Marketing & Communications Coordinator

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR

Position Summary

The Marketing and Communications Coordinator will play a crucial role in supporting the Marketing and Communications team at Friends of Waterfront Park during an exciting and transformative time as the organization prepares for the Grand Opening Year of Waterfront Park in Spring 2025. Reporting to the Director of Marketing and Communications, this dynamic role balances administrative expertise, project coordination, and creative contributions to ensure the smooth execution of marketing and communications initiatives that align with the organization’s mission and goals.

The Coordinator will oversee key operational functions, including managing project request pipelines, managing on-site signage and SWAG production, organizing photography and videography assets, and providing backup graphic design and press support. Success in this role requires exceptional organizational skills, sound judgment, creativity, and a collaborative spirit to thrive in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment.

As part of a team deeply committed to diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI), the Coordinator will embed these values into their work, amplifying underrepresented voices and helping to create a brand that is welcoming to all. The ideal candidate will bring a mix of administrative efficiency, creative problem-solving, and an equity-focused lens to help bring Waterfront Park to life for Seattle’s community and visitors.

About Friends of Waterfront Park

Friends of Waterfront Park (Friends) is a 501c3 non-profit. Through a public-private partnership with the City of Seattle, Friends is leading fundraising, the park experience and programming, deepening public safety investments, and ensuring long-term stewardship of Waterfront Park now and for generations to come. The organization works closely with the City of Seattle, through Seattle Center, who provides park maintenance and public safety services. This model of a nonprofit managing and ensuring the success of a park is common across major U.S. cities, including Friends of the High Line and Brooklyn Bridge Parks Conservancy in New York, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy in San Francisco, and Friends of the Underline in Miami.

Over 15 years in the making, Waterfront Park project represents a grand community vision for reimagining Seattle’s waterfront in the footprint of the old viaduct, a 1950’s infrastructure; creating a new kind of civic and cultural space. Seattle is a city known for innovation and Waterfront Park represents that spirit – it is so much more than simply a park. Waterfront Park is creating 20-acres of green space, inviting locals and visitors to reconnect with the water, the mountains, and each other. It will run from Belltown to Pioneer Square, and has a large urban footprint for programming, activation, and other park uses. Opening in 2025, Waterfront Park will serve as a fresh cultural anchor for downtown, offering free public programming co-curated with communities from across the region in partnership with Friends.

Land Acknowledgement

Waterfront Park is situated on the land of the Coast Salish peoples, who have resided here since time immemorial and continue to thrive. With respect and humility, we acknowledge the history of the waterfront, the dispossession of land from the Coast Salish people, and, most importantly, the strength and resilience of Native people and their culture through this history and to the present.

Equity Commitment

Friends recognizes and acknowledges historic and existing systemic racism embedded in our city. We are committed to becoming an anti-racist organization by prioritizing racial equity within the organization and in the public spaces we operate.

Responsibilities

Communications and Administrative Support (40%)

• Oversee the Marketing and Communications request pipeline, effectively prioritizing tasks, communicating with the request owner and other stakeholders to ensure goals and deadlines are met
• Provide administrative support for the Marketing and Communications team, including scheduling meetings, and organizing files.
• Capture and organize meeting notes, action items, and to-dos from internal team meetings, cross-department meetings, and the Board’s Marketing and Communications Committee.
• Ensure follow-up on action items by distributing summaries and tracking deadlines.
• Proactively share updates and summaries of work with external partners, like the Highline Network, the Mayor’s Office, the Downtown Activation Plan, Downtown Seattle Association, Visit Seattle, among others.
• Process invoices and receipts for the Marketing and Communications budget
• Collaborate with the MarComms team to compile monthly data reports for internal and external use
• Monitor the marketing@waterfrontpark,comms@waterfrontpark, info@waterfrontpark email addresses and directing them to the appropriate contact as needed

Design and Project Coordination (30%)

• Manage on-site signage at Waterfront Park, collaborating with the Park Experience team, Community Impact and Programs team, Senior Manager of Marketing and Content and freelance graphic designer to produce on-site signage and materials that supports brand visibility, event needs, and Park Experience.
• Manage the design, production, and inventory of promotional SWAG, collaborating with internal teams to determine needs
• Provide backup in-house graphic design support, ensuring presentations and materials align with brand standards.
• Assist with the production of marketing collateral and print projects as needed.

Digital Asset and Website Management (20%)

• Manage the Bynder Digital Asset Management (DAM) system, ensuring all assets, including photos, videos, and marketing materials, are properly uploaded, tagged, organized, and when relevant, archived.
• Regularly audit and update digital assets to ensure accuracy and alignment with organizational goals.
• Maintain and update website content, ensuring consistency with branding and organizational messaging.

Press and Marketing Support (10%)

• Create and manage press kits and brand packets, ensuring high-quality materials are available for media and marketing partner needs.
• Support the Senior Manager of Marketing in coordinating advertising placements, including managing deadlines, submitting assets, and maintaining relationships with media outlets to ensure campaigns run smoothly and effectively.

Collaboration, Values, and Culture

• Collaboration
  • Collaborate as a member of the Park Experience Team, providing thought partnership and support as needed.
  • Work collaboratively with and learn from the entire organization, and with external partners, stakeholders, and community.
• Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (DEAI)
  • Contribute to an inclusive workplace culture and adhere to Friends’ Community Agreements.
  • Engage in regular conversations about race and equity through all-staff meetings, trainings.
  • Incorporate values of DEAI in all facets of this job and when collaborating across teams.
• Community
  • Incorporate the org-wide value/ethos of centering community throughout work (e.g., attend community events, seek out and listen to diverse communities and perspectives).
• Culture
  • Contribute to organizational culture by participating in team building activities to help build a fun, welcoming, and productive workplace.

Skills and Qualifications

Required Skills

• 2-3 years administrative and/or marketing/communications coordinator experience.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise sound judgement, including identifying and summarizing key context and relevant information when providing updates to internal and external teams.
• Ability to prioritize competing priorities in a fast-paced environment in alignment with the team’s high level goals and timelines
• Creativity and an eye for design, with the ability to collaborate effectively with designers on visual projects and signage.
• Basic graphic design skills and familiarity with tools such as Adobe Creative Suite, Canva, or similar platforms.
• Proficiency in project management tools and software (e.g., Asana, Microsoft Office Suite).
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Cultural competency and commitment to equity-focused work.

Preferred Skills

• Advanced graphic design experience and a portfolio of visual work.
• Experience with press or public relations, including creating press kits and identifying visuals for press
• Familiarity with developing or managing marketing collateral for events, campaigns, or promotional needs.
• Familiarity with marketing analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics).
• Background in nonprofit, arts, environment or mission-driven organizations.

Compensation and Benefits

This is a full-time, exempt, 2-year term limited position, which is expected to last through March 2027 with a salary range of $74,000-80,000. Friends has created a compensation philosophy and salary framework to set compensation organization-wide. The final salary offer is dependent on how the candidate’s skills, abilities, and experience align with Friends’ salary framework.

Benefits include (but are not limited to): Paid time off, health, dental and vision coverage for employees and dependents, defined contribution retirement plan with 3% match and ORCA regional transit pass (does not include Washington State Ferries).

Working Conditions

This role is based in Seattle, WA. Friends has office space located at Pier 56. The position is mainly on-site with a minimum of 80% of the work being in-person at Friends’ office or Waterfront Park.

• Meetings, when required, typically occur Monday-Friday, 9-5.
• About the office space:
  • Our office is on the second floor. There is elevator access at the front entrance.
  • Restrooms have braille labels.
  • The office building contains a parent’s room, a wellness room, a kitchen, as well as several meeting rooms.
  • Music and ferry horns can often be heard from the office. Noise cancelling headphones and other accommodations may be provided.
• Weekend and evening work required depending on season and events; staff flex their work schedule to accommodate while maintaining a healthy work/life balance.
• Friends follows King County Public Health guidelines regarding COVID-19.

The physical requirements of this role listed below are representative of those that may need to be met by an employee in this role:

• Operating a computer, smart phone and other office equipment.
• Strong verbal and written communication capabilities – ability to interact with customer through phone, in-person and email communications.
• Ability to work in an open office format with a fluctuating noise level – Friends' office is an open floor plan and teams often meet in person to collaborate. Noise levels can be low to moderate.
• Occasionally lifting up to 20 pounds; however, reasonable assistance with lifting or moving items may be provided.

How to Apply

Click the Apply link to submit your application. You will be asked to upload a resume and portfolio and answer the following questions as part of your application:

1. Do you understand this is a 2-year, term limited position expected to last through March 2027?
2. How have your previous experiences prepared you to be successful in this role at Friends? Please describe your number of years and type of experience with administrative and project coordination.
3. Please describe your commitment to incorporating the values of Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (DEAI) in all facets of your work.

Friends is committed to improving hiring practices to be more inclusive and anti-ableist. We have reviewed the job requirements and only include physical abilities when completely necessary. During the interview process, we email the panel questions ahead of time. We are also able to provide captioning and/or interpretation (e.g., ASL) if requested. If you need assistance and/or accommodations during the application or recruiting process due to a disability, please email our People & Culture team at dei@waterfrontparkseattle.org.

Applications will be accepted until the position is filled, but priority will be given to applications received by Friday, January 31, 2025.