Graphic Designer and Strategic Communications Specialist

Graphic Designer and Strategic Communications Specialist

Water Systems Consulting (WSC) is a growing and thriving employee-owned company that solves today’s complex water challenges by putting people first in every solution we create. We are an integrated engineering, hydrogeology, and strategic communication consulting firm focused entirely within the water sector, delivering our clients’ most challenging One Water solutions. We are seeking a full- or part-time detail-oriented professional to join our team, providing content development, graphic design, project management, and implementation support for our communication and outreach related projects and programs.

This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a dynamic environment, is passionate about delivering high-quality written and graphic content, can communicate clearly, and will also be able to help plan, deliver, and possibly lead outreach projects with our clients and internal team of engineering and communication specialists.

This position may be based out of our headquarters in San Luis Obispo or any of our Southern California offices, including Laguna Hills, San Diego, or Ontario. The role is full-time with hybrid flexibility, though we are open to considering a part-time arrangement for the right candidate.

What You Will Do

• Graphic design and brand management
  • Develop icons, diagrams, charts, infographics, illustrations etc. for complex material and concepts. Material may be used for creative applications including presentations, print, video, social and web.
  • Review design for documents and presentations.
  • Manage printing and production of collateral for events and meetings.
  • Support graphic needs for marketing, proposals, and internal initiatives as needed.
  • Potential for brand implementation and management, working closely with WSC leads and staff to define comprehensive brand strategies and priorities.
• Strategic Communications
  • Define and develop strategic communication, engagement, and planning activities.
  • Conceptualize, produce, write, review, and finalize written content for reports, surveys, agendas, presentations, print, video, social, and web platforms. Perform technical editing and formatting for written documents.
  • Facilitate and incorporate feedback to quickly implement edits and improvements.
  • Plan and coordinate events, both in-person and virtual.
  • Facilitate multi-agency workshops, public meetings, stakeholder discussions, and interactive workshops, both in-person and virtually.
  • Provide a variety of communication support tasks as needed.

What You Bring

• 5+ years of experience in graphics, marketing, public, or community relations.
• Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, Journalism, PR, English, Communications, a related field, or equivalent experience.
• Demonstrated experience successfully managing multiple projects and priorities, working across teams to meet complex communications needs and project goals.
• Strong organizational and time management abilities.
• Receptive to feedback and adaptable to change.
• Impeccable accuracy and attention to detail in developing and finalizing designs and content.
• Strong skills in technical writing, editing, formatting, verbal and written communication.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office products, including PowerPoint, Word, and Excel.
• Design Skills including:
  • Properly exporting and formatting files for print production (CMYK compatible colors, crop marks and bleed, proper ppi for print).
  • Dynamic layout & editorial design (with attention to good style and accessibility in type size, color contrast, proper visual hierarchy, generous margins etc.).
  • Experience using InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop including mastery of paragraph and character styles in InDesign.
  • Ability to adhere to brand guidelines and match style of existing assets.
• Experience in social media content development, design, and management.
• Willingness to travel up to 30% of the time, with frequency varying based on project needs.
• Commitment to sustainability and the environment.

Preferred:

• Experience in consulting, engineering, public agencies, or the water industry.
• Skills in digital illustration and photo editing without reliance on AI generated assets.
• Exper…