The Director of Public Relations leads public relations, media relations, reputation management, crisis communications, community engagement, and corporate communications. The role develops messaging, manages media and executive relationships, serves as a spokesperson, oversees events and partnerships, supports store openings, measures campaign results, and advises senior leadership. The position collaborates across Legal, Marketing, Operations, Finance, Recruiting, and other departments while managing communications projects, budgets, schedules, and deliverables.
Salary RangeUSD $115,000.00/Yr. - USD $135,000.00/Yr.
OverviewDevelops and leads Natural Grocers’ public relations strategy to strengthen the Company’s reputation, increase brand awareness and support business growth. Writes, edits and oversees compelling, on-brand communications, including press releases, fact sheets, presentations, bylined articles, speeches, talking points, quarterly reports and other internal and external materials. Ensures all public relations content reflects a consistent Company voice and aligns with marketing strategies, the Company’s mission and the Five Founding Principles. Develops proactive media relations strategies and identifies local, regional, national and trade media opportunities for existing and new store markets. Builds and maintains productive relationships with reporters, editors, producers and other media professionals across business, consumer and trade outlets. Serves as a Company spokesperson and prepares senior leaders, subject-matter experts and other representatives for media interviews and public-facing opportunities. Counsels senior leaders and functional managers on public relations, media relations, public affairs and reputation management. Trains and develops employees to create accurate, engaging and on-brand content and effectively represent Natural Grocers in media and community settings. Under the guidance of Legal, leads issue management and crisis communications planning, preparedness and response, including developing messaging and supporting the Customer Service team with high-profile or sensitive matters. Collaborates with Purchasing, Operations, the Nutritional Education Department (NED), Legal and other departments to develop accurate, appropriate and responsive content for media interviews and public communications. Collaborates with Recruiting and New Store Operations to develop and execute public relations and community engagement activities for grand openings, store relocations and remodels, including advance outreach to media and community stakeholders in future store markets. Travels to store grand opens, leads the VIP parties and invites guests, government officials and builds hype. Plans, coordinates and hosts public relations activities for grand openings and other Company events, including VIP events, ribbon-cutting ceremonies and donation presentations, and represents the Company at those events. Serves as a communications liaison for new vendors and products to support Company messaging, media outreach and increased awareness. Oversees the Natural Grocers Brand Product Media Samples Program in alignment with new product launches and the annual marketing calendar. Oversees designated national and local partnerships, and evaluates additional partnership and sponsorship opportunities for alignment with Company values and objectives. Works with Legal and other internal stakeholders to monitor Company donation programs, identify opportunities to improve donor impact and support compliance. Coordinates with the Finance Team to reconcile national fundraisers and Company donations and help ensure financial accuracy and compliance. Develops and supports corporate responsibility communications and provides investor relations communications support as needed. Conceptualizes, creates, edits and delivers communications and marketing materials for assigned projects and initiatives. Coordinates initiatives with social media, Marketing Creative, Marketing Production, the Nutritional Education Department, store leadership and community partners to deliver quality content that supports corporate objectives. Manages the execution of promotional activities, events and communications projects, including project scope, schedules, budgets, approvals and deliverables. Tracks project progress, communicates status updates and identifies changes that could affect scope, schedule, budget or delivery. Measures the results of public relations campaigns and applies key findings to improve future strategies, outreach and execution. Helps position Natural Grocers as a trusted leader in natural and organic grocery retailing, organic farming standards and practices, nutrition education and environmentally responsible business practices. Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, public relations, journalism, communications or a related field required. Minimum of 8 years of progressive experience in public relations, corporate communications or a related field within a complex, rapidly changing business environment, or equivalent agency experience. Experience developing and executing public relations and media relations strategies across local, regional, national and trade media. Experience serving as a Company spokesperson and preparing senior leaders and subject-matter experts for media interviews. Experience planning and executing media, executive, community and public-facing events. Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with executive leadership and cross-functional partners, including Finance, Legal, Human Resources, Operations, Purchasing and Marketing. Ability to lead multiple complex projects independently, establish priorities and take initiative in an environment with changing deadlines and competing demands. Strong organizational, project management and attention-to-detail skills. Ability to respond effectively to emerging issues, shifting priorities and opportunities while exercising sound judgment under pressure. Ability to build and maintain strong relationships with media, community partners, shareholders and employees. Experience using Microsoft Office applications and public relations and content management systems; experience with social media platforms and integrated communications campaigns preferred. Ability to travel up to 20% as required.
The Job in a Nutshell:
The Director of Public Relations is responsible for shaping, protecting and strengthening the public reputation of Natural Grocers (the Company). The position supports Company growth by developing and executing public relations, media relations and community engagement initiatives that increase brand awareness, reinforce the Company’s Five Founding Principles and drive customer engagement in new and existing markets. The Director serves as a trusted communications adviser to senior leadership and helps ensure that internal and external communications are accurate, compelling, consistent and aligned with the Company’s objectives.
ResponsibilitiesMain Ingredients:
Although this is a general outline of job responsibilities, all employees are expected to be “hands-on” and do whatever it takes to get the job done and make the Company thrive.
QualificationsRecipe for Success:
This job description is not an employment contract. It does not guarantee a job or that the above listed duties are the limit of responsibilities. The job and job description are subject to change with and without notice. Employees are required to accomplish all tasks assigned to them by their manager and/or other Home Office managers that may not be listed in this job description.
Natural Grocers Lakewood, Colorado, USA Office
12612 W Alameda Parkway, Lakewood, CO, United States, 80228
Similar Jobs
Aerospace • Hardware • Machine Learning • Software • App development • Defense • Data Privacy
Leads enterprise infrastructure and cybersecurity architecture across on-premises, cloud, hybrid, network, endpoint, and secure computing environments. Owns technology roadmaps, infrastructure reliability, disaster recovery, cybersecurity risk management, incident response, CMMC and DoD compliance readiness, asset lifecycle management, and secure modernization. Partners across engineering, compliance, facilities, and program teams while mentoring technical staff and implementing resilient, compliant environments.
Top Skills:
Access ControlAnsibleArubaAzure GovernmentBackupBashCiscoCmmc Level 2DfarsDisa StigsDisaster RecoveryEndpoint ProtectionFortinetHigh AvailabilityIncident ResponseInfrastructure As CodeJuniperLan/WanLinuxMicrosoft Gcc HighNist Sp 800-171Nist Sp 800-53Palo AltoPowershellPythonRmfSd-WanSecure Ai ArchitectureSecurity MonitoringSIEMTerraformVirtualizationVpnVulnerability ManagementWindowsWireless Networking
Machine Learning • Payments • Security • Software • Financial Services
Leads the design, development, implementation, and support of scalable data solutions across multiple applications and platforms. Responsibilities include data requirements analysis, ETL/ELT development, data modeling, migration and transformation, workflow orchestration, performance optimization, data quality, pipeline monitoring, and production support. The role also provides technical leadership through coding standards, code reviews, mentorship, and engineering best practices.
Top Skills:
Apache AirflowApache KafkaCi/CdCloud PlatformsCronData WarehousingDevOpsEltETLGitLinuxOracle SqlPython
Machine Learning • Payments • Security • Software • Financial Services
Serves as the senior technical architect for PNC’s Varicent incentive compensation platform. Designs compensation architectures, calculation engines, data models, integrations, workflows, and reporting frameworks while establishing technical standards and governance. Leads platform roadmaps, performance optimization, troubleshooting, resiliency initiatives, upgrades, and transformation efforts. Partners with HR, payroll, finance, technology, and business stakeholders, provides architectural guidance, and mentors technical teams.
Top Skills:
ETLRelational DatabasesSQLVaricent Incentive Compensation ManagementWorkday
What you need to know about the Colorado Tech Scene
With a business-friendly climate and research universities like CU Boulder and Colorado State, Colorado has made a name for itself as a startup ecosystem. The state boasts a skilled workforce and high quality of life thanks to its affordable housing, vibrant cultural scene and unparalleled opportunities for outdoor recreation. Colorado is also home to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, helping cement its status as a hub for renewable energy innovation.
Key Facts About Colorado Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 260,000; 8.5% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
- Major Tech Employers: Lockheed Martin, Century Link, Comcast, BAE Systems, Level 3
- Key Industries: Software, artificial intelligence, aerospace, e-commerce, fintech, healthtech
- Funding Landscape: $4.9 billion in VC funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
- Notable Investors: Access Venture Partners, Ridgeline Ventures, Techstars, Blackhorn Ventures
- Research Centers and Universities: Colorado School of Mines, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Denver, Colorado State University, Mesa Laboratory, Space Science Institute, National Center for Atmospheric Research, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Gottlieb Institute
