Now Hiring: A Digital Storyteller for the Future of Local Government

Van Buren County Digital Information Department / Digital Innovation Collaborative Exchange (DICE)

Across Michigan, counties are being asked to do more with less, deliver modern, transparent, accessible services with all the elegance of a big-city communications shop, but on something closer to a township bake sale budget.

Enter the Digital Information Department (DID), a shared service between Van Buren and St. Joseph Counties. It was created to face that challenge with equal parts ambition and pragmatism, and perhaps a dash of caffeine.

Now, we’re looking to add a pivotal new voice to this effort:
Digital Communications Coordinator.

But let’s be clear: this isn’t about scheduling posts into the social media void or dusting off an old website template. This role is about transforming how two counties communicate, engage, and, dare we say it, build trust in a digital world that often forgets humans are still involved.

A Role That Bridges Technology and Storytelling

You’ll lead the development and management of user-friendly, AI-aware (and yes, mobile-friendly) websites for both counties. Think fewer PDFs, more clarity. Fewer “Contact Us” black holes, more two-way conversations.

You’ll work across departments to untangle jargon, humanize data, and make local government feel less like a maze of outdated links and more like a helpful neighbor who also happens to understand how to embed a form on the homepage.

From quick explainer videos to service redesigns and community input tools, you’ll craft digital experiences that make residents say, “Wait, this is government?”

You’ll also collaborate with DICE, a first-of-its-kind regional initiative that’s helping counties share digital infrastructure, automation, and artificial intelligence. (Yes, AI in rural government. No, it’s not a sci-fi pilot episode….it’s already happening.)

Who We’re Looking For

You’re part communicator, part designer, part translator of bureaucratic-speak into actual human language. You can take a project from “Do we even know what this is?” to “Wow, people actually used that.”

Ideal candidates will have experience with tools like WordPress, Canva, video editing, and possibly emerging AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. But more importantly, you should be deeply curious, service-minded, and a believer that transparency is not just a compliance issue, it’s a democratic value.

Bonus points if you enjoy finding the story in a spreadsheet or believe that design and transparency are related concepts.

Why It Matters

Local governments are the bedrock of everyday life. And as we move into the age of digital service delivery and AI-assisted decisions, communication becomes a form of civic infrastructure.

This role helps build that infrastructure, one plain-language page, one well-timed video, one thoughtfully designed public form at a time.

Why You Might Actually Love This Job

• You’ll be part of a small, future-facing team doing nationally relevant work in Southwest Michigan.
• You’ll help shape the public face of two counties and a regional collaboration that’s quietly rewriting the playbook for rural digital government.
• You’ll get to experiment, iterate, and make things better, often from scratch.
• And you’ll do it all in a place where a good idea can still travel faster than a memo.

The Details

• Title: Digital Communications Coordinator
• Location: Paw Paw, Michigan (serving Van Buren and St. Joseph Counties)
• Pay Range: $25.55–$34.81/hour, full-time (75 hours biweekly)
• Apply through: Van Buren County Employment Portal

About DICE

The Digital Innovation Collaborative Exchange (DICE) is a shared public digital utility serving counties across Southwest Michigan. DICE builds open, efficient, AI-enabled tools for automation, communication, and data sharing—helping local governments work smarter, together. Think of it as cloud infrastructure with a civic soul.

Want to help reimagine how government shows up online? We’d love to hear from you.
(Just don’t send us a PDF résumé named “FinalVersion3_ReallyFinal.pdf”. We’ve seen things.)