Communications Officer

Communications Officer; New York (NY); On-site; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

The Communications Officer at the foundation will lead the development and dissemination of strategic messages across the website, conferences, media, and social channels, collaborating with the Education Leadership team to ensure credible, evidence-based communications.

Reporting to the Vice President of Communications, this role manages partnerships, coordinates editorial reviews, writes publications and scripts, and cultivates external networks to broaden the foundation's impact.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in strategic communications, public affairs, journalism, or PR roles with multi-stakeholder projects.
• Experience designing and executing strategic communications plans, preferably in education.
• Experience overseeing report releases, briefings, webinars, and other tactical comms efforts.
• Experience communicating about equity while engaging diverse stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Develops communication strategy at the initiative level in alignment with the foundation's overarching strategy.
• Collaborates with interdisciplinary teams to craft and disseminate clear, effective messages.
• Oversees editing/writing of publications, web content, social media, videos, and talking points.
• Manages relationships with grantees, vendors, and external partners to advance initiative goals.
• Ensures credibility and evidence-based messaging across channels and audiences.

Skills

Strategic communications

Project management

Stakeholder engagement

Public relations

Content development

Education

Bachelor's degree in Communications or related field

Job description

The Opportunity

The Communications Officer is a key contributor to the success of the foundation's approach and therefore expected to acquire deep knowledge of lessons learned from our initiatives in their focus area. They will provide substantive expertise and experience in communications to the interdisciplinary team's work on strategy design, refinement and implementation; lead the writing and distillation of key messages; and support sharing of knowledge through four primary channels: direct dissemination through our Website, conference presentations and speeches; dissemination in partnership with external membership and issue organizations; underwriting of coverage in non-profit trade and general media; and social media.

Reporting to the Vice President of Communications, the Communications Officer will work closely and support the work in Education Leadership serving on the program's interdisciplinary team that designs and implements the initiatives through which the foundation does its philanthropic work.

Responsibilities

Communications Strategy

• Develops communication strategy at the initiative level (in alignment with our overall foundation communication strategy and guiding principles); and does so within an interdisciplinary approach in collaboration with the Vice President, interdisciplinary team, and others.
• As part of the interdisciplinary team, collaborates with colleagues from research and program to develop and disseminate consistent, clear, and effective messaging in support of the evidence-based research Wallace supports.
• Ensures strategies build on the foundation's evidence base and sustain its reputation for credibility, and employ best practices in communications, both Wallace's and field-wide, to reach key audiences and contribute to nationwide impact most effectively.
• Participates in collaborative editorial review of draft research reports and knowledge products to ensure the final version reflects the interdisciplinary perspective to "say more only as we know more," and is respectful of the grantees whose work is presented in the report.
• Collaborates, edits, and writes Wallace developed products including publications, web content including social media, videos, podcast scripts, talking points, meetings briefs and more.
• Contributes to the writing, distillation and synthesis of key messages used to prepare Wallace staff, Communications Partners, and/or grantees for meetings, speaking engagements and media interviews, and as the basis for encouraging awareness and understanding of the foundation's mission, strategies and initiatives leading to action among targeted audiences.
• Develops innovative ideas for Wallace-generated content to help distill insights and encourage broad consideration and adoption of Wallace's viewpoints among key audiences.
• Cultivates relationships and participates in external networks including but not limited to communications-specific professional associations, initiative-specific convenings and funder collaborations.

Grants/Contracts/Partnerships Management

• Ensures that the funded work of our initiatives reflects Wallace's "dual goals:" benefits for our partners and those they serve, and benefits for the broader field through developing and sharing knowledge.
• Manages the work of public relations firms, grantees, communications partners, and media sponsorships to advance the overall goals of the initiative.
• Fulfills stewardship responsibilities: (i) ensures grantee budgets reflect the scope and deliverables to support the initiative goals, monitor spending, and review financial reports to inform future funding; and (ii) maintains an up-to-date record of the grants, including report reviews and feedback, conversations with grantees, and budget discussions to ensure the integrity of the foundation's grants database.

Qualifications

Experience

• 10+ years in a strategic communications, public affairs, journalism, public relations, or policy communications role, with at least five years of that time spent managing complex projects involving multiple stakeholders; experience can be in the nonprofit, for-profit or government sector. Strong preference for candidates with communications experience supporting the field education. Preference for district level experience and/or deep policy related experience.
• Demonstrated experience designing and executing strategic communications plans, preferably in the education field and aimed at encouraging the spread of ideas or changing behaviors.
• Developing and overseeing report releases, briefings, webinars, workshops, and other tactical communications efforts.
• Communicating about issues of equity while engaging with stakeholders across the political spectrum.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Capacity to work productively and contribute in an interdisciplinary team structure.
• Well-developed interpersonal skills to identify issues and solve problems when working with colleagues.
• Demonstrated capacity to build relationships with and among external parties such as grantees, vendors, and organizations with whom we partner.
• Exceptional project management skills and ability to multitask in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent conceptual and analytical thinking skills.
• Outstanding communication skills: listening, writing, speaking.
• Proven commitment to and enthusiasm for an evidence-based approach in communications and writing about research.

Education

An undergraduate degree is required, certificate of further study or advanced degree is a plus.