Communications Manager
Are you a public communications and marketing expert? Ready for an exciting opportunity to serve a growing and diverse community by developing impactful and creative strategies to keep the public informed on a variety of highly visible, timely, and complex topics? Are you a digital media expert who enjoys creating social media campaigns, websites, and graphic design? If this sounds like you, then apply today and join our team as the Communications Manager in our City Manager’s Office!
Responsibilities of the Position
The Communications Manager is a highly responsible position that serves as the City’s lead and chief consultant to the City Manager, Mayor and City Council, and City Departments in the development and implementation of effective communication strategies, policies, and practices. This position serves as the City’s subject matter expert on media engagement, manages the City’s various public communication platforms, coordinates emergency communications, and manages marketing campaigns.
This position requires working independently, maintaining confidentiality, and being able to both lead and work collaboratively as a member of a team. The Communications Manager oversees the Communications Division, including staff supervision, purchasing, budgeting, and resource management.
The Communications Manager needs to be generally responsive and available to perform occasional work outside of regularly scheduled hours to attend meetings/events and respond to emergency situations. The Communications Manager must establish residency within a 30-minute drive time radius of the Champaign City Building within six months of employment.
Applications, including a cover letter and resume, must be submitted online no later than Sunday, July 20, 2025.
Salary and Benefits
- Starting annual salary: $97,362 - $110,837, DOQ.
- Full-time, on-site, FLSA-exempt, non-bargaining unit (NBU) position.
- The City of Champaign offers excellent fringe benefits including:
- Paid vacation, sick, and personal leave and 11 paid City holidays each year
- Health, life, dental, and vision insurance
- Retirement health savings and flexible spending plans
- Retirement benefits through the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF)
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, journalism, public relations, advertising, electronic media, public administration, or a similar field.
- Extensive, progressively responsible experience developing, coordinating, and executing communication plans and strategies.
- Extensive, progressively responsible experience managing public communication technologies, including websites, social media, and/or television channels.
- Extensive experience engaging with the media, including writing news releases, organizing press conferences, serving as a spokesperson, being interviewed by reporters, and prepping staff for interviews.
- Progressively responsible experience supervising employees, including recruiting, coaching, evaluating, assigning and evaluating work, and setting performance expectations.
- An equivalent combination of work experience and training that demonstrates the required knowledge, skills, and abilities will be considered.
- Possess a valid driver’s license and acceptable driving record.
- Master’s degree in communications, marketing, journalism, public relations, advertising, electronic media, public administration, or a similar field.
- Extensive public communication experience working for a government, nonprofit, or public sector agency.
- Proficiency with professional content management, graphic design, and photo editing software.
- Experience coordinating public communications during emergencies or crisis situations.
