Senior Director Of Communications

Position Title: Senior Director of Communications
Exempt or Non-Exempt: Exempt
Reports To: Chief Strategy Officer
Location: Remote, with a preference for Washington, DC (if located in the DMV area, will be in the DC office once a week; if not located in the DMV area, will be in the DC office once a quarter); this position will include limited travel.
Salary Range: $115k-$135k

About Faith in Public Life/FPL Action: Faith in Public Life (FPL) and Faith in Public Life
Action (FPLA ), our sister organization, advance the moral imperative for a just, inclusive, and equitable country that allows each of us to live into our full humanity and advocate for policies that protect and advance our sacred human rights. Our coalition of influential faith leaders – who reflect the diversity of the nation – collectively discern, set faith-forward strategy, and take transformative action. By building cultures of belonging, leveraging the collective power of our multi-faith and multi-racial coalition, and advocating for policies that protect the full humanity of each of us, our strategy hub leads us closer to realizing a healthy and equitable democracy.

Position Description
The Senior Director of Communications is a pivotal leadership role at FPL/A responsible for developing, managing, and implementing a proactive branding, communications and narrative strategy for the organization. The Senior Director of Communications works closely with the
Chief Strategy Officer, the CEO, other members of the Senior Leadership Team, and the Boards of Directors. The Senior Director of Communications also supervises two direct reports and manages a Communications Team of six, which is responsible for executing the organization’s brand and communications strategy and day to day communications, narrative/messaging and press activities.

Job Responsibilities

Communications Strategy and Brand Management (55% of time)
● Develops and drives communications strategies for campaigns, projects, digital fundraising, publications, education materials, and reports
● Develops and implements new technologies, programs, and ideas that allow FPL to present its work in compelling ways
● Ensures unique and consistent message across all external organizational communications
● Provides strategic advice and guidance on writing, editing and producing all major communications from the CEO and other senior leaders of the organization, including speeches, interviews, op-eds, press releases and other appropriate materials

● Supervises the production of professional communications products, including best practices, publications, reports, and paid advertisements

● Oversees the execution of digital fundraising activities by Senior Digital Campaigner in alignment with industry best practices, in consultation with development team

● Institutes and maintains systems/programs that measure the effectiveness and impact of the activities undertaken by the Communications department

● Ensures FPL's commitment to DEIA is reflected in our communications strategy and campaigns

Supervision and Management (30% of time)
● Proposes overall staffing requirements and priorities of the communications department to the CSO and CEO

● Guides communications team – including management of two direct reports – to ensure that communications strategies and projects are executed successfully, in line with established goals

● Conducts regular check ins with direct reports and the communications team as a whole to ensure accountability and progress towards named goals

● Provides regular coaching and counseling, identifies training and other professional development needs, prepares and delivers salary and performance reviews, and reviews and approves performance and salary appraisals as necessary

● Recommends, reviews and approves employment actions, including interviewing, hiring, promotions, raises, and disciplinary actions, in conjunction with Human Resources

● Develops and responsibly implements departmental and campaign budgets
● Acts as a feedback loop between SLT and the communications team, bringing challenges and opportunities between the two groups

Additional Organizational Contributions (15% of time)
● There are a number of areas that the Senior Director of Communications will contribute to but will not play the leading role. These include:

• Organizational Strategy: While the CEO and CSO lead on various parts of organizational strategy work, all members of the Leadership Team are engaged in internal organizational initiatives, collective decision-making, innovation, and analysis.
• Organizational Culture: The CEO leads the organizations’ staff culture work.

However, all members of the Leadership Team are key partners in the design of this work, with the Associate Director of HR and People leading implementation.

• Program Staff Hiring: While the Senior Director of Communications directly oversees the hiring of direct reports within the communications team, they will also be consulted on other hiring processes.
• Board Engagement: The CEO is the primary point of contact for FPL and FPLA boards. However, all members of the Leadership Team are key partners in reporting to the board about organizational milestones and learnings.

Other duties as assigned.

Job Qualifications
● At least 10 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, at least five of which has been directly in communications
● Range of Communications-specific skillsets, including but not limited to strategic storytelling, narrative interventions, cultural communications, and campaign communications

● Experience successfully building and managing a communications team – including project management

● Highly relational management style with strong organizational and interpersonal skills, attention to detail, independent thinking and problem solving

● Ability to engage and respond on a professional level to a broad range of stakeholders
● Passion for the mission of the organization
● Appreciation and enthusiasm for cross-team collaboration

Approach to the Job
● Strategist’s mind: You quickly grasp the subtleties of complex issues and identify patterns in challenges. You don’t stop at diagnosing problems, though; you come up with insightful, pragmatic, equitable, and sustainable ways to produce positive change.

● Inclusive leadership: You approach leadership with a mindset of “power with” rather than “power over.” You recognize the value of divergent perspectives and regularly include others in planning and decision-making. You build equity and inclusion into goals and plans for staff development, retention, strategy, and culture. As the lead on the communications strategy for the organization, you will sometimes make difficult decisions in the best interest of the organization. When needed, you’re able to weigh complex factors and communicate tough decisions with clarity and empathy.

● Coaching and modeling: You make it your mission to develop others. You delegate skillfully and take the time to offer useful and actionable feedback. Because you lead by example (with our values as your north star), you inspire and motivate others to take action and meet goals. You hold the team accountable in ways that grow the people and our impact, and you make sure people feel appreciated.

● Adaptability and problem solving: You are always ready to take advantage of unexpected opportunities and address obstacles. You look for the root of both simple and complex problems, so you can seek solutions. You approach work with a spirit of
“yes” and adapt as things change, which they often do.

● Ownership and resilience: You care deeply about getting results. You gather information, seek input, and drive work forward to the finish line. You think 3 (or 30) steps ahead to develop solutions, anticipate problems, and course-correct when needed.
You hold a high bar even when things are hectic and bounce back from setbacks by turning each hurdle into a learning opportunity.

Compensation and Benefits
We offer a generous and comprehensive benefits package including full medical, dental, and vision premium coverage, life insurance, and an FSA/DCA savings plan. Faith in Public Life provides a 401k benefit that offers a dollar-for-dollar match of up to 3% of an employee's contribution. In addition to that, Faith in Public Life offers stipends for work-related mobile phone and internet use as well as professional development. We provide four weeks of vacation paid time off, 10 paid sick days,13 paid federal holidays, and additional paid leave, including the week between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day.

Equal Opportunity Statement
Faith in Public Life provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

To Apply
Please submit your application via our online portal at https://faithinpubliclife.bamboohr.com/careers.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $115,000.00 - $135,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Paid time off

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift
• Monday to Friday

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Washington, DC 20001