Overview:
The Associate Vice President of Strategic Communications and Policy oversees the development, implementation, and assessment of the organization’s communications and marketing strategy, as well as the development of all external communications and marketing materials and projects. They collaborate internally to identify and develop opportunities to highlight the organization’s thought leadership and externally to develop and nurture relationships with other organizations that have shared communication and policy objectives.
Job Summary:
As a lead member of the organization, they direct org-wide processes or initiatives, supervise staff, serve as internal capacity builders, and ensure quality for multiple and/or high stakes projects. They thrive in a collaborative work environment, possess a strong commitment to educational equity and professional growth and are ready, willing and able to engage in dialogue about race and identity to raise organizational awareness and support the building of an equitable culture internally and externally.
Duties/Responsibilities:
Lead development and implementation of communications and marketing strategy
Ensure strategy aligns with organization’s mission and goals and reflects current education research and trends and marketing analytics and best practices.
Supervise and develop the team responsible for producing and distributing all marketing content and external communications.
Lead team in development of a distribution plan for all communications and marketing content, including through social media, website, emails, and third-party outlets.
Oversee organization’s brand, ensuring consistency across all external communications materials.
Oversee communications and marketing data collection and analysis. Ensure analytics are used to adjust all external communications efforts, including marketing and fund development activities.
Develop and maintain relationships with media professionals to maximize organization’s opportunities to be featured in relevant stories and serve as primary contact for inquiries from the media.
Develop and maintain relationships with communications and policy staff at like-minded organizations to build partnerships around shared issues and expand and enhance our communications reach, thought leadership efforts, and advocacy on policy issues aligned to org mission, vision, and goals.
Lead development and ensure high quality and consistency of all external communications content
Write and lead production of all communications materials, including but not limited to blogs, webinars, articles, press releases, videos, op-eds, podcasts, annual reports, white papers, social media, and emails.
Collaborate with staff who directly work with districts and other partners to identify opportunities to showcase the organization’s work, with a focus on storytelling and highlighting diverse voices and our commitment to equity through content.
Support preparation of organization-developed tools and resources for publication, ensuring high-quality and consistency. Oversee development of strategy for widespread release of tools and resources.
Develop materials to be used with funders, including annual reports and one-pagers.
Support staff members in developing their public voice to showcase the organization’s talent.
Support CEO’s internal and external communications, including drafting newsletter for staff, talking points for speaking engagements, and emails to board of directors, to elevate her presence in the national conversation on education and equity.
Supervision
Builds capacity of/coach direct reports through supporting them in setting learning-focused goals as well as in implementing and monitoring work towards their annual goals
Actively models connecting organizational work to core values and competencies
Advocates for the learning/support needs of direct reports
Desired Skills:
Strong communications skills
Strong management skills
Exceptional writing skills
Social media savvy
Commitment to our organization’s mission that all children should have equal access to education particularly in underserved communities.
Outstanding interpersonal skills
Ability and commitment to work collaboratively
Qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree
A minimum of 7 years' work experience in communications, journalism, or education policy/research in a team-oriented environment, with at least 2-3 years’ experience in a leadership role
To apply, please email your resume, cover letter with salary requirements, a writing sample, and all other applicable information to jobs@leadershipacademy.org with the job title and your name in the subject line.
We prioritize finding the best candidates, whom we know do not always come from traditional backgrounds. If you are interested in this position but do not meet all the listed qualifications, please still apply. If you have questions about your qualifications, feel free to contact us to discuss your application.
Seeing our initial success in New York City, school systems across the country began approaching us to help them develop leadership pipelines and strengthen leader practices.
Over the years, we have sharpened our focus on the “how” of dismantling systemic inequities in schools: culturally responsive leadership. We have supported thousands of leaders in more than 200 school systems and educational organizations across 37 states and Washington, D.C., and we continue to expand our reach. As we engage with so many diverse communities, our own work continuously strengthens while our mission remains constant: to develop great leaders committed to leading schools intentionally built to serve every child.
Vision: We envision a nation where every school and school system is intentionally built to ensure children of every race, ethnicity, language, and other identity characteristics have what they need to achieve academic, social, and emotional success.
Mission: We build the capacity of educational leaders at every level of the system to disrupt systemic inequities and create the conditions necessary for all students to thrive.