibilities; takes independent actions and calculated risks; looks for and takes advantage of opportunities; asks for and offers help when needed.
- Innovation - Displays original thinking and creativity; meets challenges with resourcefulness; generates suggestions for improving work; develops innovative approaches and ideas; presents ideas and information in a manner that gets others' attention.
POSITION SPECIFIC DUTIES:
- Serve as managing editor of NACCHO’s flagship publications:
- NACCHO Exchange (quarterly magazine). Duties include developing topics and story list in partnership with staff, editing submissions from various sources, ensuring editorial quality, and coordinating with graphic designer, printer, and mailing house.
- Public Health Dispatch (print newsletter): Duties include compiling and editing submissions from various sources, ensuring editorial quality, designing each issue, and coordinating with print vendor and mailing house.
- Manage the e-newsletter NACCHO Connect and journal article submissions in JPHMP on strict deadlines.
- Lead the development of the Annual Report and additional organization-wide publications, as necessary.
- Provide excellent customer service internally to NACCHO staff members, including but not limited to responding promptly to requests for service and assistance and advising staff about publications opportunities and activities.
- Provide general communications and graphic design support across the organization:
- Provide editorial, graphic design, and desktop publishing for printed and online materials; create graphics, data visualizations, and infographics.
- Provide communications support to NACCHO’s Membership department and NACCHO’s annual meetings, as necessary.
- Develop marketing and social media strategies; track website and social media analytics, provide recommendations based on data; develop communications/marketing initiatives to improve online engagement.
- Complete special communications projects, including, but not be limited to, editorial work through blog series, graphics design, and branding activities.
- Asset Management:
- Manage outside contractors and consultants, as needed.
- Manage postal escrow account and non-profit permits and assist staff with publications mailing needs.
- Monitor of stock photo inventory and obtain and retain appropriate photo and model release forms.
- Work with supervisor to develop and manage publications budgets.
- Manage content on NACCHO’s virtual publications bookstore and potential publication advertising.
- Respond to permissions requests for publications.
- Brand Management and Quality Control:
- Conduct quality-control process for approximately 100 publications each year (i.e., reports, fact sheets, issue briefs, research briefs, postcards/flyers/brochures) to ensure consistency in style, format, and terminology.
- Maintain organization-wide style and branding guides; ensure appropriate brand management, including use of logos and templates in communications materials.
- Other duties as assigned.
EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE/SKILLS:
Bachelor's degree and certification in relevant professional field with a minimum of 5-7 years relevant work experience; or equivalent combination of education and experience, including a relevant certification. Master’s degree in a relevant field preferred. Experience in public health, health communications, or professional writing and editing, preferred.
- Excellent writing, proofreading, copyediting, and substantive editing skills.
- Project management experience, including working with contractors and consultants.
- Knowledge of print industry’s prepress standards and editorial best practices.
- Knowledge of editorial standards of style (e.g., Chicago, AP, APA).
- Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office, desktop publishing software (InDesign preferred), and photo editing software, especially Adobe Creative Cloud (Adobe Creative Suite).
- Demonstrated understanding of tactics to build brand awareness and of marketing strategies to promote membership organization activities through publications and social media.
- Ability to write routine reports and correspondence.
- Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers or employees of the organization
- Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, commissions, proportion, percentages, area, circumference and volume.
- Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral or diagram form.
- Spreadsheet and Word Processing software experience required.
- Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals.
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS:
- Occasionally required to sit.
- Occasionally required to walk.
- Occasionally required to reach with hands and arms.
- Occasionally required to talk or hear.
- Occasionally required to bend, lift or climb stairs.
- Occasionally required to lift light weights (less than 25 pounds).
WORK ENVIRONMENT:
- The noise level in the work environment usually is moderate.
Salary Range: $77,613 - $81,757
SELECTION PROCESS:
The selected candidate must reside in the Washington, DC – Maryland – Virginia (DMV) area within 30 calendar days of their start date.
We only accept applications that follow the electronic process. No phone calls please. This position is subject to background screening. Qualified applicants should send a cover letter with salary requirements, resume, and one writing sample to: PN – 51 Publications Manager.
https://naccho.clearcompany.com/careers/jobs/404e5752-12ec-2b5c-af79-28f19208c8de/apply?source=3191767-CS-2909
NACCHO offers generous benefits package such as:
- Medical, Dental, Vision, STD, LTD insurances
- 15 days of paid vacation & 13 days of sick leave and other types of leave
- 403(b) Retirement plan,
- Hybrid Remote Work Available
- NACCHO is a qualified employer under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
At NACCHO, our commitment to equal employment opportunity and affirmative action seeks to ensure a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. We respect and value work force diversity among all employees and all those with whom we do business.