Project Coordinator

The Organization: Kearns & West is a leader in the collaborative communications field, providing services in public involvement, stakeholder facilitation, community outreach, and mediation, for the public and private sector. Founded in 1984, the small, woman-owned business has offices in Austin, Charleston, Denver, Sacramento, Portland, San Francisco, Washington, DC, and Southern California. Focusing on positive, mutually beneficial results has allowed Kearns & West to maintain long-term relationships with the people and organizations they assist. The firm's high-stakes projects include work at local, state, and national levels and cover a variety of sectors including transportation, natural resources, equity and diversity, land use and community planning, major public facilities and infrastructure, energy, water, and marine resources. At the core of all of our projects is finding solutions to advance essential policies and programs. Kearns & West is the ideal match for professionals seeking meaningful work, opportunities for growth, and colleagues that are smart, capable, and supportive. Once onboard, our employees stay for the long term. The entrepreneurial culture at Kearns & West values employee initiatives in practice innovation and business development. Compensation and benefits at Kearns & West are also highly competitive with firms in our field.
The Position: Kearns & West seeks a Team Coordinator for the Southern Orange County office in San Juan Capistrano. The candidate will support a range of stakeholder engagement, communications, problem-solving, dispute resolution, and public engagement and outreach projects. Having an interest in being involved in projects involving the environment, equity, water, community planning, and climate is important.
The position involves a wide range of responsibilities and roles including:

• Leading or supporting the coordination of meeting logistics
• Attending meetings with stakeholders and providing logistics and note-taking support
• Developing meeting summaries and reports
• Communications and outreach support
• Preparation of informational materials for stakeholders and the public
• Programming and conducting virtual meetings with interactive functions (e.g., Zoom)
• Project research
• Database management
• Business development support including assistance with coordinating and tracking project proposals
• Tracking project activities and deadlines
• General staff support and maintaining office operations
• Administrative duties
• Managing staffing schedules
• Coordinating invoicing and expenses
• And more

Qualifications:The successful candidate will have a bachelor's degree and a background/interest in geography, community/regional planning, natural resource management, renewable energy, water resources, environmental/public policy issues, anthropology, air quality, public involvement, conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and mediation. One to three years of work experience is preferred, and a master's degree is a plus. Fluency in Spanish is highly desirable but not required. We are looking for someone who is:

• Organized and detail-oriented
• Prepared to contribute to our full team
• Adaptable and flexible
• Self-motivated and comfortable working independently
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, deadline-oriented environment
• An effective and reliable communicator
• Interested in learning facilitation skills and growing to facilitate complex public policy issues
• Comfortable with taking direction yet able to take the initiative as needed
• Able to reliably set priorities, manage multiple tasks, and meet deadlines
• Able to work and balance multiple projects for multiple clients
• Successful at balancing working as part of a team with working independently
• Applicant must demonstrate strong computer skills with proficiency in Microsoft Office and database management
• Graphic design and InDesign skills are desirable, but not required

HOW TO APPLY:Please apply immediately by submitting a cover letter and resume to personnel@kearnswest.com with the subject "47_Office Manager/ Project Coordinator". Resumes will be accepted until the position is filled.