Director of Communications
Posted: November 2023
About This Role:
Visit Napa Valley (VNV) is seeking an experienced leader in community and industry relations to continue to elevate and curate the public image of Visit Napa Valley and serve as our public information officer. In partnership with the CEO, you will serve as a relationship manager to foster a positive view of Visit Napa Valley and the hospitality community by the industry, community, partners, elected officials, and other stakeholders. You will act as VNV’s regional community liaison in Napa Valley and work closely with our community partners to support the communities we serve. You will be responsible for developing, deploying, and sustaining community engagement strategies in local markets. You will communicate strategic priorities with leaders within the community and represent VNV by attending events, limited public speaking engagements, and participating on local boards and committees.
This position reports to the CEO and is a full-time, on-site role which will require occasional travel throughout Napa Valley.
Who You Are:
You are an experienced, self-motivated, results driven, sharp verbal and written communicator, with existing institutional relationships who will skillfully represent our external brand and reputation. You act as brand ambassador and evangelist and are able to develop and conduct strategic plans that highlight value and preserve reputation. You have spent years working with communities and government leaders on policy planning. You are a mission-driven, experienced liaison who can sort through the ambiguity and uncertainty of local politics to find solutions. You are a people person who empathizes easily with and inspires others.
What You’ll Be Doing:
Community / Resident Relations
- Be a champion for authentically communicating tourism’s benefits to the community and residents. Inspire and enlist other stakeholders to be ambassadors for tourism in the Napa Valley.
- Collaborate with VNV leadership to track community engagement efforts and develop action plans.
- Serve as an interface with local community officials and business leaders regarding community engagement and outreach opportunities in the areas we serve.
- Identify and build partnerships with local stakeholders who support local initiatives and tourism.
- Handle public policy matters and local advocacy including industry mobilization efforts.
- Manage public affairs efforts and agency:
- Proactively liaise with VNV communications and marketing team, as well as sales and other departments, to infuse the “Tourism Impact” messaging
- Produce and support “Napa Valley 101” - an engaging education program for Napa Valley hospitality front-line employees, highlighting what makes Napa Valley a world class destination and winegrowing region, as well as a dynamic place to visit, live and work.
- Partner with best-in-class organizations like Napa Valley Vintners on programming and community engagement
- Develop and promote “Tourism Impact” resources and programs that position lodging and tourism as a vital economic sector and good community partner, including outreach via meeting and event attendance with multiple community organizations
- Oversee, manage and take an active participation role in community and industry initiatives including:
- Tourism Improvement District (TID) Renewal and community messaging
- “Why Tourism Matters” – Economic impact and quality of life benefits for residents
- Great Wine Capitals
- Napa Valley Vine Trail
- Napa Green / Destination Stewardship / Sustainability
- Community Organizations Active in Disasters (COAD)
- Napa Valley Transportation Authority (NVTA)
- Hospitality Industry Partnership (HIP)
- Develop and execute annual community engagement and outreach strategy engaging with local Chambers of Commerce and Tourism Improvement Districts.
- In partnership with VNV CEO, identify community issues, help shape policy positions and meet with leaders to engage support and initiate traction. Assist with outreach and communication efforts to ensure the correct messaging and materials about these issues are disseminated.
- In partnership with VNV CEO, conduct proactive and frequent outreach to community leaders, decision makers, and other organizations with appropriate and accurate information about issues affecting lodging/hospitality. Provide periodic updates on Visit Napa Valley programs and tourism benefits to constituencies.
Industry Relations
- Engage, connect and collaborate with visitor-serving businesses throughout Napa Valley.
- Identify big and small opportunities to strengthen connections between key stakeholders and our work.
- Be a passionate and enthusiastic champion for our Visit Napa Valley brand, our key messages and year-round campaigns, and our programs in the community. Encourage engagement of hospitality partners.
- Work with Visit Napa Valley’s Marketing & Sales teams, as well as vendor agencies, to develop and distribute VNV’s Visitor Profile and Economic Impact studies, as well as additional insight reports. Be a conduit for disseminating key insights to relevant audiences / constituents.
- Stay informed about lodging project development and industry data and communicate key learnings.
- Lead involvement, engagement and programming in the Great Wine Capitals Network for the San Francisco / Napa Valley region.
- In partnership with VNV CEO, lead involvement, engagement and programming with community issues related to workforce housing, transportation and destination stewardship and sustainability.
- Lead involvement, engagement and programming with community organizations such as Napa Valley Vine Trail Coalition, Napa Green, Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD), Hospitality Industry Partnership (HIP), Napa Valley Transportation Authority (NVTA) Citizens Advisory Committee, etc.
- Represent VNV at committee meetings, community meetings, forums, events, and other venues within the tourism community in Napa Valley.
Government Relations
- In partnership with VNV CEO, provide strategic leadership to relationships with political leaders and government staff (at the county level, within each Napa Valley jurisdiction / town, as well as with Napa Valley’s state and national representatives) to proactively communicate about issues affecting lodging/hospitality and tourism overall. Provide periodic updates on Visit Napa Valley programs and tourism benefits to residents and the community, as well as economic impact.
- In partnership with VNV CEO, identify community issues, help shape policy positions and meet with leaders to engage support and initiate traction. Assist with outreach and communication efforts to ensure the correct messaging and materials about these issues are disseminated.
- Participate in VNV’s legislative activities including: monitoring of new legislation, inquiries from elected officials, constituent management, letters of position, and more.
- Serve as VNV’s liaison with federal and state advocacy groups (US Travel, CalTravel, Destinations International, etc.).
Communications
- Assist with content development for Public Affairs newsletter.
- Assist with the organization’s “Speaker’s Bureau” by preparing remarks, presentations, support letters, etc. for CEO, senior leadership staff, and other such organizational communications needs.
- Design and produce presentations and talking points in PowerPoint and Word for leadership team, distilling information, lead story arcs, and narratives.
- Proactively maintain a high awareness of general activity as it pertains to all departments in order to nimbly provide communication support as well as to communicate relevant information to stakeholders.
- Seek proactive opportunities for regular communications with manager and/or leadership team to inform on critical points, new developments, new media relationships, etc.
- Actively participate in team brainstorming and cross-departmental meetings to provide communication messaging and guidance – by way of example via content writing on informational materials such as welcome letters, mass communication sends, CEO communications, and other such similar deliverables.
- Collaborate with Director of Marketing and house PR agencies to monitor and regularly assess the reputational strength of the Napa Valley destination and provide thoughts/insights for optimization.
- Maintain open lines of communication and positive relationships with local and regional journalists/press.
- Cultivate excellent working relationships with tourism/hospitality PR agencies which serve the client accounts of Visit Napa Valley partners – such as Glodow Nead Communications, Murphy O’Brien, and others.
- Pitch press-relevant story angles based on organizational goals.
- Maintain an evergreen Visit Napa Valley press kit for both consumer and trade/business media audiences.
- Respond to media queries and submission requests from industry associations such as SF Travel, Visit California, Brand USA, Great Wine Capitals Network, etc.
- Possess a keen ability to manage relationships with varying stakeholder audiences, both internal and external.
- Convey messages in a way that embodies passion for the destination so as to instill that same inspiration with any given audience.
- Participate in visits with partners for the purposes of information-sharing and informing the larger Visit Napa Valley team on any unique and specific partner information in Napa Valley.
- In conjunction with leadership team, support the business and corporate messaging with local and regional media outlets and other community stakeholders.
- Support crisis communication plan development and deployment, and manage messaging and updates to existing communications assets such as emergency response protocols, FAQs, etc…
What We’re Looking For (Skills and Qualifications):
- 10+ years of relevant experience leading communication strategy in community affairs, political or grassroots organizing, or policy advocacy.
- Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Public Relations, Communications, or a closely related field.
- Preferred experience with a destination marketing organization/association.
- Familiarity of and passion for Napa Valley as well as the wine, tourism, and hospitality industries, singularly or any combination thereof.
- Familiarity with representing a luxury brand(s).
- Business acumen and fluency in the fundamentals of community communications.
- Knowledge of legislative and government processes. Experience working for state or local government and/or an elected official is a plus.
- Proven track record of building relationships with internal stakeholders and external partner organizations.
- Self-starter, a doer, creative, problem-solver, critical thinker.
- Proven success cultivating and maintaining positive relationships with external constituencies, including community partners, government officials and other government and quasi-governmental organizations.
- Superb judgment and emotional intelligence with ability to diffuse situations and forge consensus among divergent views.
- Meticulous attention to detail and demonstrated history in project planning and process management.
- Demonstrated ability to earn trust across a range of levels and disciplines to establish yourself and the team as a trusted partner.
- Excellent analytical skills with the ability to absorb information and synthesize implications with support and input from Visit Napa Valley leadership team in order to distill synthesized messaging from various, sometimes unwieldy inputs, making the final deliverables understandable and digestible for any given audience.
- Excellent written and verbal communication and listening skills.
- Ability to adjust tone and writing style based on audiences.
- Ease with phone and virtual meetings as well as presenting in front of small groups/audiences.
- Polished presentation skills with the ability to create/assemble/convey linear thoughts into key messages for PowerPoint, Word, speaker’s bureau documents, etc.
- Demonstrated ability in project planning, process management, time management.
- Ability to pivot within a fast-paced environment.
- A self-starter with an ability to anticipate and pro-actively accomplish tasks under minimal supervision.
- Excellent prioritization and time management skills.
- Tech-savvy.
- Flexible disposition with a “roll-up-your-sleeves”, positive attitude.
- MUST live within easily commutable distance to downtown Napa to be considered.
Apply: Qualified candidates may send resume and cover letter to HR@VisitNapaValley.com.
