Government Affairs & Communications Coordinator

OUR MISSION: is to eliminate health disparities and foster community well-being by providing and promoting the highest quality care in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties.

OUR VISION: St. John’s Community Health will be a leader, catalyst, and model for the best care, long-term community health improvements, and sustainable, health-enhancing system and structures in Southern California.

OUR CORE VALUES

Dignity

We honor and respect every person we encounter—whether patient, colleague, or community member—as a valued part of the human family.

Excellence

We support and champion the best standard of care, personal and professional growth, accountability, creativity, teamwork, and a steadfast commitment to quality.

Well-being

We promote and advocate for the full integration of our patients’ physical and mental health in order to enable them to participate in their own health improvement and become active and responsible members of a vibrant and just community.

Social Justice

We collaborate with others to develop systems, organizations, and programs to advance equity and fairness in allocating community resources, and to empower and address the needs of all community members, especially the most vulnerable and disadvantaged members.

JOB SUMMARY

The Government Affairs & Communications Coordinator supports St. John’s Community Health’s government affairs, advocacy, community engagement, and communications work. This position helps turn St. John’s policy and advocacy priorities into clear messages, materials, and public communications. The role also supports elected official engagement, policy research, advocacy campaigns, civic engagement, media work, and special projects. The person in this role should be a strong writer, organized, comfortable working with elected officials and community partners, and able to manage several projects at the same time. The position requires someone who can take initiative while also following St. John’s processes, messaging, approvals, and expectations.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Performs a combination, but not necessarily all, of the following duties:

Government Affairs and Policy

· Track local, county, state, and federal policy issues that may affect St. John’s, its patients, and community health centers.

· Research legislation, government actions, funding opportunities, and policy proposals.

· Prepare briefing memos, talking points, background materials, public comments, and meeting materials for the Chief Government Affairs & Community Relations Officer and other St. John’s leaders.

· Support meetings with elected officials, government agencies, and key stakeholders.

· Help track follow-up items, commitments, deadlines, and next steps from government meetings.

· Support advocacy campaigns related to health care access, the safety net, health equity, and the right to health care.

Communications

· Help develop clear messages that explain St. John’s policy, advocacy, and community work.

· Draft newsletters, talking points, stakeholder updates, event materials, social media content, press materials, and other communications.

· Support media outreach, press events, interviews, and public statements.

· Help translate complicated policy issues into language that patients, community members, elected officials, and the public can understand.

· Support communications for major advocacy campaigns, public events, and organizational priorities.

Advocacy and Civic Engagement

· Support patient and community organizing, civic engagement, voter education, advocacy events, and community meetings.

· Help develop materials for advocacy trainings, Right to Health committees, and other civic-engagement efforts.

· Support efforts that move patients and community members from participation into deeper advocacy and leadership.

· Assist with voter education and nonpartisan civic-engagement activities consistent with St. John’s nonprofit status.

Community and Stakeholder Engagement

· Support relationships with community organizations, elected officials, government staff, coalitions, and other partners.

· Help coordinate meetings, events, roundtables, briefings, and community activities.

· Prepare background materials and follow-up communications for external partners.

· Support coalition participation and partnership-building tied to St. John’s policy and community priorities.

Project Coordination

· Manage assigned government affairs and communications projects from start to finish.

· Maintain timelines, work plans, contact lists, briefing materials, and follow-up items.

· Coordinate with departments across St. John’s to collect information and complete materials.

· Support special projects assigned by the Chief Government Affairs & Community Relations Officer.

· Help make sure materials are accurate, approved, and completed on time.

Responsibility to Team – actively support assigned team/department by participating in and supporting all team/departmental initiatives, proactively communicating with supervision, meeting assigned goals and objectives, and committing to embracing process improvement initiatives.

Responsibility to Organization – actively support SJCH by consistently meeting St. John’s Mission, Vision, and Values; modeling positive interactions with patients, staff, and community; keeping informed of internal (e.g., policies and procedures) and external (e.g., legal or political matters) which may affect business.

Additional Duties – as assigned.

For Grant Funded Positions – if position is grant funded, grant specific duties which may be in addition to the above are attached with employee attestation herewith.

St. John’s Community Health is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer

QUALIFICATIONS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

· Strong writing, editing, research, and communication skills.

· Experience in government affairs, public affairs, communications, advocacy, community engagement, political work, or a related field.

· Ability to understand policy issues and explain them in clear language.

· Strong organization and project-management skills.

· Ability to work with elected officials, community partners, media, staff, and senior leadership.

· Comfortable taking initiative and working independently while following organizational processes and approvals.

· Experience with civic engagement, organizing, campaigns, or community-based work is preferred.

· Knowledge of Los Angeles government, politics, health care, or community organizations is preferred.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms and talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this Job, the employee establishes and maintains effective work relationships with co-workers and customers, maintains regular attendance, understands and carries out a variety of oral and written instructions, has knowledge of proper English usage, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and vocabulary, has the ability to learn office principles, practices, and methods, understands filing systems, including numerical, alphabetical, and chronological, learns a variety of procedures, policies, and services of the assigned work unit or program, performs assigned duties with efficiency and accuracy and maintains confidentiality.

The employee will be working in a normal office environment with exposure to moderate noise, dust, temperature, etc. During community meetings and outreach activities an employee may be subjected to a variety of locations and situations including community centers and large meeting rooms; this may involve varying noise levels, temperature, dust, or other environmental differences.

NOTE

The statements herein are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by employees, but is not a complete list of responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. It is not to be constructed as an exhaustive statement for essential functions, responsibilities, or requirements. Furthermore, they do not establish a contract for employment and are subject to change at the discretion of the employer.