Manager of Communications
Location: DC Metro Area
Type: Full-Time
Industry: Non-Profit
**This is a hybrid role that will require a few days in office (Hyattsville, MD) and a few remote**
Our client offers competitive salaries and great benefits. The salary for this position will go up to $85k based upon experience.
Our client’s mission is to create a more just society by building power and improving the quality of life in working-class and immigrant communities. The organization’s vision is a future with diverse and thriving communities living free from discrimination and working together; with mutual respect to achieve full human rights for all. The organization is seeking a Manager of Communications to provide strategic campaign, lobbying, electoral, and communications support to all departments.
Job Summary
Our thriving nonprofit client is seeking a proactive, skilled and passionate individual to help promote their transformative work and serve its 125,000+ membership. As part of the senior management team, the Deputy Communications Director helps chart the course of, and manage the implementation of, the communications operations. The Deputy Communications Director oversees five Campaign Communications Specialists who coordinate the issue advocacy and service work in intradepartmental teams. The work requires careful analysis and planning, creativity and passion, leadership and cooperation, and strong management skills.
The Communications Department is tasked with developing and implementing communications strategies in partnership with all departments to increase access to services, promote key issue-based advocacy and lobbying campaigns, and recruit and mobilize Black and brown immigrant and working-class members. The Communications Department oversees all traditional press and digital media outreach.
Responsibilities include but are not limited to the following areas:
- Strategy Partner. Work closely with communications director and other leaders to develop a long-term organizational communications vision and strategy.
- Strategic Communications. Develop communications strategies for services and advocacy campaigns. Develop messaging about specific actions, design strategies such as print, broadcast, and online channels. Serve as the comms department representative in charge of the editorial calendar, and contribute to the email marketing strategy. Edit content for publications, including articles, web postings, reports, brochures, and other materials. Review design of these materials.
- Leadership Development. Supervise the team of communications specialists, fellows and interns, offering guidance, accountability, and motivation.
- Special Project Management. Lead the strategy and execution of special projects.
- Media Relations. Coordinate media relations for selected services and issue-advocacy campaigns, including writing press releases, pitching stories to media, responding to media inquiries, coordinating press conferences.
- Event Lead. Attend/produce various organization functions, press conferences, rallies, marches, roundtables, lobbying events, among other events with short notice/in response to breaking news.
- Workplace Culture Moderator. Help ensure smooth and effective office operations. Help maintain a positive, respectful, welcoming, and professional work environment for employees, volunteers, and members.
- Support organization as a whole: Deep focus on the supervision, skill strengthening, and integration of managers/staff working in different bodies of work or different regions to ensure excellence and standardization designed by the director; cross-organizational work with other deputy directors to train and coach the department’s managers and staff, and bridging frontline staff to Executive Team to illuminate cross-organizational challenges.
Education, Certifications, and Qualifications Required:
- A bachelor’s degree with at least five years of professional experience in the communications industry, non-profit or advocacy experience preferred.
- Experience working with working families, immigrant communities, and/or communities of color; pitching media or developing media outreach plans with strong or proven outcomes; and knowledge of digital organizing techniques.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Required
- Enthusiastic communicator who is eager to share members’ stories/experiences and champion the services and advocacy campaigns that support and empower them.
- Alignment with org’s values: accountable for interpreting and embodying the mission and values of the organization in their day-to-day work and leadership, and for ensuring that direct reports are aligned with these values.
- The ability to thrive in a newsroom-like environment, juggling a lot of projects at once.
- The ability to think proactively and creatively, and to develop cutting-edge communications strategies; with superb attention to detail and excellent editing and writing skills.
- Strong organizational and management skills, including the ability to motivate a team
- A thorough grasp of the political process and advocacy world.
This organization offers a competitive salary and robust benefits package.