Communications Specialist

Department Information

Why Work for Colorado?

Meaningful Service in Colorful Colorado

It’s no secret that we live here because Colorado is beautiful. We are rich in natural, colorful beauty in a stunning landscape that includes the highest sand dunes in North America to 54 mountain peaks over 14,000 feet. Not only do we have one of the most unique and varied natural landscapes in the nation, we have a diverse heritage in history, lifestyle, and culture that is reflected in our devoted State of Colorado workforce.

When You Work With The State Of Colorado,

You Will Find Meaningful Work In Public Service To Colorado And Its Citizens

As the largest employer in the state, the State of Colorado offers a wealth of career opportunities. In fact, we have over 25,000 state government professional, technical and service positions within over 50 agencies. Each position makes a difference by helping people, enhancing our livelihood and making Colorado a better place to live. No other Colorado-based employer is as dynamic and nowhere in Colorado will you find so many opportunities with one employer. A career with the State of Colorado also puts you on a rich and rewarding professional path. Whether you are looking for “a stepping stone” to launch your professional life, growing a long-term career or changing career paths, you’ll find jobs in dozens of fields.

Colorado Department of Revenue

The Colorado Department of Revenue (CDOR) employs approximately 1,200 hard-working and dedicated employees throughout Colorado. We can be seen performing functions as varied as auditing and collecting taxes, issuing driver licenses and motor vehicle titles, marketing lottery products, enforcing liquor laws, and regulating gaming, horse racing, marijuana, and the auto industry and assisting the citizens of our state. At CDOR, we value Communication, Dedication, Ownership and Responsible Government.

Our department values being Effective, Efficient and Elegant. This means doing the right thing, achieving the best outcome and delivering the best customer experience with each interaction.

Effective- Measure every aspect of government to be sure it’s doing what it’s supposed to do and to look at outcomes to judge whether our programs are successful.

Efficient- Deliver services in ways that are timely and effective including identifying waste and duplication and measure for efficiency.

Elegant- Deliver state services in a way that elevates both the state employee and the person receiving state services.

The Department of Revenue also offers:
Distinctive career advancement opportunities throughout the State system

Strong, secure, yet flexible retirement benefits including PERA Defined Benefit Plan, PERA Defined Contribution Plan, State Defined Contribution plan plus 401K and 457 plans

Medical and dental health plans

Paid life insurance

Automatic short-term (and optional long-term) disability coverage

10 paid holidays per year plus generous personal time off

Reduced price RTD Eco-Pass offered to Denver location employees

Description of Job

This position will be responsible for initiating and implementing proactive public information campaigns to include serving the media by sending press releases, researching and responding to media inquiries. Position will distribute and publish press releases via email, social media and on Taxation website; and maintain a media contact list. Position will be responsible for proposing, drafting and posting approved blog posts and email messages; revising content or creating new materials for print brochures and coordinating print jobs. Position will monitor performance metrics for email subscription service and blog to identify opportunities to improve effectiveness of these channels. Position will collaborate with the communications team and consult with tax subject matter experts regarding content specific information. Additional duties include researching, analyzing and remedying program complaints and problems received from taxpayers; coordinating administration for education program, including class registration, room reservations and travel logistics for the public trainer.

Minimum Qualifications, Substitutions, Conditions of Employment & Appeal Rights

THIS POSITION IS OPEN ONLY TO COLORADO RESIDENTS

Minimum Qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Marketing, English, Journalism or Public Relations AND one year of professional experience providing public information through digital and print communications channels.

Substitutions

College or University coursework, appropriate to the work assignment may substitute for the general experience on a year-for-year basis but not for the specified experience.

Preferred Qualifications and Competencies

The preferred applicant will possess the following:
two or more years experience working with current communication channels (print, website, video, email, blog, social media, direct mail, media relations) and experience tailoring “voice” across channels and audiences

strong written communications skills

experience with layout for newsletters, flyers, postcards, professional reports, social media content and basic graphic design

ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines

excellent interpersonal and customer service skills

ability to collaborate with communications team and tax subject matter experts

experience providing information in compliance with the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA)

DOR REQUIRED SKILLS & COMPETENCIES: Competencies required for all DOR positions include good communications skills, interpersonal skills, capture, track and prioritize all tasks, responsibilities and projects, manage multiple priorities, work with confidential information, possess the ability to work in high-stress environments, and demonstrate the ability to assist customers in an efficient, effective, and elegant manner.

The following are conditions of employment with the Colorado Department of Revenue:

1. All employees must be current with their Income Tax filings and payments with the State of Colorado. This includes successfully passing a pre-employment evaluation of your tax records/accounts.

2. Applicants must agree to provide reference information and sign a waiver of liability in order to be considered for DOR jobs.

3. All DOR positions require successful completion of a background investigation prior to appointment. Background checks may include criminal, financial, traffic, civil, education, and/or experience checks or any other checks related to the assignment. Movement within the department to a different position may be cause for requiring additional background checks. Refusal to participate in the background check process will disqualify a person from employment with DOR. In addition, false, incomplete or inaccurate information, including failure to disclose a material fact during this process, may be grounds for disqualification from employment and/or your name being removed from the eligible list.

4. Department of Revenue employees are prohibited from “…exercising any regulatory control over any organization at which the employee was formerly employed or associated for a period of three years from the employee’s last employment with such organization…” Prior employment, as it may be covered by this policy, will be considered in the hiring process.

5. Effective January 1, 2005, newly hired employees should be aware that employment with a state government employer offering public pension plans may cause a potential reduction of future Social Security benefits. The Department of Revenue is such an employer.

6. Employees in positions designated as overtime eligible under FLSA provisions (non-exempt), must be willing to accept compensatory time off in lieu of cash compensation for overtime work performed.

APPEAL RIGHTS:
If you receive notice that you have been eliminated from consideration for the position, you may protest the action by filing an appeal with the State Personnel Board/State Personnel Director within 10 days from the date you receive notice of the elimination.

Also, if you wish to challenge the selection and comparative analysis process, you may file an appeal with the State Personnel Board/State Personnel Director within 10 days from the receipt of notice or knowledge of the action you are challenging.

Refer to Chapters 4 and 8 of the State Personnel Board Rules and Personnel Director’s Administrative Procedures, 4 CCR 801, for more information about the appeals process. The State Personnel Board Rules and Personnel Director’s Administrative Procedures are available at www.colorado.gov/spb.

A standard appeal form is available at: www.colorado.gov/spb. If you appeal, your appeal must be submitted in writing on the official appeal form, signed by you or your representative, and received at the following address within 10 days of your receipt of notice or knowledge of the action: Colorado State Personnel Board/State Personnel Director, Attn: Appeals Processing, 1525 Sherman Street, 4th Floor, Denver, CO 80203. Fax: 303-866-5038. Phone: 303-866-3300. The ten-day deadline and these appeal procedures also apply to all charges of discrimination.

Supplemental Information

E-MAIL ADDRESS:
All correspondence regarding your status in the selection/examination process will be conducted via e-mail. Include a working email address on your application; one that is checked often as time sensitive correspondence WILL take place via email. Exam information or notification will take place via email; check your email frequently. Please include your current e-mail address on your application and set up your e-mail to accept messages from “state.co.us” and “info@governmentjobs.com” addresses. It is your responsibility to ensure that your email will accept these notices and/or review your junk mail and spam filtered email.

APPLICANT CHECKLIST:
Only complete applications submitted by the closing date for this announcement will be given consideration. Failure to submit properly completed documents by the closing date of this announcement may result in your application being rejected.

Applicants MUST submit a resume, cover letter/letter of interest and transcripts (if applicable) detailing how their experience and background address the stated minimum and preferred qualifications/competencies of the job (late submissions will not be accepted).

Complete Applications must include the following documents:
1) A complete CDOR Application for Announced Vacancy (Submit online using the link in this announcement)

2) A complete Supplemental Questionnaire (Submit online as part of your application)

3) A chronological resume (Attach to your online application, late submissions will not be accepted)

4) A Cover Letter with a Written Narrative. The written narrative should describe your interest in this position and specifically how your education, abilities, skills and experience relate to the requirements, responsibilities and competencies listed in the job announcement. (Attach to your online application, late submissions will not be accepted)

5) A copy of your official or unofficial transcript showing that your degree has been conferred and the name of your school, or your NACES accreditation (Attach to your online application, late submissions will not be accepted)

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS:
The application will be used to determine if the applicant meets the Minimum Qualification requirements.

The application, resume and cover letter/letter of interest are the first step in the comparative analysis process and will be used to determine whether an applicant will move on to the next step in the process. They may also be used to determine the top group to be invited for further testing, the applicants rank or establish an eligible list.

Part of, or the entire comparative analysis for this position, may involve a review of the information submitted in the application material, including the answers to the supplemental questions. Therefore, it is paramount that in the experience portion of the application, the applicant describes the extent to which they possess the education, experience, competencies and background as they relate to the duties outlined in the job announcement, as well as the special and/or preferred qualifications. List your employment history starting with the most recent job, including part-time, temporary, and volunteer jobs. If more than one job was held with a given organization, list each job held as a separate period of employment. Under “Duties,” describe clearly the tasks you performed and the nature of your supervisory, technical, or other responsibilities as they relate to the job for which you are applying. Be complete and specific in detailing of duties. Information must be accurate, including dates of employment. If it is found that information provided is falsified, you will not be considered for a job with the State of Colorado and/or may be removed from a job after hire. “See resume” statements will not be accepted in lieu of a properly competed application. Failure to include adequate information or follow instructions may affect the applicant’s score and/or prevent them from competing in any subsequent measures used to arrive at a top group of applicants. Factors to be assessed are those outlined in the requirements, competencies, and preferred qualifications.

Years will be expressed in terms of full-time equivalent service with full-time workload equal to one (1) Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) year. No more than 1.00 FTE year may be credited in any twelve (12) month period. Positions working 40 hours of less per week will be pro-rated (i.e. 30 hrs/wk=0.75 FTE=9 mos credit; 20 hrs/wk=0.5 FTE=6 mos credit; 10 hrs/wk=0.25 FTE=3 most credit)