Communications Director, Economic Policy

Categories

Communications

Location

Arlington, Virginia

Job Description

Stand Together is a dynamic and mission-driven organization committed to driving positive social change and empowering individuals to overcome barriers. Join our team and be part of a collaborative community that values innovation, personal responsibility, and the power of bottom-up solutions. Together, we will create a society that fosters opportunity, dignity, and well-being for all.

Stand Together is a dynamic and mission-driven organization committed to driving positive social change and empowering individuals to overcome barriers. Join our team and be part of a collaborative community that values innovation, personal responsibility, and the power of bottom-up solutions. Together, we will create a society that fosters opportunity, dignity, and well-being for all. 

The Communications Director, Economic Policy leads the development and implementation of stakeholder communication strategies. The candidate will oversee highly complex, integrated communication initiatives that cross the Stand Together community, supporting priority initiatives and sub-brands whose focus is to drive economic progress through bottom-up innovation free from government intrusion that lowers the cost of living, encourages upward mobility, promotes environmental stewardship, health care advances, and economic and social progress.

The Stand Together community works with some of the country's boldest and most innovative social changemakers. Our goal is to remove the barriers that prevent people from achieving their full potential. Working across the political spectrum, impacting communities across the country, we're making positive change a reality by uniting diverse voices on the issues that matter most. 

Your Responsibilities Include

  • Concept, execute, and measure communication strategies with a special focus on economic solutions that 1) lower the cost of living through productivity gains (good deflation), 2) create upward mobility through widespread economic growth, 3) protect the environment through more efficient use of resources, 4) save lives and improve well-being through health care innovation, and 5) inspire future generations to dream big, expand opportunities, and take risks
  • Break down complex policies into simple, easy to understand, salient messages and storylines that break through with earned media and customers, in the channels where they willingly consume information
  • Specifically develop key messages, press releases, statements, and other communications materials necessary to best position the organization; manage message development and review with Stand Together’s content capability and agency partners where appropriate
  • Integrate with internal stakeholders to ensure plans align with Stand Together’s and other priority initiatives’ key priorities, having trade off conversations where needed to manage resources
  • Provide an enterprise view of risk, when policy or campaign initiatives overlap, complement, or may conflict between brands, with a keen eye for building, protecting, and maintaining community reputation
  • Partner with marketing, digital and internal communication to ensure earned media and thought leadership content is woven through owned and paid channels, amplifying reach, and deepening our bench of program advocates
  • Use expertise to evaluate the strength of existing media and influencer relationships that support the economic progress priority; cultivate existing and grow new relationships across traditional and non-traditional sources, creating a steady drum beat of news highlighting community experts as ‘go-to’s’ for grassroots and national culture moments and inflection points
  • Prepare principals for media and thought leadership engagements, ensuring key messages are conveyed with consistency and relevancy; engage with analytics and insights capability for research when needed
  • When needed, serve as an on-record spokesperson
  • Proactively build strong horizontal relationships throughout the marketing communications capability and Stand Together community to effective drive alignment and execution of community wide thought leadership strategies
  • Possess the poise, maturity, and intellectual decision and prioritization skills to build trust with senior leaders
  • Meet deadlines and adjust to shifting priorities; provide strategic, often crisis guidance, in a fast-paced, high profile media environments
  • Set effective KPIs and manage recaps, reporting, with a focus on continuous improvement
  • Manage vendor partnerships and budgets effectively
  • Proficient in word, power point and excel

Knowledge and Skills You Bring to the Organization

  • 10+ years of experience in a corporate relations or policy communications role
  • Policy, public relations, and Tier 1 media experience valued
  • Experience in a matrixed environment, managing multiple brands or business units appreciated
  • Strong writer, with a proven ability to prioritize, manage multiple priorities and feedback, under tight deadlines
  • A builder who can easily establish new relationships and create rapport. When needed, can serve as a liaison between the communications function and other business areas or vendors
  • Can adapt behavior to engage and influence others, whether individuals or a team
  • Experience preparing presentations, key messaging with coaching. Effective presentation skills and persuasive skills
  • Ability to develop work plans that organize project work into discrete tasks, sequencing activities to achieve maximum efficiency. Able to adapt projects and programs based on stakeholder or business partner feedback.
  • Can anticipate operational/program issues and identify preventative measures and mitigation strategies. Identifies, clarifies, and resolves complex problems within own work area or team
  • Unparalleled experience developing communication strategies and plans, including objective setting, identifying high value outcomes and prioritization of supporting tactics
  • Ability to use data and analytics in planning and plan measurement
  • Understands and considers reputational impacts in planning; experience incorporating strategies that protect and build the brand’s reputation with multiple stakeholders.
  • Knowledge of Associated Press style
  • Demonstrated ability to write content across channels/mediums; adapt voice to channel.
  • Ability to coach and develop talent

What We Offer

  • A meaningful career where your work will improve the lives of millions of Americans – especially the least fortunate.
  • A vision-driven organization of over 1,000 employees across the country who are dedicated to improving the lives of others.
  • Competitive salaries and bonuses. Our salary and bonus strategies are aligned to the value you create, not a standardized bell curve.
  • Generous 401K match - 6% match with immediate vesting.
  • Competitive health and wellness benefits.
  • Our flexible time-off policy allows all employees to take leave as needed.
  • Commuter assistance plans to offset the cost of commuting into our headquarters (on-site parking or metro).
  • Opportunities for professional development and mentorship that can strengthen your effectiveness through Principle Based Management and other industry specific programs.

Stand Together helps social entrepreneurs supercharge their efforts to help people improve their lives. We connect them with passionate partners and the resources necessary to make a greater difference.  Through our philanthropic community, we tackle some of the nation's biggest challenges so that every person has the opportunity to realize their extraordinary potential. Stand Together partners with people from diverse perspectives and backgrounds—including people in education, business, community non-profits, and public policy—to accomplish more together than any of us could on our own.   
  
Our Values Working at Stand Together is different from many other organizations. We have a relentless commitment to a culture based on a business philosophy called Principle Based Management® (PBM®). Informed by the principles that allow a free and open society to flourish, PBM® prepares individuals to innovate, improve, and transform while fostering a healthy, growing organization that creates long-term value for its clients and supporters and fulfillment for its employees.    
  
We believe that diversity in experiences, perspectives, knowledge and ideas fuels creativity, broadens knowledge, and helps drive success. That’s why we’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer and strive to treat all employees and applicants with honesty, dignity, respect and sensitivity. We welcome all qualified applicants regardless of color, race, religion, religious creed, sex, gender or gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, ethnicity, ancestry, age, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy (including medical needs which may arise from pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), military and veteran status, genetic information, marital or familial status, political affiliation, or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state or local laws, regulations or ordinances.