Community Engagement and Events Manager, Austin Local Newsroom

A new Austin community newsroom launching in 2025 and supported by The Texas Tribune is hiring its inaugural Community Engagement and Events Manager.

The ideal candidate will have the passion and ability to convene diverse individuals, empower and equip them to be ambassadors for their communities and public-service journalism.

They will use social media and other innovative strategies to grow our audience and reach and to implement outcome-focused audience growth strategies. Candidates should demonstrate an ability to interpret website traffic and social media engagement data to inform and refine communication and content strategies, aiming for increased reach and impact. They should have experience developing and executing strategies for leveraging key social media platforms to amplify organizational messages and cultivate connections with a broad range of audiences.

The Community Engagement and Events Manager must have the experience and skills to lead an event from start to finish and build trust and rapport with numerous constituencies and community members.

The Role

The Community Engagement and Events Manager is an outward-facing role with a regular presence at neighborhood association and PTA meetings. The position will be charged with the successful execution of our live journalism and events offering, as well as a co-lead in our annual audience growth and reach goal.

This person will also be responsible for the tactical execution of a social media strategy that engages with Austin residents while also promoting our content. Most of all, this role will be the bridge to ensure our work is resonating with specific communities and living up to our ambitious service-based vision.

The Austin-based newsroom will leverage multiple virtual and in-person gatherings to amplify our work and connection within and in service to targeted communities in Austin. The Community Engagement and Events Manager will collaborate in developing the strategy and then own the execution of all the events.

The Community Engagement and Events Manager understands prevailing trends in the cultural and political landscape. They will be a primary point of contact for key community leaders and representatives who are connected with the organization, and the person in this role should be comfortable bringing the needs of communities to senior leadership and advancing ideas and strategies that elevate our work.

Working closely with the Editor-in-Chief, the Community Engagement and Events Manager will help develop innovative strategies and tactics that grow our audience.

This is an exciting opportunity to build an ambitious and impactful local newsroom. The Community Engagement and Events Manager will work closely with the Editor-in-Chief and General Manager to build strong coalitions, understand the nuances and needs of our audience, and create a best-in-class experience for our member-donors. They will also represent the organization in public forums to evangelize the newsroom’s mission.

This position will report to the Editor-in-Chief.

The salary for this position will depend on experience. The minimum is $60,000.

Responsibilities

• Co-develop and own the execution of the Austin newsroom’s live journalism and events offering.
• Identify, build, and cultivate relationships with key community stakeholders, including community leaders, residents, businesses, partner organizations, and news outlets.
• Work with the Editor-in-Chief to develop and launch innovative strategies that enable us to reach our annual total audience goal.
• Understand prevailing trends and the cultural and political landscape, and build trusted relationships with key community stakeholders.
• Engineer an authentic and robust feedback loop with key constituencies and co-develop initiatives that address their needs.
• Represent the organization at community meetings, events and functions.
• Analyze website traffic and social media engagement data to inform communication and content strategies.
• Identify and leverage social media platforms to amplify our message and connect with diverse audiences.
• Collaborate with the Tribune’s events, audience, editorial, and marketing and communications teams to ensure programs and services are responsive to community needs.
• Track and measure the impact of engagement initiatives and report findings to leadership.

You’re a good fit if …

• You have three years of experience in community engagement, project management, or a similar field.
• You have proven experience in developing and executing successful community engagement initiatives.
• You have proficiency in Spanish.
• You have a track record of managing high task loads and the diverse needs of critical stakeholders.
• You have an entrepreneurial spirit — you can thrive in a startup environment where you are expected to learn as you go, think outside the box, and creatively solve problems on the fly.
• You have excellent communication, interpersonal, and relationship-building skills.
• You have strong written and verbal communication skills.
• You have excellent public speaking and presentation skills.
• You can work independently and manage multiple priorities.
• You have demonstrated experience with various social media platforms and content creation tools.
• You have a passion for Austin, local news, and human-centered work.

We know some great candidates who won’t check all of these boxes, and we know some might have important skills that we haven’t considered. If that’s you, don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself.

Location

This position is based in Austin, Texas, with hybrid remote working flexibility.

Benefits

This job is full-time and includes the following benefits:

• Medical, vision and dental insurance
• A monthly cellphone stipend
• 20 days of paid time off each year
• 12 paid holidays
• Up to 16 weeks of paid family leave, plus four weeks of additional job protection
• 401(k) matching
• Support for professional training and attending industry conferences