About This Position
The City of Phoenix Communications Office has a rare and exciting opportunity for three Public Information Officers (PIOs) to join our team. One position will serve full time within the Street Transportation Department, raising awareness about road safety and supporting strong public engagement for infrastructure improvement projects. A second PIO will serve full time in the Water Services Department, shaping essential public messaging on water conservation, drought response, advanced water purification, resource stewardship, and infrastructure reliability. The third PIO will support multiple City departments, providing strategic messaging, content development, media coordination, and public outreach that advances Citywide priorities.
PIOs in Phoenix work on high profile topics that require accuracy, clarity, and professionalism. These include emergency incidents, infrastructure disruptions, environmental events, rate and policy changes, and large City projects. PIOs collaborate with the Communications Office, City leadership, operational divisions, and partner agencies to ensure residents receive timely and transparent information.
As a PIO, you will work in a growing and dynamic city. You will be a member of a creative and collaborative communications team that values innovation, continuous improvement, and service to the community. These positions generally follow traditional business hours, but also require attending public meetings, community engagement activities, and media events which may occur during the early morning, evening or on weekends or holidays. Limited hybrid telework options may be considered following a performance review period and assigned department approval.
Responsibilities
PIO responsibilities include media relations, researching, writing, and editing public information and marketing materials, campaign development, social media and web content creation, video production, and internal and external collateral development. PIOs ensure accessible communication for Spanish speaking residents and maintain close coordination with the Mayor and City Council Offices and the City Manager's Office. The role also includes the following specialized responsibilities:
Crisis and Emergency Communication
- Provide real time messaging during emergencies.
- Develop employee updates, public advisories, customer service scripts, and media responses.
Media Relations and Public Transparency.
- Serve as a primary contact for journalists and maintain strong professional relationships with the media.
- Respond quickly with accurate information, coordinate interviews with subject matter experts, and support production of visuals and data resources.
Strategic Campaign and Content Leadership
- Plan and deliver public outreach campaigns.
- Direct creative development, manage earned or paid media projects, and use analytics to guide content strategy.
Digital Communication and Website Publishing
- Develop content for social media and Phoenix.gov.
- Collaborate with IT, designers, and operational staff on digital improvements and accessibility.
Technical, Scientific, and Policy Translation
- Convert complex governmental, regulatory, engineering, and scientific information into clear messaging for the public, media, partners, and elected officials.
Community Engagement and Public Events
- Coordinate public meetings, tours, workshops, events, and City ceremonies.
- Develop outreach strategies and materials to raise awareness or encourage public participation on department projects.
- Represent departments at community events and support inclusive outreach, including Spanish language sessions.
Internal Communication and Organizational Support
- Create internal briefings, newsletters, onboarding tools, training content, and employee recognition materials.
- Support recruitment and workforce initiatives with targeted communication strategies.
IDEAL CANDIDATE
- Exceptional writers with a demonstrated mastery of AP Style.
- Ability to simplify complex governmental, scientific, engineering, or procedural information.
- Ability to be creative storytellers who can produce content from concept to completion across various platforms.
- Comfortable working in fast paced environments, managing multiple projects, navigating complex organizational structures, and using data and analytics to guide communication decisions.
- Excel at building relationships, supporting executive priorities, and serving diverse communities.
- Strong writing skills and editing skills with demonstrated proficiency in AP Style and the ability to produce reports, articles, presentations, talking points, speeches, press releases, media responses, and social media content.
SALARY
Pay Range: $84,094.40 - $112,715.20 annually.
Hiring Range: $84,094.40 - $107,348.80 annually.
Pay Range Explanation
- Pay range is the entire compensation range for the position classification.
- Hiring range is an estimate of where you can receive an offer. The actual salary offer will carefully consider a wide range of factors, including your skills, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, training, and internal equity.
Benefits
A comprehensive benefits package is offered which includes:
- Traditional pension with employer and employee contributions, click here for more details: Pension Information.
- 401(a) and 457 plans with employer contributions.
- Choice of generous medical HMO, PPO, or HSA/HDHP plans.
- Medical enrollment includes a monthly $150 City contribution to a Post-Employment Health Plan.
- Wellness incentive of up to $720 annually.
- Dental, vision, and life insurance options.
- Employer paid long-term disability.
- Free Bus/light rail pass.
- Tuition reimbursement program up to $6,500 per year.
- Paid time off includes 13.5 paid holidays, 12 vacation days, and 15 sick days and personal leave days.
- Paid Parental Leave for eligible employees up to 480 hours (12 weeks) of paid leave for the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child during a 12-month period.
- Federal Student Loan Forgiveness offered through Savi.
For more details, visit: Unit 007 Benefits
Minimum Qualifications
- Four years of responsible experience in journalism, mass media communications, or public relations.
- Bachelor's degree in journalism, mass media communications, public relations, advertising, marketing or a related field.
- Other combinations of experience and education that meet the minimum requirements may be substituted.
- All finalists for positions are subject to a criminal background check applicable to the department or position.
- This position requires the use of personal or City vehicles on City business. Individuals must be physically capable of operating the vehicles safely, possess a valid driver's license and have an acceptable driving record. Use of a personal vehicle for City business will be prohibited if the employee is not authorized to drive a City vehicle or if the employee does not have personal insurance coverage.
- For information regarding pre-screening and driving positions, click here.
- The City job description can be found here.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with high-profile or crisis communications/media relations.
- Experience in local government and/or public administration.
- Experience working with traditional (television and print) media.
- Experience creating digital media content for web and social (including Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, Nextdoor) platforms including scheduling and monitoring.
- Experience in basic graphic design and experience with Canva or similar software.
- Experience filming/editing/producing video content.
- Experience capturing, interpreting, sharing, and making decisions using web or social media analytics.
- Experience developing content calendars, identify trends and maintain consistent messaging across platforms.
- Bilingual (Spanish) professional communication proficiency.
RECRUITMENT DATES
Recruitment closes September 28, 2026. All materials must be received by 11:59 p.m. on this date.
This is a position-based recruitment and will not result in any ongoing eligibility list. This recruitment and any selection processes resulting from this recruitment may be used to fill other related vacancies within the organization now or in the near future.
How To Apply
Apply online by completing the required information and attaching,
as one document, your cover letter and resume. Please include your experience as it relates to the qualifications stated above. Only the highest qualified may be posted to the eligible to hire list. The results of the resume screening process will be sent to your primary email address.
WE ARE HERE TO HELP
- Job interviews may be held by video or audio conference.
- If you are in need of computer resources, click here for free options.
- Arizona at Work has frequent classes to help with resume writing, interviewing skills, and general career guidance. Click here for more information.
- Explore other Employment Opportunities with the City of Phoenix.
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- If you require assistance at any stage of the application process due to an accessibility issue, please contact the Human Resources Department by phone at (602) 495-5700 or by text at (800) 367-8939. You may also fill out and submit a Reasonable Accommodation Request Form.
REFERENCE
Public Information Officer, JC:06370, ID# 63089, 09/21/26, USM, MR, Benefits:007
Building the Phoenix of tomorrow.
#DoWorkThatMakesPhoenixWork
City of Phoenix is an equal opportunity employer. AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, and other national service alumni who meet the required qualifications are encouraged to apply.
