AOP/Communication Coordinator

About: The Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council (SBCFSC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
with a mission to promote wildfire safety in Santa Barbara County through education and action.
Members of the Board include current and past firefighting professionals and volunteers, representatives
of local government, and citizen representatives from various local communities. Every other meeting
includes a presentation from an expert on local issues such as fire ecology, vegetation management,
infrastructure improvement, and emergency planning. The goals of the meetings are to provide relevant
information to the local citizens and offer a platform for community members to become part of the
solutions to the challenges fire poses to our wildland urban areas. We also work to bring funding to our
community through grants and donations. Recent grants have helped fund the ongoing Gaviota Coast
CWPP, a local video on defensible space education, and the Buellton Walk into Wildfire exhibit.

Currently, the SBCFSC has secured funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to help
develop a novel Regional Wildfire Mitigation Program (RWMP) for Santa Barbara County’s south coast
region. Implementing the RWMP is a large focus of the SBCFSC. Goals of the RWMP include informing
individuals and communities about wildfire preparation through direct outreach efforts and indirect
educational videos and educational material, in addition to creating tailored programs and resources to
assist residents and communities with wildfire preparation activities, such as starting a community
chipping program.

Position Overview: The SBCFSC seeks a hard-working, detail oriented individual to work as our first
Administrative Office Professional/Communication Coordinator. This person will roughly split their time
between office administration work (i.e., website updates, printing, meeting coordination, general
assistance to the Executive Director and organization) and community education and outreach (i.e., social
media management, event planning, creating outreach material, etc.). On the job training regarding
wildfire and emergency preparedness is provided and sets up the employee to move up in the organization
into another position where that experience is required.

Job Responsibilities

• Event Planning: Take the lead on planning and coordinating SBCFSC community events,
  including brainstorming event themes, goals, and activities, overseeing the budget and
  subcontractors. SBCFSC Board members and staff will assist in the planning process. Events are
  hosted approx. 2 times per year. The next SBCFSC event will be in February/March 2023. Time
  estimate: 5-10 hours/week in the months leading up to the event and 20-40 hours/week in the
  weeks preceding and week of the event.
• Social media and outreach management: Update and implement a Communication and Outreach
  Strategy; Generate content for social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) to engage
  current users and promote wildfire preparedness. Some topics include encouraging individuals
  and communities to participate in Firewise USA® and the Ready! Set! Go! Program. Use tools
  such as Google Analytics and social media management software to assess what is working, what
  is not, and assess if the SBCFSC is meeting their goals in the Communication and Outreach
  Strategy. Time estimate: 10 hours/week.
• Newsletters: Take the lead on managing, coordinating, editing, and writing quarterly newsletters.
  Time estimate: 5 hours/week in the months leading up to the deadline and 10-15 hours/week in
  the weeks preceding the deadline.
• Website maintenance: Coordinate with the SBCFSC Board, staff members, and/or subcontractors
  to continuously make updates to the SBCFSC websites (training can be provided if needed).
  Updates include but are not limited to: posting agendas, recommending and making changes to
  improve user experience, creating content to post on the website. Time estimate: 1-5 hours/week.
• General office assistance and administration work: maintain a clean office space, renew software
  licenses, purchase office supplies, coordinate with payroll, printing, manage a shared SBCFSC
  Google drive, coordinate guest speakers, and provide general administrative assistance to the
  Executive Director. Time estimate: 15-20 hours/week.
• Grant assistance: Assist with writing small grants, collect documentation for grant applications,
  oversee grant management calendar
• Community Outreach: Assist at community events when needed, help create education and
  outreach material. Time estimate: 1-15 hours/week.
• Provide general assistance where needed.

Minimum Requirements

● Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent experience.
● Be able to take initiative and have meticulous attention to detail.
● Working familiarity with the main social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter).
● Experience with Google Drive and related products.
● Ability to create multi-media work products for print, radio, video/broadcast TV, web, and/or
social media for a diverse audience.
● Ability to prepare clear, concise, accurate, and well written reports.
● Desire to learn website editing in WordPress.
● Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
● Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively.

● Innovative thinker who goes above and beyond by investigating potential opportunities and
brainstorm new ideas.
● Enthusiastic and positive team player with the flexibility to re-prioritize, multi-task and deal with
ambiguity.

Desired Skills

●Working familiarity of Quickbooks.
● 1-2 years as an office administrator or similar field.
● 1-2 years professional experience with social media content creation and social media
management for Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, NextDoor, YouTube, and/or Pinterest.
● Some general understanding of wildfire behavior and/or disaster preparedness.
● Experience editing websites.
● Granting writing experience.
● Graphic design experience.
● Fluent in Spanish and able to write and produce materials in English and Spanish.

Location: Santa Barbara, CA. There will be a mix of remote and in-person work.

Application Deadline: Applications will be continuously reviewed until a suitable candidate is identified.
Interviews will be on a rolling basis.

Terms of Employment: Ideally, SBCFSC is looking to hire full-time (40 hours/week) employee, but we will consider part-time (>=20 hours/week) employment for the right canidadate. There will occasionally be weekend and evening work. This is a grant funded position through early 2025 with high expectations to extend the position indefinitely with future grants.

Salary and Benefits: The position pays $28-$32/hour (DOE). A stipend to supplement health benefits,
retirement plan, and 3 weeks of PTO is also available for full-time employees.

Applications: Applicants are invited to send a cover letter illustrating their suitability, a one-page resume,
and two writing samples for a public/general audience – one writing sample may include a social media
post or collection of social media posts created for a company or organization. All applications or
questions should be emailed to: community@SBFireSafeCouncil.org. Please include your name and
“AOP/Communication Coordinator” in the subject line.

Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We encourage applicants
from all cultures, races, colors, religions, sexes, national or regional origins, ages, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, military, or other status apply.