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Nonprofit Remote Digest - Issue #710

Nonprofit Remote

Nov 17, 2021

State Innovation Exchange

Getting elected is the starting line, not the finish line. — stateinnovation.org We support state legislators who seek to strengthen our democracy, fight for working families, defend civil rights and liberties, and protect the environment.

Senior Director, Communications

About the State Innovation Exchange

The State Innovation Exchange (SiX) is a 501(c)(3) policy, strategy, and resource center for progressive state legislators. We empower, embolden, and equip state legislators to build and wield progressive governing power by/with/for the people they represent. We do this by providing legislators with the tools needed to shape impactful public policy and building their capacity to lead with their constituents. We foster long-term collaboration between legislators- across chambers, across regions, and across state lines - and with grassroots movements. Our vision is an equitable, resilient, healthy, and prosperous future for every person in the United States, which is secured and safeguarded by progressive state legislators. SiX’s sister organization, SiX Action is a 501(c)(4) that works alongside SiX to build capacity of state legislators by providing policy development, communications tools, and technical assistance.

Position Summary

The Senior Director, Communications leads a team in the creation and execution of the organization’s communications program. This position plays the central role in guiding SiX’s communications function, setting the organization’s branding strategy and leading execution, leading cross-team communications functions, working closely with the Senior Vice Presidents and Program leads to integrate organization-wide programmatic goals and strategies, setting team priorities and plans, creating and supporting a media strategy, and supporting the development and executive teams in branding and communications needs. The Senior Director, Communications, reports to the Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Services and manages a team of two communications staff.

Salary and Benefits

At SiX, we commit to equal pay for equal work. To counter pay inequality and uphold internal parity, we use a nonnegotiable starting salary system, while benchmarking our pay to highly competitive markets in the nonprofit sector. The nonnegotiable starting salary for this position is $110,000. In addition, SiX offers competitive benefits including generous healthcare coverage options for you and your family, life insurance, a retirement match, flexible schedule and a generous leave and holiday schedule. More information about our benefits and compensation philosophy is available here. This is a full-time, exempt position. The position is remote and open to anyone living in the United States.

Note: Research suggests that women and BIPOC individuals may self-select out of opportunities if they don't meet 100% of the job requirements. We encourage anyone who believes they have the skills necessary to succeed at SiX to apply for this role.

Role Responsibilities

All staff at SiX have personalized role responsibilities – the outcomes and impacts you are expected to deliver as part of your unique role within the organization. As the Senior Director, Communications you will be responsible for delivering on the following expectations in your day-to-day work:

Strategy, Oversight and Implementation: In consultation with the Senior Vice Presidents, lead the development of and implementation plan for SiX’s brand management strategy to elevate and clarify the organization’s purpose and positioning among our legislator network, progressive movement partners, funders and donors, the press, and more.
Staff Management: Supervise, cultivate and empower staff that directly report to you, providing high-level strategic advice, feedback, and team planning while supporting their work and professional development objectives. Work closely with team leads (Democracy, Sustainable Agriculture, Reproductive Rights, Research, Development, and Legislative) to strategically coordinate and prioritize communications projects and manage cross-team functions. Manage across lines of difference within a multi-racial organization and participate in Operating Committee activities.
External Partner Management and Movement Building. Develop collaborative partnerships that serve the programmatic interests of the communications department and the organization. Collaborate with partners and coalitions on key organizational projects and initiatives and facilitate relationships with expert partners to support legislators with their communications needs. Hold a bird’s-eye assessment of the progressive movement landscape and establish strategic, equitable relationships in support of SiX’s goals in serving as a thought leader on critical progressive issues and moments. Work with partners and colleagues to deliver messaging and communications support to legislators on timely policy issues.
External Affairs: Represent the organization to external stakeholders when required, which may include the press, partners, at conferences/convenings, and with legislators. Advance the organization’s reputation, profile, and brand with key stakeholders. Ensure organizational participation in national conferences and events, pitching SiX organizational leaders and legislators as spokespeople when appropriate. Develop and maintain key relationships with national and state-based media outlets to uplift SiX staff and legislators. Perform media research and outreach, field incoming interview requests, and prepare relevant staff as needed for media requests.
Knowledge Management. Ensure all reporting requirements for your portfolio are met in a timely manner. Contribute to developing and ensuring integrity of systems, processes, and tools to better support the facilitation, collection, and sharing of knowledge that is generated by your portfolio. Identify and elevate key project outcomes and communications team developments to leadership and the organization when needed. Work collaboratively with the senior management team to integrate cross-program activities and functions.
Financial Management: Lead the development of budgets for the communications team and ensure ongoing expense oversight, monitoring and adjustments as needed, understanding budgets as key indicators of your values, priorities, and preferred tactics. Ensure timely review and approval of project expenses that are in your portfolio.
Fund Development: Identify and build opportunities to assess communication outcomes for fundraising needs; develop and compile content that contributes to high-level work with key funders. In collaboration with the Senior Vice President, Strategic Initiatives and the executive and development staff, support proposal design and writing for proposals when required. Support the development of proposal budgets related to communications.
Organizational Alignment: In partnership with the Senior Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, ensure that the communications team meets its organization-wide expectations with regard to living our organizational values, practicing equity and inclusion, ensuring compliance with applicable rules and regulations, and achieving coordination and cohesiveness with SiX’s strategic plan and overall programmatic goals.
Compliance: Understand and ensure compliance with federal and state lobbying laws, ethics and gift laws. Oversee your staff in this area to be assured that they are compliant. Abide by all organizational compliance guidelines and raise compliance questions or concerns as appropriate.

Core Competencies

All staff roles at SiX are grounded in a set of core competencies that are standardized across the organization based on the type of role you hold. As the Senior Director, Communications you will be expected to demonstrate the following core competency expectations in your day-to-day work:

Equity and Inclusion. You are able to consistently integrate your deep understanding of key equity concepts into work projects and interactions by addressing structural implications and disproportionate impacts of policies, activities, and decisions on race, gender, class and other group identities within the context of job responsibilities and projects.
Strategy and Implementation. You are able to provide strategic consultation and advice in the formation, oversight, and execution of your team’s work and their deliverables. You ensure ongoing programmatic excellence and accountability for your team in alignment with SiX’s organizational strategic plan and funder requirements. You are able to successfully implement the core activities of your department/issue area through direct program implementation and/or the management of staff who are responsible for program implementation.
Staff Management. You are able to support and cultivate staff. You effectively engage in and resolve conflict and you are able to adeptly manage across lines of difference within a multi-racial organization.
External Partner Management and Movement Building. You are able to identify, cultivate, and maintain successful partnerships with external stakeholders in the implementation and impact of your department/issue area. You possess the ability to identify, recruit, hire, delegate, and manage contractors and/or vendors to implement components of the work, on an as needed basis.
External Communications and Brand Management. You are able to adeptly represent the organization and serve as a spokesperson and thought leader with legislators, the public, and members of the press. You advance the organization’s reputation, profile, and brand with key stakeholders. You possess excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Knowledge Management. You are able to provide consultation and input on the design of systems, processes, and tools to better support the facilitation, collection, and sharing of knowledge that is generated by your portfolio. You ensure consistent data collection and analysis on key project outcomes. You work collaboratively with the senior management team to integrate cross-program activities and functions.
Financial Oversight. You are able to assist with managing the resources of your department/issue area. You manage your team to provide timely, accurate financial information, as needed, and comply with all internal financial protocols.
Fund Development. You are able to successfully secure resources for your department/issue area. You are able to effectively design funding requests, and communicate those ideas, both in writing and in-person, to targeted audiences.
Compliance. You are able to ensure that all activities within your program area/department, as well as the staff you manage, comply with relevant nonprofit laws and adhere to internal policies, practices, and protocols.
Organizational Culture and Values. You are able to ensure that you and the staff you supervise practice and uphold the organization’s values in your day-to-day and long-term work. You steward and exemplify an organizational culture that is productive, collaborative, and equitable.

Organizational Values

All staff at SiX are responsible for upholding our organizational values, which were developed collaboratively by all staff. These describe the way we strive to do our work together and the kind of organizational culture we want to build. As the Senior Director, Communications you will be responsible for demonstrating the following behaviors in carrying out your day-to-day work:

Equity and Inclusion. Actively practice our commitment to racial, gender, economic, and social justice. Demonstrate an openness to cultivating progressive, inclusive leadership and welcoming different learning and leadership styles. Seek and accept feedback about ways to strengthen your awareness and understanding of how to create more inclusiveness in your speech and behavior. Practice humility and continuous learning. Commit to repairing relationships with your speech or behavior has promoted inequity or exclusion.
Collaboration. Proactively build relationships with your colleagues and partners. Demonstrate respectful speech and behavior. Be honest, kind, and direct in instances of conflict. Adopt a stance of “having each other’s back.” Resist habits of individualism and competition in favor of turning toward and building with one another.
Accountability. Demonstrate the ability to own and achieve your responsibilities at work. Attend to both the results and the process by which you achieve your results. Pay attention to details, anticipate roadblocks, offer solutions, drive work forward, include relevant stakeholders when making decisions, follow through with delivering high-quality work on time.
Integrity and Trust. Democratize knowledge. Acknowledge both your successes and your mistakes. Practice forthrightness, “saying the thing,” graciously giving and receiving feedback, and building your own skills and capacity as well as that of your colleagues.
Initiative and Tenacity. Take responsibility for your success and the success of your teammates. Demonstrate the ability to manage and successfully execute on the work in the context of a remote organization. Offer and seek answers and options proactively, in consultation with your supervisor, colleagues, and partners. Challenge implicit assumptions and create explicit agreements.
Flexibility. Embody a “getting to yes” attitude and a propensity for working through roadblocks, building consensus, and course correcting when necessary. Engage in continuous learning and reflection. Seek feedback. Apply your learnings to subsequent projects and responsibilities. Welcome change and seek ways to adapt to new information, people, and circumstances.
Innovation. Commit to learning and growing the organization’s work. Stay open to possibility. Greet new opportunities with curiosity and a sense of possibility and openness. Contribute to a culture that lets us grow, try new things, succeed (or fail), and learn from our efforts.

Details at a Glanace

At least USD $110,000 / year

To counter pay inequality and uphold internal parity, we use a nonnegotiable starting salary system, while benchmarking our pay to highly competitive markets in the nonprofit sector. The nonnegotiable starting salary for this position is $110,000.

Benefits

How to Apply

Interested applicants should submit a compelling cover letter and resume to jobs@stateinnovation.org. Please indicate the position you are applying for in the subject line of the email. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

State Innovation Exchange is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage people of color, women, LGBTQ folks, and immigrants to apply for open positions. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, national origin, age, martial, and/or veteran status or any other characteristic or activity protected by federal, state, or local law.

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