Community Ambassador

Posting number: 14M00000047

Department: Neighborhood & Community Services

Job classification: Ambassador Connector*

Posting type: Open

Categories: Community Services, Human Services, Community Development

Summary

Max offer $46,332

The Community Ambassador serves as a visible and accessible connection between Richmond residents, City government, and community resources. The position performs community outreach, resident engagement, resource navigation, and community-based support throughout the City of Richmond, with a particular focus on high-density neighborhoods and areas where concentrated resident engagement is needed.

Community Ambassadors work directly in neighborhoods and community settings to share information, conduct door-to-door and place-based outreach, gather resident feedback, complete surveys and assessments, connect residents with resources, and support City departments and community partners with outreach initiatives.

The Community Ambassador position is also designed as a workforce-development and career-pathway opportunity. Ambassadors receive training, coaching, mentoring, professional development, and exposure to City operations to build transferable skills and prepare for future permanent employment.

This position requires flexibility to work across multiple communities based on business needs.

Examples of duties

1. Community Outreach and Resident Engagement:

• Conduct door-to-door and place-based outreach throughout the City, with priority given to high-density neighborhoods and areas identified as needing concentrated engagement.
• Maintain a consistent, visible, and professional presence in assigned communities.
• Distribute flyers, door hangers, yard signs, notices, and other informational materials on behalf of City departments and programs.
• Conduct outreach to residents, businesses, tenant councils, recreation centers, senior communities, multifamily residential communities, and other community locations.
• Share accurate and timely information about City services, programs, events, public meetings, infrastructure projects, emergency information, and other City initiatives.
• Listen to residents and identify questions, concerns, service needs, and emerging community issues.
• Adjust outreach activities based on community needs, emerging concerns, City priorities, and special initiatives.

2. Surveys, Assessments, and Resident Feedback:

• Conduct surveys, assessments, and other resident-feedback activities.
• Gather information from residents about community needs, experiences, concerns, and satisfaction with services.
• Accurately document information collected during community outreach, surveys, and assessments.
• Support targeted assessments and follow-up activities requested by City departments.
• Identify resident concerns requiring additional assistance or follow-up and route them through established procedures.
• Assist with tracking resident concerns and follow-up activities.

3. Resource Navigation and Resident Assistance:

• Connect residents with appropriate City departments, programs, services, and community resources.
• Help residents understand how and where to access available services.
• Support food, water, health, safety, and other community resource distribution activities.
• Maintain and replenish publicly available community resource supplies as assigned.
• Document resident requests, referrals, concerns, and follow-up activities.
• Refer issues requiring additional assistance to the appropriate supervisor, department, or resource.
• Follow up on resident needs and referrals as assigned.

4. Community Events and Partnerships:

• Support the Department at community resource fairs, health and wellness events, senior events, youth programs, neighborhood events, public meetings, and other community activities.
• Work with City departments, nonprofit organizations, and community partners to support outreach and resident participation.
• Assist with event preparation, setup, breakdown, registration, distribution of materials, and other logistical needs.
• Greet residents, provide information, direct participants to appropriate services and resources, and assist with event activities.
• Support special projects and City initiatives requiring a community presence.
• Build positive working relationships with residents, City employees, community organizations, and partner agencies.

5. Operational and Program Support:

• Assist with preparing, packing, loading, unloading, transporting, and distributing outreach, event, and resource materials.
• Support resource distributions, festivals, school-related initiatives, community activities, and other special projects.
• Travel throughout the City to complete assigned outreach and engagement activities.
• Use City-provided technology to communicate, document activities, enter information, and complete assigned work.
• Maintain accurate records of resident contacts, materials distributed, surveys and assessments completed, events supported, referrals made, and other program activities.
• Participate in team meetings and communicate information, observations, and community needs to program leadership.

6. Workforce and Professional Development:

• Participate in required workplace-readiness and professional-development training.
• Participate in coaching, mentoring, and individual development planning.
• Learn and use workplace technology, including email, calendars, tablets, computers, and other appropriate systems.
• Participate in City office rotations, job shadowing, and career-exploration opportunities when assigned.
• Develop communication, customer service, teamwork, time management, digital literacy, and other transferable workplace skills.
• Receive and apply feedback from supervisors, coaches, and mentors.
• Work toward established professional-development and employment goals.

7. Other Duties as Assigned:

• Support emerging community needs, special initiatives, and outreach activities as directed.
• Assist other City departments with community-based outreach and engagement when appropriate.
• Perform other related duties consistent with the purpose and responsibilities of the Community Ambassador Program.

Qualifications

Education and Experience:

• No specific level of formal education is required.
• A high school diploma, GED, college degree, or previous government experience is not required.
• Previous professional community-engagement experience is not required.
• Relevant experience may come from paid employment, volunteer service, community involvement, neighborhood activities, caregiving, school activities, lived experience, or other life experiences that demonstrate an ability to perform the work.
• Experience interacting with the public, volunteering, assisting with events, conducting outreach, providing customer service, or helping others access resources is helpful but not required.
• This position requires flexibility to work across multiple communities based on business needs.

Skills and Competencies:

• Ability to communicate respectfully and effectively with residents and coworkers from a variety of backgrounds and experiences.
• Ability to listen to residents and accurately communicate questions, concerns, and needs.
• Strong interest in helping people and strengthening communities.
• Reliability, punctuality, and willingness to follow through on assignments.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Willingness to learn new skills and accept coaching, feedback, and direction.
• Ability to maintain professionalism during challenging interactions.
• Ability to follow instructions, procedures, schedules, and assignments.
• Ability to maintain appropriate confidentiality.
• Ability to organize and document basic information accurately.
• Ability or willingness to learn email, calendars, tablets, computers, and other workplace technology.
• Ability to adapt to changing community needs, assignments, and priorities.
• Ability to recognize when a resident's concern requires assistance or escalation to a supervisor or another City department.
• Familiarity with Richmond neighborhoods and community resources is helpful but not required.
• Ability to communicate in a language in addition to English is a plus but not required.

Other Requirements:

• Willingness and ability to work primarily in community-based settings.
• Ability to conduct door-to-door and place-based outreach and travel throughout assigned areas of the City.
• Willingness to work outdoors in varying weather conditions.
• Willingness to work occasional evenings or weekends for community events, outreach activities, or other program needs.
• Ability to attend required training, coaching, mentoring, and professional-development activities.
• Ability to perform the physical activities associated with community outreach and event support, including walking, standing, carrying and distributing materials, and assisting with event setup and breakdown, with or without reasonable accommodation.
• Commitment to professional conduct, regular attendance, reliability, and respectful service to Richmond residents.

Supplemental information

ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS: Working conditions may include exposure to travel to other locations within the City of Richmond as well as outside of the City of Richmond; exposure to hazardous physical conditions such as mechanical parts, electrical currents, vibrations, etc.; atmospheric conditions such as fumes, odors, dusts, gases, and poor ventilation; inadequate lighting; intense noise; and environmental hazards such as disruptive people, imminent danger, and a threatening environment.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS AND WORKING ENVIRONMENT: Due to the nature of work assignments, incumbents must be able to perform detailed work on multiple, concurrent tasks, with frequent interruptions and under time constraint. While performing the essential duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to reach extending hands and arms in any direction, stand, push, pull, lift, finger (picking, pinching or otherwise working primarily with fingers), grasp applying pressure to an object with fingers or palms, talk, see, and hear. The employee is frequently required to climb, balance, stoop, crouch, crawl, walk, feel and use substantial repetitive motions of the wrists, hands and fingers. In terms of the physical strength to perform the essential duties, this classification is considered to be light work, exerting up to 20 pounds of force occasionally, up to 10 pounds of force frequently, and a negligible amount of force constantly to move objects.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job. Prospective and current employees are invited to discuss accommodations