Communications Manager

JOB DESCRIPTION

Position Summary

California is the No. 1 travel destination in the nation, fueled by Visit California’s global marketing program that inspires travel and is funded and guided by the tourism industry — a network of thousands of California businesses that benefit from tourism, as well as hundreds of tourism boards and trade associations. The Communications Manager develops and executes a communications strategy to inform and engage tourism industry stakeholders. This role involves cross-functional collaboration within the organization to effectively communicate the value of Visit California to the tourism industry.

Key responsibilities include the creation and implementation of communications plans to support industry events, programs, special projects, and partnership opportunities across various platforms—print, digital, and in-person. The role entails coordinating timelines, developing messaging, and managing the sourcing, writing, editing, and approval processes for content.

The Communications Manager is responsible for overseeing industry reporting and managing the industry-facing editorial calendar. This includes producing real-time updates for the industry blog (Newsroom), curating content for the monthly newsletter (Insights), preparing quarterly board reports, and compiling the annual report (Year in Review).

Additionally, the Communications Manager leads the development of executive communications. This involves researching and contextualizing correspondence requests, verifying audience/recipients, editing content and coordinating approvals. The role also oversees the editorial calendar and the creation of CEO-level email communications to the broader tourism industry.

The Communications Manager travels several times a year throughout California to attend Visit California events and board meetings.

AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

Estimated % of Time Per Activity

• 20% Develop and implement strategic and tactical plans for industry-facing communications to support Visit California’s overall industry communications strategy.
• 25% Create or curate and edit content for industry-facing publications, digital channels and other industry relations collateral. Work closely with Visit California departments to obtain information, research appropriate details, draft content and coordinate associated graphics. Manage appropriate vendors for development.
• 30% Manage ongoing reporting deliverables, including industry blog, monthly newsletter, quarterly board reports and annual report.
  • Manage editorial calendars and develop content.
  • Coordinate timelines for content delivery, ensuring all materials are sourced, written, edited, and approved on schedule.
  • Demonstrate value as granular as possible to instill confidence in Visit California’s global program of work.
• 20% Oversee development of executive communications by managing internal CEO correspondence requests and strategically planning industry-wide CEO update emails.
• 5% Assist Director of Corporate Communications with various written correspondence, talking points and special projects materials on behalf of Visit California.

Supervisory Responsibility: No

QUALIFICATIONS / EXPERIENCE

Essential Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must have:

• Minimum four years of experience as a writer and/or editor.
• Experience in writing for a variety of audiences across several mediums.
• Bachelor’s degree or higher in a writing discipline such as English, journalism, communications or related field, or equivalent combination of experience, education and training.
• Strong knowledge of AP style. Excellent proofreading, writing and editing skills.
• Strong expertise of Microsoft Office products, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Experience with enterprise content management system preferred.
• Knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite products including Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator and other publishing software is preferred.
• Ability to communicate and work well with others in a professional office environment.
• Ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
• Experience in writing across a variety of platforms.
• Strong project management skills.