Mother Jones seeks a visionary and collaborative director of communications and impact to help our investigative journalism
change the world.
We are an organization rooted in fairness, justice, and collegiality. We embrace change and respect facts, data, and truth. You’ll work alongside the journalists who create what the former editor of Slate called “the bravest, toughest magazine”: a newsroom that serves 8–10 million people a month via video, podcast, print, and social media platforms, while training emerging muckrakers each year through the Ben Bagdikian Fellowship Program. And you’ll partner with our most senior leaders to advance diversity, equity, and belonging initiatives so Mother Jones can fully show up for a multigenerational and multiracial audience.
The director of communications and impact is a position at the center of that work. Working closely with the chief operating officer, this role will expand and strengthen relationships with a broad and diverse audience, especially BIPOC readers who have not historically been served well by the media ecosystem. An ideal candidate is energized by this work and comes with ideas, experience, and passion to help Mother Jones lead our field in this arena. This role reports to the chief operating officer, and functions as the COO’s No. 2. The Director supervises a coordinator who assists with events, outreach, and other department tasks.
The director of communications and impact’s work falls in two categories: Media relations/Impact, and Marketing. Of the two, it’s essential that this leader has proven experience in media relations. We recognize that some excellent applicants may have varying experience in marketing/audience development or events and we encourage candidates with some but not all of the skills for this role to apply. This is a full-time, non-union position. Mother Jones has offices in San Francisco, Washington, DC, and New York, and this job can be remote for the right candidate.
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES
Media relations/external communications — Core Duties
- Develop and execute strategic communications priorities;
- Create opportunities for top-shelf media appearances and speaking engagements;
- Write or oversee key external communications (e.g. press releases, About Us sections on our website, etc.);
- Coordinate with top editors to assess which stories to pitch for interviews on all media platforms. This includes keeping up with story planning, reading drafts, identifying target shows/audiences, building a contact list, and crafting and sending out pitches;
- Outreach to newsletters, legislators, community organizations, influential contacts, etc.;
- Coach staff for media appearances, as needed;
- Manage press requests;
- Oversee and execute brand communications. Craft and promote organizational news and announcements and draft crisis response and strategy as needed;
- Work with the editorial and development departments to further develop our strategy for defining, tracking, and sharing the impact of Mother Jones’ work;
- Build relationships with grassroots/civic leaders and influencers to share Mother Jones’ journalism with communities of changemakers;
- Develop relationships and partnerships to bring Mother Jones’ journalism to other platforms (e.g., film and television) and create revenue opportunities;
- Lead Mother Jones’ editorial events program.
Marketing and audience development — These duties may vary, depending on the skills and background of the candidate
- Work with COO, digital team, VP Sales, development team, and others to build and expand Mother Jones audience engagement through partnerships, events, new products, and experiments;
- Work with social team to expand social media marketing and brand-building;
- Work with advertising and development teams to continue adapting external marketing materials.
QUALIFICATIONS
- At least five years experience in communications, marketing, and/or journalism;
- Management experience, including working with diverse teams;
- Experience in and a passion for creating strategies to reach BIPOC audiences and other marginalized communities;
- Strong media contacts and social media savvy;
- Experience providing media training and skill-building for public appearances and external events.
- Nice to have: Experience working with community organizers or prior job experience in that space; work with Muck Rack, Cision, or the equivalent.