LOSSAN Marketing Specialist, Senior - Digital Communications - Orange County Transportation Authority

About the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency:

The Los Angeles – San Diego – San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor is a joint powers authority that works to increase ridership, revenue, capacity, reliability, coordination and safety on the coastal rail line between San Diego, Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo. The LOSSAN Agency assumed management responsibility for the Pacific Surfliner service in July 2015, following the execution of an interagency transfer agreement with the state of California. The Pacific Surfliner travels along a 351-mile coastal rail route through San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, serving 29 stations. It is the busiest state-supported intercity passenger rail route in the United States with 24 daily trains and annual ridership of nearly 3 million. The LOSSAN Agency is staffed by the Orange County Transportation.

Overview:

Under general direction, responsible for driving the success of specific digital marketing and communications projects for the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner, which is managed by the Los Angeles – San Diego – San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor Agency. This position oversees digital marketing, social media content calendars, and email programs.  Performs ongoing tactical execution and reporting on campaign performance with the goal of delivering success on key metrics. Integrates and measures multiple sources of information to build a unified view of the customer journey across multiple touchpoints of digital engagement.  Drives continuous improvement and innovation in digital marketing and campaign effectiveness. 

This is an exempt position in Salary Grade ­­190: Min $82,217 – Mid $98,660 – Max $115,104 annually. The starting salary will be within this range based on qualifications.

This posting will remain open until filled. 

This list is intended to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification and is not designed to be interpreted as an exhaustive listing of all tasks required of employees assigned to this job.

Displays High Integrity & Honesty: Takes personal responsibility, acts with honesty and consistency.

Has Technical and Professional Expertise: Has the technical skills, product knowledge and professional skills to do the job.

• Defines, develops, and supports social media strategies to increase Pacific Surfliner ridership as well as to improve customer communications.
• Develops content for the Pacific Surfliner blog, website landing pages, social media, printed collateral, passenger communications, and other relevant channels. Demonstrates the ability to serve as a copywriter and develops content across diverse channels.
• Works with the Marketing Manager and social media vendor to create quarterly content calendars to ensure consistent and timely delivery of content across various digital channels.
• Executes and delivers campaign elements across channels, including social media, search engine marketing, email, and content creation.
• Develops persuasive and targeted copy, tailoring messaging to specific audience segments for optimal engagement. Demonstrates an aptitude for using behavioral science principles to craft marketing copy.
• Coordinates and supports email campaigns for lead nurturing along the customer journey. Oversees email blasts, newsletters, drip campaigns, and overall reporting.
• Monitors campaigns and helps optimize bidding, pacing and performance to ensure continuous improvement and KPI delivery.
• Provides information and insights regarding customer behavior on web, social and campaign effectiveness to measure performance and support campaign decisions.
• Collaborates in overseeing social media vendors, ensuring seamless coordination and alignment with organizational objectives. Contributes to the development and implementation of a comprehensive social media strategy, providing valuable insights and support to increase ridership and enhance the brand’s digital presence.
• Supports the Pacific Surfliner website by ensuring timely updates regarding services disruptions, customer communications, and others. Demonstrates proficiency in updating web content using a CMS.
• Utilizes a strong understanding of search engine optimization (SEO) and applies SEO strategies to improve organic search visibility and drive relevant traffic to digital platforms.
• Supports and provides staffing for special events, partnerships, and promotions when necessary, requiring occasional after-hours and weekend work.
• Writes and edits reports, proposals, and collaborates in the creation of public information collateral copy.
• Oversees community management for the Pacific Surfliner social channels and coordinates with the vendor on responding to comments and messages on social media, fostering positive interactions and building brand trust.

Drives for Results: Operates with speed and intensity, translates long-term goals into immediate actions.

• Develops testing plans, including A/B and multivariate, and executes testing to determine effectiveness of email marketing, landing page design and creative approaches.
• Coordinates tracking mechanisms and analyzes data from multiple sources, including paid media, social, clickstream and email, to draw meaningful insights that make improvements to campaign performance and strategy.
• Delivers metrics reports to support decision-making and identifies ways to improve the internal analytical processes through data integration and automation.
• Evaluates the effectiveness of current digital marketing approaches and provides suggestions for improvement or revised direction.
• Understands and analyzes complex business challenges, finding creative ways to solve them.

Learning Agility: Seeks feedback actively and strives to improve based on that feedback. Strive for continual improvement.

• Monitors ongoing social media marketing activities, including the day-to-day presence, on the Pacific Surfliner’s existing platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube) and offers recommendations for new platforms.
• Identifies new trends and opportunities in the digital landscape and makes recommendations to ensure campaign efficiency.

Works in a Collaborative Manner with Others: Works in a collaborative manner with others, helps resolve unproductive conflict.

• Demonstrates excellent interpersonal skills, including strong written and verbal communication skills.

Any combination of education and experience equivalent to a bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, public relations or a related field and a minimum of five years of digital communications experience, which may include: digital and social media marketing, online media planning, campaigning, modeling, buying, and optimization.  Must be detailed oriented and can multi-task.  Experience with transportation, public transit, or travel and tourism marketing is highly valued. Proficiency in Spanish, both spoken and written, for effective communication and the development of marketing materials is highly valued.

Working Conditions/Physical Activities:

(The physical demands described are representative of those that must be met by the employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. OCTA provides reasonable accommodation to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions).

Positions in this class typically require:

• Work may be performed in a stressful, fast-paced office environment, depending upon assignment.
• Requires ability to understand verbal communication and to respond effectively.
• Positions in this class typically require: Reaching, Finger Dexterity, Grasping, Feeling, Talking, Hearing, Seeing, and Repetitive Motions in computer use.

Compensation and Benefits:

OCTA offers an attractive compensation and benefits package that includes medical, dental and vision health insurance programs, flex time (may be available), paid sick leave, paid vacation and holidays, short-term and long-term disability, life insurance, flexible spending accounts, retirement, deferred compensation plan, educational reimbursement, excellent in-house training programs, free transportation passes for the employee and dependents, wellness and ergonomic programs, and much more.

OCTA is an equal employment opportunity employer that recruits, hires, and promotes qualified people without regard to race, color, religion, creed, ancestry, national origin, age, sex, pregnancy, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, disability, genetic information, military and veteran status, or other legally protected status.