Community Engagement Specialist - Spanish - City of Somerville

Statement of Duties:

The Community Engagement Specialist for Spanish coordinates community outreach, programming, City services, events, and outside service referrals primarily for Spanish-speaking immigrants and refugees residing in Somerville. The Spanish CES also serves as a community liaison and official representative of the City of Somerville, conducts translation and interpretation, and coordinates public meetings, immigration-related services, and all forms of communication including emergency messaging needed to serve the City’s Spanish -speaking residents.

Essential Functions:

The essential functions or duties listed below are intended only as illustrations of the various type of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related, or a logical assignment to the position.

● Community Outreach – Make connections in the community and serve as a resource to residents to share information about City services and opportunities for citizen engagement and assist those who need help accessing City services and materials. Attend and table at events, speak to community groups, conduct surveys, hold meetings and events, conduct communications and media relations, etc. Build connections to community organizations and providers and facilitate collaborative efforts and coalitions. Create and facilitate opportunities for immigrants to participate in civic dialog and public discussions. Promote the advancement of the Somerville Spanish Speaking population.

● Service Delivery and Referrals – Support and facilitate access to city services, programs, resources, volunteer opportunities, and other municipal programming including providing interpretation, and counseling on available services. Provide referrals to nonprofit and government social, health, long-term housing, homelessness prevention/emergency housing, legal, nutrition, educational, and other services. Provide notary services. Be on call as needed to assist with emergency situation services/interpretation such as assistance for fire victims. Maintain and adhere to all privacy standards.

● Community Liaison – Through outreach via various methods and innovative programs, work to maintain an ongoing dialogue between the community and City staff as well as the Mayor’s Office. Gather input, feedback, concerns and requests from the community and community stakeholders to share with appropriate staff and the Mayor’s Office, to aid in developing and adapting City services to meet the needs of the community. Maintain thorough and detailed familiarity with citywide FAQs and provide residents answers to a broad range of City-related questions during outreach efforts. Serve as community spokesperson in both Spanish and English as featured speaker or emcee at public events, conferences, workshops, press events, etc.

● Translation / Interpretation– Work with City departments to translate forms, brochures, and other information in a way that conveys the material’s message and is accessible to residents. Also help to translate relevant information for selected language section of the City website. Translate key City press releases. Assist with coordination of additional translation services for City departments by outside vendors. Interpret at public meetings from English into other Spanish. Be available 24/7 to translate emergency messaging quickly and accurately.

● Immigration Services and Efforts: Provide immigration needs assistance and referrals, and related translation services. Coordinate and facilitate educational workshops, information sessions, appointment support, legal clinics, citizenship clinics and services, etc. Maintain thorough working knowledge of current immigration regulations, pending rule changes, current issues, processes, and related services. Maintain strong working relationship with area and regional immigration service providers and strong knowledge of national providers. Maintain strong understanding of various immigration requirements and application procedures.

● Meeting Facilitation – Work with City Councilors, city staff, the Mayor’s Office, and residents to coordinate community meetings in Spanish for community, civic, and other groups in the community. Some meetings will be similar to Somerville’s bi-annual ResiStat meetings, but will be tailored to suit the needs of the audience. Employee should be experienced in facilitating meetings for 25-100 residents, presenting information, answering questions, and coordinating participation from other key city staff and elected officials.

● Communication – Prepare oral and written communications for the community (in selected language as appropriate) including emergency and community alerts, website content, fliers, press releases, social media posts, brochures, newsletter, emails, and potentially radio and City Cable TV content. Develop press contacts at news sources (radio, print, local cable, etc.) and write/translate and distribute occasional press releases or make radio/TV appearances to share City information and serve as a representative of the Mayor. Keep abreast of advances in technology and trends in use of both traditional and digital media in order to communicate via the most effective channels. Find innovative communications solutions whether high- or low-tech to make sure information on City services, programs and news reaches Portuguese-speaking Somerville residents.

● Event coordination – Coordinate informational, community and cultural events for the full community such as a cultural festivals, arts events, provider seminars/trainings, event tabling activities, forums, workshops, immigration clinics, heath fairs, flu shot clinics, presentations, etc.

In addition to the core tasks above, the Spanish CES will suggest new program initiatives and ways to increase community engagement and best serve immigrant residents.

Requirements:

Knowledge, Abilities and Skill

● Knowledge - Must have strong knowledge specifically of Somerville immigrant communities and local/regional immigrant services providers. Must have knowledge of local/regional/federal social service providers and proven ability to successfully navigate a range of social/support services ranging from homelessness prevention, housing, tenant rights, healthcare access, educational access, mental health, nutrition, childcare, etc. Must be familiar with HIPAA and other privacy requirements. Must have proven knowledge of citizen engagement and outreach techniques, especially for vulnerable populations and limited English proficiency residents. Must be well-informed about current immigration requirements, regulations, application procedures, and issues. Must have first-hand knowledge of the immigrant experience by having personally immigrated to the U.S. and have demonstrated cultural competency for immigrant populations in Somerville and for Latin-American culture. Must have proven ability to coordinate with immigration legal providers including via referrals, application support, and legal clinic coordination.

● Abilities - Must have proven ability to build alliances and facilitate collaboration with a wide range of community, nonprofit, City, public school, higher-ed, faith-based, and government partners. Must have proven ability to develop and conduct community surveys; facilitate public, internal, and coalition meetings; and organize and facilitate workshops, presentations, cultural events, and other community events. Must have proven ability to create and facilitate opportunities for immigrants to participate in civic dialog and public discussions. Must have the knowledge and skill needed to serve as a representative of the Mayor’s office and liaise with elected officials and community leaders. Proven ability to work in a team or independently as needed. Able to prepare oral and written communications for the community in Spanish including emergency and community alerts, website content, fliers, press releases, social media posts, brochures, etc

● Skills - Must have mastery of office software including spreadsheets and social media. Ability to provide notary services as an official notary public preferred. Must be a fluent native speaker and writer of Salvadoran Spanish (the most frequently spoken form of Spanish in Somerville) with full command of written usage and style. Acceptable English skills (or better) for written communications required (must be able to communicate effectively in English in writing, but a moderate level of errors is acceptable). Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing with state and federal agencies, community leaders, business owners, supervisors, employees, representatives of the media, and the general public. Must be able to serve as community spokesperson in both Spanish and English as a featured speaker or emcee at public events, conferences, workshops, press events, etc. Must be able to translate a wide range of City documents and information (excluding legal and highly technical documents) literally as well as to adapt content for cultural appropriateness into Salvadoran Spanish.

Recommended Minimum Qualifications

Education and Experience: Bachelor’s Degree and five (5) years experience; or any equivalent combination of education, training and experience which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the essential functions of the job.

Work Environment

The work environment involves everyday discomforts typical of offices, with occasional exposure to outside elements. Noise or physical surroundings may be distracting, but conditions are generally not unpleasant. Employee may be required to work beyond normal business hours in response to attend evening meetings or complete work assignments.

Physical and Mental Requirements

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 position’s essential functions.

Physical Skills
Minimal physical demands are required to perform the work. Work effort principally involves sitting to perform work tasks, with intermittent periods of stooping, walking, and standing. Work requires some agility such as moving in or about construction sites or over rough terrain. There may also be some occasional lifting of objects such as office equipment or photocopy paper (up to 30lbs.). When in the field, more physical skill may be required to accomplish the duties required.

Motor Skills
Duties are largely mental rather than physical, but the job may occasionally require minimal motor skills for activities such as moving objects, operating a telephone, personal computer and/or most other office equipment including word processing, filing and sorting of papers.

Visual Skills
Visual demands require constantly reading documents for general understanding and analytical purposes.

Hours: Full-Time
Salary: $66,244.85 annualized, plus benefits
Union: Non-Union
FLSA: Exempt
Date Posted: January 6th, 2025
 

City of Somerville residents are especially encouraged to apply.

The City of Somerville is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, disability or any other protected category. Women, minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Auxiliary aids and services, written materials in alternative formats, and reasonable modifications in policies and procedures will be provided to qualified individuals with disabilities free of charge, upon request. Persons with disabilities who need auxiliary aids and services for effective communication (i.e., CART, ASL), written materials in alternative formats, or reasonable modifications in policies and procedures in order to access the programs, activities, and meetings of the City of Somerville should please contact Adrienne Pomeroy at 617-625-6600 x 2059 or apomeroy@somervillema.gov.

Please Note: The below details do not apply to any Mayor Student Jobs programs OR youth workers with the city.

Pre-Employment Requirements for All Employees:

• MA Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) clearance
• Completion of Conflict-of-Interest Law Education training for municipal employees

Overview of Total Rewards:

• 4 weeks annual vacation (for non-union positions) union positions vary by contract
• Medical insurance through the Group Insurance Commission (GIC) - 80% of premium costs paid by City
• Dental coverage low and high plans through Cigna
• Vision care through Vision Service Plan (VSP)
• Long term disability through Sun Life
• Group and voluntary life insurance through Boston Mutual
• Health Care and Dependent Care flexible spending through Benefit Strategies
• Deferred compensation plans through a choice of three vendors
• Free, confidential services through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provided by E4Health
• Annual cancer screening & wellness release
• Somerville Retirement Pension System
• Tuition reimbursement
• MBTA pass program
• FREE Blue Bikes membership
• Eligible employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF)

Benefits listed are for benefits-eligible positions and the above information is meant to be a general overview of the benefit programs offered by the City of Somerville and not a binding contract.

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