Director of Communications (FJS)

Foundation for a Just Society; New York (NY); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Vacation days; close Christmas Eve –NY

401(k) retirement plan with employer’s

Life insurance

Parental leave; educational support

Job summary

Foundation for a Just Society seeks a Director of Communications to provide strategic leadership, vision, and oversight of communications aimed at transforming public conversations on women, girls, and LGBTQI rights. The role coordinates across grants, accompaniment, and advocacy to advance the foundation’s mission and support global movements.

The ideal candidate will lead a communications team, collaborate with the CEO and programs leadership, and travel internationally and domestically

Qualifications

• Minimum 7–10 years leading communications in women’s, LGBTQI, or social justice fields with increasing management responsibility.
• Proven ability to lead and grow diverse teams (at least 5 years).
• Experience developing and executing communications and advocacy strategies from concept to completion.
• Ability to build consensus, collaborate across programs, and manage multiple projects under deadlines.
• Strong editing, writing, and verbal communication skills for broad audiences.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership, vision, and oversight of communications to advance the foundation’s mission.
• Develop and monitor concrete communications objectives aligned with mission and strategies.
• Oversee integration of communications across grantmaking, accompaniment, advocacy, and operations.
• Lead and supervise communications staff and consultants; manage onboarding and professional development.
• Develop budgets and work plans; present to the management team and Board as needed.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Executive management

Strategic communications

Grantmaking communications

Stakeholder engagement

Tools

Budgeting tools

CMS / website management

CRM / donor software

Job description

Chaloner has partnered with Foundation for a Just Society on their search for a Director of Communications. Foundation for a Just Society (FJS) envisions a world where all people are equally valued and lead self-determined lives. FJS advances the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQI people and promotes gender and racial justice by ensuring those most affected by injustice have the resources they need to cultivate the leadership and solutions that transform our world.

FJS make grants to local, national, regional, and global organizations and networks with an emphasis on Francophone West Africa, Mesoamerica, South and Southeast Asia, and the US Southeast. FJS supports efforts that advance long-term, structural change and meet immediate needs that enable women, girls, and LGBTQI people most affected by injustice to be leaders, strategists, and agents of change.

POSITION SUMMARY

Working in close collaboration with the CEO and the director of programs, the director of communications provides strategic leadership, vision, and oversight of communications approaches that advance the foundation’s mission. Strategic communications is a critical part of FJS’s work through which we aim to transform public conversations about women, girls, and LGBTQI people and build support for movements that advance their rights. In addition, FJS gives dedicated communications grants, journalism grants, and accompaniment support. The director of communications oversees the integration of strategic communications across grantmaking, accompaniment, philanthropic advocacy, and execution of the foundation’s own communications strategy. The director of communications reports to the CEO and contributes to organization-wide decision making and projects through participation in the foundation’s management team, comprised of the CEO, chief financial officer, and the director of programs.

This position leads and supervises FJS’s communications team, including a communications officer, a communications associate, and a cadre of communications consultants. The ideal candidate for this position is a strategic thinker and leader who inspires and motivates team members through a management style that centers relationship building, collaboration, prioritizes leading by example, and incorporates ongoing feedback. This is a full-time position that requires international and domestic travel (approximately 5-10%).

ESSENTIAL DUTIES + RESPONSIBILITIES

Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Strategic Leadership + Management

• Provide strategic leadership, vision, and oversight of communications approaches that advance the foundation’s mission.
• Develop, adopt, and monitor concrete and realistic communications objectives that align with FJS's mission, vision, values, and strategies.
• Support the integration of communications across the organization.
• Work with program staff to determine communications needs and establish a culture in which communications work is fully integrated into programs.
• Present the foundation’s communications work to the Board of Directors; produce updates on emerging trends and opportunities.
• Participate in meetings, convenings, and working groups to maintain knowledge of current and emerging trends in communications, movements, and journalism and build effective collaborations and alliances with peers and other stakeholders to advance FJS’s philanthropic advocacy priorities.
• Directly supervise communications staff (communications officer and future communications associate) and consultants; lead onboarding and professional development of communications staff.
• Develop budgets and work plans and monitor progress.
• Participate in FJS’s management team.

Grantmaking

• Oversee and support the advancement of communications goals in FJS’s regional grantmaking strategies, as guided by program staff.
• Support regional program teams with implementing their grantmaking strategies for strategic communications and journalism, helping to identify and build relationships with current and prospective grantee partners.
• Support communications staff to implement the communications accompaniment grantmaking program, focused on providing grantees with dedicated funding for communications.
• Manage communications grants that are not included in regional portfolios (e.g., donor collaboratives).
• Develop in-depth knowledge and strategic analysis of the communications elements of the foundation’s regional and global grantmaking.
• Assist with the development of communications goals, indicators, and mechanisms for data collection and analysis within the learning, monitoring, and evaluation process.

Corporate Communications

• Manage the foundation’s public identity to ensure mission, brand, and message continuity, integrity, and effectiveness.
• Ensure communications activities and materials are aligned with the foundation’s mission, vision, values, and strategies.
• Oversee content creation and audience engagement (e.g., website, social media).
• Collaborate with communications team to recruit and manage relationships with outside consultants and vendors that support communications activities — including digital communications manager, writers, editors, researchers, designers, translators, transcribers, photographers, videographers, media relations, and web developers — to ensure results are achieved on time and on budget.
• Contribute to operational needs pertaining to communications, including policy development and implementation, risk management, and staff training.

Perform any other related duties or tasks as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Knowledge of, passion for, and firm grounding in grassroots, global women’s, girls’, and LGBTQI rights movements, with an emphasis on the leadership of women, girls, and LGBTQI people from marginalized communities.
• At least seven to ten years of professional experience overseeing communications within the women’s, LGBTQI rights, or social justice fields with progressively increasing management responsibility.
• Exceptional leadership and management skills with a minimum five years of experience managing and growing staff from diverse backgrounds.
• Adept at leading communications and advocacy strategy development from conceptualization to completion, balancing long-term strategic thinking with short-term tactical actions and analysis.
• Ability to create and operationalize innovative approaches to communications and advocacy, and take calculated risks in support of the foundation’s mission.
• Strong political analysis and understanding of intersectionality in movements and organizational practice.
• Understanding of communications and philanthropic advocacy measurement and analysis.
• Strong project management skills; ability to run multiple projects simultaneously and work swiftly under competing deadlines.
• Exceptional written and oral communications skills, including editing the work of others, and ability to communicate clearly and persuasively to a variety of audiences and stakeholders.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including sensitivity to cultural communication differences, and ability to work well with team members.
• Ability to listen actively, synthesize input, build consensus, and respond effectively to feedback and to opportunities and challenges.
• Proven experience maintaining a high level of confidentiality and professional conduct.
• Eligibility to work in the United States.

PREFERRED ASSETS

• Fluency in Spanish and/or French.
• Experience in a grantmaking foundation.
• Experience working in philanthropy and with groups in the Global South.
• Expertise in journalism that supports and elevates voices of movements.

COMPENSATION AND CULTURE

FJS offers a benefits package that includes:

• 100% employer-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance for all eligible employees and their spouses, domestic partners, and eligible dependents.
• Paid vacation days, and closed Christmas Eve through New Year’s Day.
• 401(k) retirement plan (with employer match).
• 100% employer-paid life insurance, supplemental short-term disability, and long-term disability.
• Generous parental leave with full salary continuation.
• Educational support benefits.

FJS is committed to cultivating an organizational culture where everyone is able to bring their full, authentic selves to work. The foundation believes a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace is one where all employees, no matter their gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, education, or disability, are valued and respected.