Public Affairs Media Specialist/Web Developer

About Us:

Our Mission

The Ohio Consumers’ Counsel advocates and educates to secure for Ohioans affordable, reliable, and equitable residential utility services that are essential to their well-being.

 The Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, the State’s voice for millions of Ohio residential utility consumers, seeks an employee with a passion for public service to serve as a Public Affairs Media Specialist/Web Developer in its Public Affairs Department.  This position is an opportunity to help consumers, including at-risk and low-income Ohioans, regarding justice for their electric, natural gas, telephone, and water utility services.  Since the legislature created the agency in 1976, we have sought lower utility bills and reliable utility service for residential consumers.  At OCC, we put Consumers First.

Public Affairs Media Specialist/Web Developer will provide web development services that further the online and digital presence of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel (OCC) for advocacy and education for residential utility consumers and for the information of others.

Under general direction of the agency director and the public affairs director, designs, configures, and maintains OCC's public website, intranet, social media, and digital products. Provides website development, implements and assists with others' web designs, provides maintenance and programming services for OCC's public website and intranet; creates and updates page layouts, website styling (colors and fonts) and page features (animations and pictures) within the Drupal content management system (CMS) framework and deploys upgrades to the CMS framework.

Assists OCC Public Affairs staff and others by developing and enhancing internet and intranet sites that are customer and mission focused. Recommends policies, procedures and technologies regarding hardware and/or software to ensure that OCC web-based communication techniques and/or platforms meet agency expectations for service to the public and are compatible with and reasonably reflect modern, cost-effective web technologies.

Ensures website is accessible across devices and browsers, including different screen sizes, tablets, and smartphones. Develops web-based features and tools to serve consumer interests by implementing rotators, sliders, counters (for tracking real-time costs of utility charges and other things), clickable information, landing pages, etc.

Develops web-based forms to enable consumers to contact the OCC. Integrates data from various back-end services and/or databases. Writes Cascading Style Sheets to strengthen OCC theming and presentation of web content. Analyzes the use and effectiveness of web site layout and content through website analytics. Maintains communication with team members and supervisors concerning the direction of the website and troubleshoots website problems as they arise.

Serves as a technical liaison to OCC management for providing discussion and recommendations for website development and performance. Provides training to other OCC staff on website systems and services (e.g., Drupal, Apache, etc.). Writes website and end-user documentation for managing the agency website. Creates and maintains software documentation. Assists OCC with determining and adopting new web technologies to enhance the OCC's relationship with Ohio's residential utility consumers.

Performs other duties as assigned by the Agency Director and Public Affairs Director, including assisting with other projects and outreach efforts of the Public Affairs Department as needed.

At the State of Ohio, we take care of the team that cares for Ohioans. We provide a variety of quality, competitive benefits to eligible full-time and part-time employees*. For a list of all the State of Ohio Benefits, visit our Total Rewards website! Our benefits package includes:

• Medical Coverage
• Free Dental, Vision and Basic Life Insurance premiums after completion of eligibility period
• Paid time off, including vacation, personal, sick leave and 11 paid holidays per year
• Childbirth, Adoption, and Foster Care leave
• Education and Development Opportunities (Employee Development Funds, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and more)
• Public Retirement Systems (such as OPERS, STRS, SERS, and HPRS) & Optional Deferred Compensation (Ohio Deferred Compensation)

*Benefits eligibility is dependent on a number of factors. The Agency Contact listed above will be able to provide specific benefits information for this position.

The ideal candidate must:

·         hold at least a bachelor’s degree in information technology, web design, or a related field

·         have at least three (3) years of related work experience in website design, development, and programming

·         possess in-depth knowledge and experience with:

o   Drupal content management system

o   Apache webserver

o   MySQL

o   website analytics

·         be proficient in website development, layout, and design

·         possess knowledge of public relations and media practices

·         be able to gather, collate, and classify information about data, people, and/or things

·         be proficient in coding with HTML, XML, CSS, PHP (limited) and JavaScript

·         understand search-engine optimization methods and techniques and be able to help the OCC improve search rankings through proper site optimization

·         possess strong problem-solving abilities

·         have the ability to write routine business correspondence and be proficient in English grammar and composition

·         be willing to assist with other projects in the Public Affairs Department as needed

be familiar with Linux system administration

Employment is contingent upon successful completion of a background check and a drug test. Per the Ohio Revised Code 124.151(B), all newly hired employees will be required to have their compensation deposited directly to a financial institution. The Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel is an Equal Opportunity Employer. When contacted for an interview, an applicant who requires special accommodations due to a disability should notify the Office of Human Resources at the time he/she is contacted so that proper arrangements can be made for the interview.

The applicant is required to provide details of minimum qualifications and job duties on the application form. Failure to provide the information will preclude consideration of the applicant. If an interview is offered, supporting documentation/paperwork (e.g., college transcripts, copy of pertinent license or certifications, etc.) may be required at the time of the interview.

Ohio is a Disability Inclusion State and strives to be a model employer of individuals with disabilities. The State of Ohio is committed to providing access and inclusion and reasonable accommodation in its services, activities, programs and employment opportunities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other applicable laws.

The State of Ohio is a drug-free workplace which prohibits the use of marijuana (recreational marijuana/non-medical cannabis). Please note, this position may be subject to additional restrictions pursuant to the State of Ohio Drug-Free Workplace Policy (HR-39), and as outlined in the posting.