Senior Director, Community Relations & Communications

at  University of California San Francisco

As a member of the CGR Leadership Team, the Senior Director of Community Relations and Communications (Senior Director) reports directly to the Assistant Vice Chancellor of Community Relations and Strategic Partnerships (AVC) and manages a critical and strategic departmental function for a growing team.
The position requires significant strategic planning, budget management and team management responsibilities. The Senior Director works in collaboration with the AVC and oversees all community and stakeholder engagement strategies in San Francisco (with the possibility of growing beyond SF) to cultivate supporters, build trust, maximize support, identify risks, and manage the community’s reaction to ensure UCSF is successful in its mission and goals. Under the direction of the AVC, the Senior Director will form a cross-departmental committee to develop communication strategies. From there, the Senior Director will lead the implementation of the communications strategy and related sponsorship and events strategies.
Engaging the community is increasingly key to achieving health equity. It is also essential to meeting the mandates and approval requirements set by government regulators, legislators, and the UC Regents. As UCSF, together with UCSF Health, expands its footprint, the need for proactive, strategic, trusted, and transparent relationships with community partners is paramount to achieving UCSF’s mission, goals, and a positive perception by community and government leaders throughout the Bay Area, across the state, and nationally. The Senior Director partners closely with government relations and the Center for Community Engagement, ensuring cross-functional collaboration and coordination.
Community partners include neighbors and neighborhood associations, leaders of “grass roots” and “grass tops” organizations, the business community, local merchants, labor, health affiliates, schools, faith-based organizations, other community-based health care organizations, and more.

The Senior Director oversees community relations strategies and personnel to achieve the following goals:

• Community Relations, Events and Sponsorships: As the primary liaison to UCSF’s neighbors, the San Francisco community and civic organizations, the Senior Director and her team consult with leaders at UCSF about the important landscape of community supporters, risks, and strategies for community engagement to promote dialogue and facilitate positive relationships between UCSF and the San Francisco community. The Senior Director and her team work to mitigate any actions, concerns or opposition that would adversely affect the campus, UCSF Health, or University of California. The Senior Director helps develop and implements research, project plans, events and other communications in support of defined priorities and objectives. The Senior Director identifies and strategizes on risks and opportunities in the landscape of community relations, including land use and CEQA. The Senior Director also develops and oversees CGR’s sponsorship strategy, events coordination, and enterprise-wide sponsorship approval process.
• CGR Communications: The Senior Director will partner with the AVC and others in CGR to co-create the CGR strategic communications strategy. The Senior Director will implement the strategy, including the management of .4 FTE to engage external partners and the general public, ensure the CGR team is speaking with one voice, and center equity and community in our narrative. Implementation may involve the creation, editing, and distribution of briefings, talking points, and other material for university leadership as they relate to CGR initiatives, events, or programs, which can take the form of reports, presentations, and other public-facing materials including presentations, website, newsletters, social media, and advocacy efforts.
• Internal Stakeholder Relationships: Community Relations is an integral part of UCSF’s strategic decisions and planning processes. The Senior Director partners internally with leaders across UCSF campus, UCSF Health, Benioff Children’s Hospitals, and affiliates to develop and strengthen community engagement connections and strategies for UCSF. This position provides organization-wide influence on the identification and framing of community relations issues, and the formulation and advancement of approaches to address them. The Senior Director collaborates with other campus units-including, but not limited to, Campus Planning, Real Estate, Capital Programs, Facilities Management, Campus Life Services, Transportation Services, Legal, Communications and UCSF Health units to identity, implement and direct programs that strengthen UCSF’s relationships with the San Francisco community
• Community Relations Team Management: The Senior Director manages the San Francisco Community Relations team, which includes an associate director, two assistant directors. The Senior Director has dotted line oversight to a .4 FTE as it relates to communications and .5 FTE for meeting and events coordination.
• Advisory Groups: The Senior Director oversees the coordination of the San Francisco Community Advisory Group, which advises on long range development planning.
• Budget Management: As part of strategic planning and management, the Senior Director is responsible for forecasting and managing the annual Community Relations budget.

Leadership Team responsibilities: The Senior Director is part of CGR’s Leadership Team, which is collectively responsible for achieving CGR’s programmatic goals, incorporating DEIA-AR strategies, managing staff events, and maintaining.
The final salary and offer components are subject to additional approvals based on UC policy.
Your placement within the salary range is dependent on a number of factors including your work experience and internal equity within this position classification at UCSF. For positions that are represented by a labor union, placement within the salary range will be guided by the rules in the collective bargaining agreement.
The salary range for this position is $105,900 - $225,900 (Annual Rate).
To learn more about the benefits of working at UCSF, including total compensation, please visit: https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/compensation-and-benefits/index.html

DEPARTMENT DESCRIPTION

UC San Francisco is a hub of discovery, innovation and humanity. It plays a pivotal role in the global dialogue of health and science, and is an integral member of the dynamic Bay Area community. The Office of Community & Government Relations (CGR) is responsible for cultivating and maintaining relationships with campus neighbors as well as elected officials at the local, state, and federal level, on behalf of UCSF. CGR also coordinates the University’s response to a wide range of political and policy issues, and advises administrators and faculty on strategies to facilitate dialogue with government and community leaders.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in related area and 10+ years of directly related work experience; and / or equivalent experience / training.
• Six years of experience in the area of community relations, including experience with conflict resolution, physical planning, neighborhood organizing, multi-party negotiation.
• Leadership/management skills, including skills to lead, direct, mentor, evaluate and motivate staff.
• Knowledge about management, community organizing skills, team building, community leadership, organization dynamics and motivations, public relations (particularly public presentation), complex multi-party negotiations, conflict resolution, litigation, facility construction, urban and physical planning are all critical in the performance of this position.
• Ability to present a clear analysis and strategy to the Assistant Vice Chancellor of Community Relations & Strategic Partnership and Vice Chancellor of Community & Government Relations, as well as work with parallel campus officials within other divisions.
• Expert comprehensive knowledge of relevant external constituencies including their composition and primary goals/objectives.
• Strong knowledge of management principles, including personnel and budget administration and advanced skill in implementing effective personnel and budget operations and practices.
• Strong skills in advocating for and representing the institution to its various publics
• Expert level written, verbal, interpersonal communication and leadership skills, including attentive listening, and skills to ascertain constituency perception, think quickly, and respond appropriately.
• Strong skills in understanding constituency needs as related to institutional needs and skills in designing solutions or strategies to achieve consensus.
• Expert level analytical and decision-making skills, sound judgment, and highly developed negotiation and political acumen skills.
• Strategic planning skills.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Expert skill to recognize potential areas of constituency concern and skill to effectively address, resolve and / or mitigate problems or issues.
• Expert skill to quickly identify and develop strategies to effectively communicate the institution’s message.
• Expert knowledge of the principles and concepts of building and maintaining effective relationships with key constituencies to achieve institutional goals and objectives.
• Expert knowledge and understanding of general issues in higher education and campus specific issues.
• Expert, thorough and in-depth knowledge of the campus, including short and long range strategic plans, vision, goals, objectives, infrastructure, programs, achievements and awards.
• Knowledge of the campus’ approach and process to environmental review and litigation and land use. Knowledge of the campus Long Range Development Plan (LRDP)

Please refer the Job description for details