Director, Communications

Washington, DC, DC
Full Time
Strategic Communications
Experienced
 
Director, Communications

Reports to:          VP, Strategic Communications     Location:              Washington, DC
Team:                    Strategic Communications          Telework:             Hybrid, In-Person Requirements
Group:                  Institutional Effectiveness            FLSA:                     Exempt, Full-Time

At Americans for the Arts (AFTA), we are ready for you to join our team. As a national nonprofit we are dedicated to equitably advocating for the economic, cultural, social, and educational power of the arts. We promote the arts and culture sector as a vital national asset that is integral to the solutions that will resolve our country’s greatest challenges. Our purpose is to help to create healthy and thriving communities where everyone has access to the transformative power of the arts.
 
We are a People First organization. Our core values are Belonging, Collaboration, and Transparency.
The review of applications will begin on February 26, 2024.
You must reside in or be willing to relocate to the Washington, DC area by your hire date.

About the Role
As the Director, Communications you will manage the planning, operations, and execution of our media and public relations, internal communications, and project management for our Strategic Communications Team. In times when there are urgent deadlines or breaking news, you will be required to work outside of our standard hours of operation.
This is a newly created position for this team.

Your key responsibilities are:
Media and Public Relations (50% of time)
Leading our media relations and cultivating strategies with traditional and digital outlets utilizing emerging trends and diverse cultures.
  • Using traditional and digital media to pitch and place innovated content and news stories.
  • Developing and maintaining media and public relationships at the national, regional, and local levels with stakeholders, members, local arts agencies, and the public.
Internal Communications (25% of time)
Developing relationships and systems to collaborate with and across our various teams.
  • Maintaining the annual marketing and communications calendar and the team standard operating procedures.
  • Collaborating with staff members providing support for their work that is dependent upon Strategic Communications deliverables.
​​​​​​​Project Management Administration (25% of time)
Support administrative functions and processes for the team. This includes:
  • Working collaboratively with Finance to complete regular reconciliations of the Teams financials.
  • Monitoring and updating Teams on Contractor deliverables.
  • Presenting updates on the success and completion of your teams key performance indicators.

Your experiences and knowledge that matter most.
  • Commitment to advancing our mission, with a commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.
  • 10 years of professional experience in journalism, marketing, or a related field, to include:
    • Securing media coverage, placing stories, and leading press conferences or related events.
    • Developing new and existing relationships with members of the national press and freelance journalists.
    • Developing and executing complex project plans for internal communications.
  • Operational knowledge of traditional and emerging marketing and communications strategies, with a desire to proactively stay up to date on trends and best practices.
  • Proficient in Cision PR, Muck Rak, and/or other PR and media relations tools
  • Strong verbal, written, and organizational skills.
  • Demonstrated ability to
    • Think proactively and analytically from a data-driven approach,
    • Independently manage your daily workflow,
    • Work collaboratively across teams.
  • Fluency in Spanish is highly desirable.

Things to know about our work hours and in-office requirements:
  • We have a 7.50-hour day, for a total of a 37.50 work week.
  • Our core business hours are 10:00 am – 4:00 pm ET, Monday through Friday.
  • Our Hybrid Work Policy requires employees to work from the office at least one (1) day a week. We encourage our staff to work from the office more than one day a week. Your manager can request that you work from the office additional days as business needs necessitate.

Compensation and benefits we offer:
  • The salary range for our Director level positions is $85,000 to $100,000.
  • We offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes:
    • Time office: Vacation and sick leave, federal holidays, wellness time off, parental leave
    • Insurance: we cover the majority of employee medical, dental, and vision costs
    • Life Insurance and retirement benefits

How you can apply
  • Submit your application online.
  • You can find the application on our website under Careers  in the About Us section.
  • We will start to review applications on February 26, 2024.

Our Cultural Equity Competencies
Americans for the Arts acknowledges the existence of systemic and structural biases and believes it is necessary to be strategic and intentional in pursuing cultural equity in all aspects of governance, operations, and programming. As an employee, you are expected to:
  • Pursue substantive learning to achieve greater cultural consciousness by attending professional development opportunities.
  • Support adoption of best practices to create a more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible work experience for colleagues and external partners.
  • Strive to consider the people, places, and cultures that might be missing from your work and look for opportunities to increase inclusivity in all the work you do.
  • Support the mission and vision of Americans for the Arts in all interactions with colleagues, members, and stakeholders.
Encourage colleagues and external stakeholders to advance cultural equity by adhering to the standards outlined in the Staff Values & Behavior Agreement in all interactions.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer
Americans for the Arts believes that one of its greatest strengths is the rich diversity of its staff.
We provide equal employment opportunity without regard to race, color, creed, gender and gender identity or expression, age, mental or physical disability, medical condition, including pregnancy and childbirth, religion, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, ancestry, genetic information, political belief or activity, veteran or military discharge status, or any other basis protected by local, state, or federal law and regulations under Title VII.
The policy applies to all employment practices, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, training and development, promotion, transfer, termination, layoff, compensation, benefits, social and recreational programs, and all other conditions and privileges of employment in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws.

All employees have the right to work in a workplace that is free of discrimination. Any person who believes they have been subjected to discrimination of any kind should contact the People and Culture team or their immediate supervisor. All complaints will be thoroughly investigated and any person violating this policy may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination. The law prohibits retaliation against any employee for reporting discrimination or perceived discrimination, or for participating in an investigation of incidents of discrimination or perceived discrimination.
 
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