Description
The Piper Fund is a grant-making program of the Proteus Fund that addresses the undue influence of corporations and special interests on politics and public policy. The Piper Fund is launching a new Money in Politics Communications Collaborative to strengthen the strategic communications capacity of the growing field of organizations addressing these issues. The initiative will build the capacity of both the individual reform organizations and the sector as a whole. The Money in Politics Communication Collaborative will develop shared media and messaging strategies, spokesperson training, rapid response capacity, and multi-organizational campaigns. The project is designed to be expansive so additional organizations can participate as the field expands. It is also based on the understanding that while the goal is to strengthen the strategic communications capacity of a growing field, that will only work if there are substantial benefits to individual organizations. The project is structured to balance meaningful direction from field leaders with professional communications advice and research.
POSITION DESCRIPTION
The Piper Fund is seeking a Managing Communications Director to oversee the development of the Money in Politics Communications Collaborative. The Managing Communications Director will staff the Collaborative and serve as its primary point of contact between the Piper Fund, the organizations involved, and the Communications Working Group, comprised of 12- 14 leaders in the field, initially selected by Piper and including executive directors and directors of communication from traditional and non-traditional groups.
The Piper Fund anticipates a start date in early December for the Managing Communications Director.
The Managing Communications Director will be responsible for staffing and supervising a small team of communications professionals and for establishing outside contracts to implement the key components of the initiative. S/he will also take the lead in working directly with the emerging broader movement of organizations, participating in ongoing issue coalitions, working groups and campaigns and in developing, implementing and supporting effective media and communications capacity building strategies.
S/he will work with groups to coordinate joint rapid response campaigns, informed by extensive news coverage monitoring and tailored press lists. S/he will also facilitate social media campaign work, which will involve monitoring and analyzing online metrics and content on Money in Politics groups and issues, providing groups with training in the use of social media tools, and crafting and disseminating posts in support of existing initiatives.
The ideal candidate will have 7-10 years of experience working in the field of communications, media, advocacy, political or campaign communications, and/or public relations and will have a strong understanding of the workings of the non-profit research and advocacy community. S/he will have direct experience and/or demonstrated commitment to Money in Politics issues and an understanding of the issues and organizations working in this field. S/he will also have a proven track record of project management. Experience working as a Hill or NGO communications staffer, supervising or managing a communications team or campaign, and/or a proven track record in developing media outreach strategies and successfully pitching and placing content and/or spokespeople in the media is preferred.
PRINCIPLE DUTIES
- Serve as primary point of contact between the Piper Fund, the Money in Politics Communications Working Group, and the grantee organizations served by the initiative, helping set priorities for the hub and identifying the strategies that will have the greatest positive impact for the hub's work with the field.
- Develop an expertise of the expanding field of Money in Politics organizations, including those in the fair courts movement, and the issues they work on, their unique media profiles, key spokespeople, areas of expertise, and access to validators.
- Staff and supervise a team of 2-3 communications professionals who will implement rapid response and social media campaign work in tandem with the other communications work.
- Keep abreast of the evolving media landscape and identify new media opportunities for organizations. Be able to quickly identify the most appropriate organizations or experts to connect to a reporter, provide spokespeople, write an Op-Ed, etc.
- Coordinate opportunities for collaborative multi-organization media initiatives and support ongoing campaigns and policy initiatives, assisting with pitching and placement of spokespeople and content, developing online strategies, implementing strategies for outreach to Capitol Hill communications staff and tracking these efforts.
- Support the media work and communications capacity of individual groups when needed, offering consultation on the development of strategic communications plans, implementation of media strategies, and the creation of other media content.
- Manage an ongoing training program designed to improve the core media skills of key leaders from the Money in Politics field and facilitate usage of a range of media tools, including a media database, distribution system, and news clipping service. Coordinate trainings provided by in-house staff or by strategic communications consultants, commissioned by the Director.
- Manage process for establishing ongoing and longer-term research initiatives such as message testing and media and public opinion audits; coordinate between media research team or outside consultants and member organizations to ensure that project parameters are aligned with the field's needs.
- The Managing Communications Director will also facilitate rapid response campaign work, which will use coverage monitoring to identify and coordinate joint responses to breaking news developments amongst those groups, experts and spokespeople best positioned to respond.
ESSENTIAL SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor's degree in Public Relations, Communications, Journalism or other applicable field, or demonstrated equivalent experience.
- Demonstrated experience in public interest communications, campaign management, public relations or journalism with preference for experience in advocacy/political public relations.
- Demonstrated experience as a project manager
- Knowledge of print, broadcast, online and social media.
- Knowledge of money in politics issues including promotion of public financing of campaigns, disclosure and transparency initiatives, offensive and defensive legal strategies, judicial independence, proposals to amend the Constitution, and efforts to enhance corporate accountability and governance.
- Detail-oriented and a proven track record managing a fast-paced, multi-faceted workload, ideally involving media and communications and/or client relations.
- Strong supervisory skills with demonstrated experience effectively managing and mentoring others
- Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing, with varying levels of organizational staff, clients, contractors, and foundations.
- Demonstrated resourcefulness and flexibility in approach to project assignments.
- Experience in non-profit communications capacity building, in managing a multi-organization communications campaign or in facilitating the implementation of shared media, messaging or reframing campaign a plus.
To apply: send a cover letter, resume and writing sample to: settleson@verizon.net, subject line: "Piper Fund – MDC"
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