Department: Projects Team

Location: Southern California

Compensation: $24.00 - $28.00 / hour

Description

Arellano Associates (AA) is a professional community outreach firm specializing in the transportation, clean energy, and water sectors. We bridge the gap between government agencies and the public by combining meaningful, digital and in-person engagement with innovative technology to deliver a transparent and accessible communication process for our client's projects.

By creating engagement opportunities for stakeholders to have a genuine voice in the planning and decision-making process, we build trust, encourage collaboration, and help reduce disparities; working together toward a more connected, sustainable, and equitable California.

The Assistant Project Coordinator (APC) is a full-time, entry-level role on the front lines of that work, supporting public outreach and stakeholder engagement for a project team under the guidance of a Project Manager. The position calls for learning agility, the ability to pick up new tools, including AI, quickly and apply them well. It also calls for ownership and follow-through, the discipline to get the details right on a public meeting, a mailer, or a project update, since those are the details that ultimately make an impact on the communities we serve. This position is also a launchpad into a career in public outreach and project delivery, with plenty of room to grow within the company.

Check out some of the Projects we are working on and how we are making an impact to communities all throughout Southern California!: https://www.arellanoassociates.com/projects

Key Responsibilities

Content Creation: Draft written text for collateral materials including fact sheets, brochures, newsletters, posters, e-communications, and social media content.
Messaging Support: Help tailor draft content to project goals and different audiences, building an understanding of how messaging shifts depending on the community and client you're working with.
Event Coordination: Support in-person public engagement events such as public meetings, pop-ups, and special events, including logistics, supplies, and staffing.
Public Interaction: Engage directly with community members at outreach events, facilitate participation, and help gather public feedback that shapes project strategy.
Tech Tools & AI: Apply the latest tech tools, including AI tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot, and Claude, to communicate project information and gather public input, using platforms like ArcGIS, SurveyMonkey, MetroQuest, Poll Everywhere, Typeform, Google Forms, Constant Contact, Salesforce, SharePoint, and WordPress.
Creative Production: Use Adobe Creative Suite programs, including InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Premiere Pro, for basic file creation and editing.
Vendor Coordination: Coordinate vendor services including printing, catering, translation and interpretation, and toll-free phone lines.
Database & Website Management: Keep stakeholder databases, project websites, and social media content current and accurate.
Digital Engagement: Monitor public input coming through email, project websites, helplines, and online engagement tools, and flag issues or notable responses to your project manager promptly.
Task Tracking: Organize and maintain project documentation, support scheduling, and help the team track progress and coordinate resources.
Project Support: Complete tasks within timeframes and budget parameters, helping ensure timely and cost-effective delivery.
Issue Communication: Communicate issues and challenges to your project manager promptly.

What We Look For:

In Every Team Member

Learning Agility: You take feedback well and treat the unfamiliar as something to figure out rather than avoid. This industry and role will be new to most people who take it on, so you're the kind of person who asks a clarifying question instead of guessing. You are comfortable asking questions, jumping into something new, and curious about new technologies.
Ownership and Follow-Through: You follow through on what you say you will do, whether that's a deadline on a fact sheet or a task from a morning check-in. When something's off, whether it's a typo you caught or a vendor that fell through, you speak up early instead of hoping it resolves itself, and you take pride in getting the details right.
Collaboration and Mentoring: You work well with others and know a project runs better when everyone's pulling in the same direction. You help teammates succeed, whether that's covering an event when someone's out or walking a newer team member through a process you've already learned. Ultimately, you make the people around you better at their jobs.
Curiosity with Technology and AI: You're comfortable picking up new software and tools, including AI tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, or Claude, and applying them to real tasks. Whether that's drafting a first pass at a newsletter or researching a project topic, you know good AI use means checking the work, not just accepting it.
Professionalism: You represent yourself, AA, and our clients well in every interaction. From a public meeting to an internal email. You ask questions rather than guess, show up on time and prepared, and handle mistakes with maturity.

For This Role

Public Interaction: You're comfortable talking with members of the public, whether that's staffing a table at a community event, answering questions at a public meeting, or fielding a call from a concerned resident. You can translate technical project details into plain language, and you stay professional even when someone's frustrated. No professional outreach experience required, we'll help you build it.
Writing and Content: You can put together a clear, accurate first draft, whether it's a fact sheet, a newsletter article, a social media post, or a project update. You take direction well on tone, style, and audience. You understand that a flyer for a public meeting reads differently than a post for a project's Instagram, and you can adjust your writing to fit.
Event and Vendor Support: Whether it was a campus event, a volunteer project, or a past job, you have helped pull off a structured event, tracking details like supplies, staffing, and timelines. You're comfortable coordinating with outside vendors such as printers, caterers, or translation services to make sure everything's in place when it needs to be.
Digital & Technology Adeptness: You can go from updating a stakeholder database in the morning to building a public-facing survey in a tool like SurveyMonkey or Typeform in the afternoon. You're comfortable picking up a mapping platform like ArcGIS when a project calls for it. You keep whatever system you're using accurate and up to date, and you ask before making a change you're unsure about.

Minimum Requirements

Beyond having an interest in making an impact on local communities, we look for the following in all candidates:

Experience: 0 to 3 years of experience in public outreach, marketing, communications, public relations, government relations, planning, public policy, or a related discipline. This is an entry-level role, so prior experience is a plus, not a requirement.
Education: A bachelor's degree is preferred, though not required, in a field such as Business, Communications, Urban Planning, Design, or a technology-oriented field like Computer Science, Information Technology, or Data Analytics.
Availability: Available to attend public meetings and events during workday, evening, and weekend hours.
Attitude: A genuine interest in making an impact on local communities, along with a positive attitude and enthusiasm for community engagement.

Arellano Associates

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