Managing Director, Communications

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. 

As part of the marketing communications team and a preferred partner to our priority initiative and business teams, the external communications team creates value by developing and executing strategies that build reputation and support our issues. We create awareness, advocacy, and confidence with key stakeholders using earned media, thought leadership and social amplification to lift the stories of our network heroes, whose bottom-up solutions offer a better way. We are a creative, passionate, and principles-focused team who tirelessly integrate to achieve our common goals, using research-based insights and key performance indicators (KPIs) to access outcomes and drive continuous improvement.  

The Managing Director, Communications leads the development and implementation of brand and stakeholder communication strategies. The candidate will oversee highly complex, integrated communication initiatives that span the Stand Together (ST) community and drive a narrative around Stand Together and its issue areas. 

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

  • Develop and implement an integrated strategic communications plan focused on advancing policy and issue priorities for ST and its community’s brand; broaden awareness of its efforts and priority issues; and increase the visibility of its programs across key stakeholder audiences 
  • Lead and professionally develop talent for the long-term that is aligned with Stand Together’s vision and Principle Based Management, with an intentional focus on principled entrepreneurialism and team growth opportunities 
  • Recruit and manage a communications team to support the development and execution of the communications strategy 
  • Promote a culture of high performance and continuous improvement that values learning and a commitment to quality  
  • Develop communication strategies and plans, including objective setting, identifying high value outcomes and prioritization of supporting tactics. Work with a high sense of urgency to meet deadlines and adjust to shifting priorities; provide strategic, often crisis guidance, in a fast-paced, high-profile media environment 
  • Set clear KPIs and manage recaps and reporting, with a focus on continuous improvement 
  • Manage vendor partnerships and budgets effectively 
  • Ability to use data and analytics in planning and plan measurement  

Knowledge and Skills You Bring to the Organization

  • 10+ years of experience in a corporate relations or policy communications role in a matrixed environment, managing multiple brands and/or business units 
  • 5+ years of supervising experience. Strong supervisory experience with a demonstrated background in cultivating and developing talent 
  • 5+ years in policy, public relations, and/or Tier 1 media experience
  • Direct experience developing and leading policy/issue campaigns. 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  
  • Ability to identify and create preventative measures and mitigation strategies in anticipation of operational/program issues. Identify, clarify, and resolve complex problems within own work area and/or team 
  • Understanding and consideration of reputational impacts in planning; experience incorporating strategies that protect and build the brand’s reputation with multiple stakeholders 
  • Demonstrated ability to write content across channels/mediums; adapt voice to channel 

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.