Public Involvement Specialist

Public Involvement Specialist

POWER Engineers seeks a Public Involvement Specialist to join our Environmental Division which provides planning, permitting, engineering, site assessment, and corrective action services to clients worldwide.

While this opportunity is based out of our Syracuse, New York office, the location of the work will be in the Watertown, New York area.

Employees will travel to a POWER office for periodic meetings.

The successful candidate will engage in extensive fieldwork; most weeks up to 80% of weekly responsibilities. The role involves substantial public-facing interactions, both in-person at meetings and one-on-one engagements with landowners, community members, and other interested parties, necessitating continuous coordination with clients.

The role also entails working collaboratively with construction crews, engineering, and other disciplines, working primarily from the construction field office, and attending meetings in the field with project teams and construction crews.

The ideal candidate will possess exceptional writing and interpersonal skills. This is a full-time, salaried position with an accompanying comprehensive benefits package.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Plan and implement public involvement, outreach programs, and project communications
• Coordinate meetings with agencies and community for information gathering and dissemination
• Face-to-face meetings with project neighbors, community members, municipal officials, and others
• Field visits with the project team to identify areas of potential concern and solutions for abutting landowners, businesses, and other community members
• Extensive community research including identifying and attending community organizations and events
• Coordinating and staffing tabling opportunities such as coffee shop’ hours, fair and festival booths and similar engagement initiatives
• Assist with planning meaningful public involvement for Environmental Justice populations
• Plan, coordinate logistics, and participate in public open house meetings and small group briefings
• Develop and write project collateral and oversee production of materials such as mailers, newsletters, FAQs, and PPTs
• Manage vendors including print, mail, language translation and interpretation, and video hosting firms
• Schedule and facilitate communications meetings for project team members, including web-based video meetings
• Coordinate and collaborate with internal and external project teams
• Monitor and respond to public inquiries and concerns received via hotline and email
• Maintain quality control for all deliverables
• Travel 15-40% of the time within the State of New York; overnight stays may be required for evening meetings or fieldwork
• Work across all of POWER’s business lines to provide communications services with engineering, planning, design, and construction projects
• Other duties as assigned

Required Education / Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, Marketing, Political Science, Environmental Planner, or a related field or four years of additional related work experience
• Zero to three (0-3) years of experience, ideally with large infrastructure construction projects and / or real estate or land management
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work in a collaborative team environment
• Ability to maintain composure under pressure and show resilience to setbacks and changing conditions
• Experience planning and coordinating logistics for events
• Experience with Microsoft Office suite of programs (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.)
• Self-starter with strong organizational skills, attention to detail and continuous learning mindset
• Proficiency in participating in web-based meeting platforms including, but not limited to, Zoom, Cisco Webex, and MS Teams
• Demonstrated ability to write and speak about complex topics in plain language strongly desired
• Experience in door-to-door canvassing strongly desired

At POWER Engineers, you can have a rewarding career on every level. Our philosophy is simple : Do Good. Have Fun. Build Success.

You’ll work on fun and challenging projects and initiatives with the opportunity to make a positive impact on society and the environment.

And you’ll find the support, coaching, and training it takes to advance your career.

Since we’re employee-owned, we get to make POWER a great place to work. That includes providing competitive compensation, professional development and a full benefit package :

• Medical / Dental / Vision
• Paid Holidays
• Vacation / Paid Sick Leave
• Voluntary Life Insurance
• 401K
• Telehealth Benefit covers all providers
• Maternity and Paternity Leave
• New Dads and Moms Benefit program
• Fertility Benefits
• Gender -Affirming Care

POWER is a fun engineering firm. That might seem contradictory to some, but it works for us!

POWER is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including women, minorities, veterans, and individuals with disabilities.

Base Salary Range : $55K - $84K

The range for this position is being displayed in compliance with all state and local regulations. Salaries are set based on several factors to include an individual's job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and education.

This means that no two candidates are alike. The range provided above does not include additional compensation such as bonus, health benefits, vacation, 401(k) match, etc.

LI-DC1