M+R Strategic Services — SVP Communications and Advocacy

M+R Strategic Services is looking for a Senior Vice President -- Communications and Advocacy to come work for one of the best firms in the do-gooder business.

M+R is 140 smart people who help nonprofits achieve real, lasting change. We mobilize supporters, raise money, and move the media, the public, and decision-makers. We only work with clients we believe in. We take risks. We work hard. We’re leaders, we’re organizers, and we don’t stop until we win.

When you come work for us, here’s what you’ll find:

•  Work that is awesome. We are serious about working with clients who are changing the world and taking on the bad guys. And, we say no to clients if we don’t believe in their cause or if we can’t help them.
•  Colleagues you can count on. Kind, dedicated, and pretty cool people who get things done, and help you to do your best, too.
•  A critical, fearless approach. Every day we say and do the things that must be said and done, even if the consequences aren’t exactly a barrel of laughs.
•  Creativity that just won’t quit. We want you to bring your wacky self to work every day. Not just because it’s fun, but because the wildest idea just might be the thing that works.
  • So that’s us. Now about the work... 
We do communications and advocacy for nonprofits and foundations working on the biggest issues of the day – reforming the justice system with the MacArthur Foundation, defending the Clean Air Act with the American Lung Association, building an army of cancer advocates with the American Cancer Society, ending climate change with 350.org, Sierra Club, NRDC, Union of Concerned Scientists, & many more. 
Day-to-day, we’re using the tools of earned media and social media to brand our clients and their issues, raise awareness, recruit supporters, win media attention, and influence and persuade decision-makers. 
As a Senior Vice President on our team, you would serve as Senior Counsel or the Senior Client Manager for approximately 3 earned media and/or integrated services account teams, providing strategic direction and leading a team on each one. You would also play a significant role building our team’s business development pipeline and securing new nonprofit or foundation clients for our team to help move their issues or brands forward. 
Here’s what you’ll be doing on any given day:
• Develop winning strategies. Play a lead role in helping clients design campaigns and communications programs that smartly and cleverly meet their long term objectives and short term goals, and then oversee account teams as they distill the strategy into earned media results that drive the campaign or organization forward.
•  Play a major role in growing our earned media book of business. Leverage 
and grow your network to find the causes we want to be working on & increase 
the number and mix of clients we’re working with in the earned media sphere.
•  Build and mentor our earned media team. Grow and empower our strong 
team of earned media coordinators, implementers and strategists, overseeing their work, being a mentor, and setting up systems and structures to make their work even stronger & their M+R experience even better.
•  Demand top-notch performance. Know what good looks like. Even better, know what CRAZY AMAZING looks like, and work with client teams to deliver that every time.
•  Maintain strong client relationships. Stay in close contact with clients throughout the day via email and phone about all the big and little things going on, participate in weekly check-in calls and present at big strategy meetings. Think not just about what we’re doing for clients, but what more we should be doing for them.
• About you:
•  You’re a senior leader in the nonprofit and/or advocacy field. You have approximately 10-12+ years of experience including 7+ working in media relations. You've worked at an agency or, if not, you're well networked in the field and with journalists.
•  You have clients you can walk in the door with or a solid network you can immediately tap to identify leads and help secure business.
•  You relish working with nonprofits, coalitions, and foundations to take on important issues of the day. Your passion for this work seeps into everything you do & you're ambition is to take it to the next level.
•  You have a deep understanding of the role earned media plays in the campaigns of today and tomorrow. You know what big industry-leading moves look like because you've made them, or you're ready to make them here. You have experience driving media in a coalition or policy campaign context. You think across channels.

•  You set clear goals - and when goals aren't clear, you fix it. You can come up with multiple ways to approach a strategy or process and quickly get clients and teams oriented around the best course, building consensus and buy-in among clients, staff, and leadership.
•  But you don't stop there: You regularly innovate on best practices, solve problems creatively, and evolve your approach. When you recognize that something is not working, you can shift course. You can make hard and unpopular decisions, and artfully tackle difficult conversations with clients, leadership, and staff.
•  You can hold a room...and a conference call. You can think and present on the fly without a lot of prep and field unexpected questions.
•  You’ve built and led projects and teams. You know what makes teams click - how to seize opportunities, overcome hurdles and celebrate the wins. You work to make everyone - regardless of perspective, culture, or background - feel welcome, recognized, and respected.
•  You get the best from your teams by pitching in, being open and truthful, owning up to your own mistakes without defensiveness, proactively and honestly delivering bad news, building confidence through praise, and working relentlessly to upgrade the skills of your teams. You strive for an environment of honesty and clarity.
•  You're kind, and a pleasure to work with.
• Salary, Benefits and Some Perks. 
One of our core values as a firm is that we take care of each other. Every employee shares in our success and in our profits, and we offer a great salary and benefits package:
•  Three weeks vacation as well as sick and personal days;
•  Generous health, dental and vision benefits;
•  401(k) plan with employer match;
•  Flexible Spending Accounts for medical, dependent care and transit;
•  Professional development stipend;
•  There IS such a thing as free lunch here – on Fridays!
•  Weekly brainstorms where we cook up our most creative ideas;
•  All kinds of non-traditional benefits depending on which office you’re in. Records 
and record players. Snack breaks. Cold brew coffee on tap.

• The Fine Print: 
This position can be located in any of the following M+R offices:
•  11 Park Pl., New York, NY
•  1101 Connecticut Ave, Washington, DC
•  1611 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA
•  1275 East 6th Street, Los Angeles, CA

To apply: send resume, cover letter and salary requirements to: settleson@gmail.com, subject line: M+R SVP. No calls please. M+R will only contact candidates to schedule an interview.

Of course... 
M+R is an equal opportunity employer and all applicants will be considered. As a firm we are committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace where we learn and work together to change the world. M+R is strengthened by our staff’s diversity, including race and ethnicity, social class, national origin, culture, sexual orientation, gender 
identity and expression, language, and so much more. We strongly encourage folks from underrepresented backgrounds to apply. We love, respect, and welcome you!