Director of Communications

Summary

Reporting to the Co-Executive Director, the Director of Communications serves as a member of FFJC’s senior leadership team and an active participant in strategic decision-making. The Communications Director will be tasked with developing and implementing a communications strategy to advance FFJC’s research, policy and campaign goals. The Director of Communications will have primary responsibility for increasing awareness of fines and fees through innovative branding and messaging strategies; identifying and supporting the communications needs of FFJC’s state and national campaigns; managing media relations - both traditional and digital; producing FFJC advocacy materials such as reports and policy briefs; and, maintaining and enhancing FFJC’s organizational and campaign websites.

The Director of Communications will have the opportunity to build and mentor an effective Communications team. The Communications team currently consists of two other full-time professionals and external consultants.

About FFJC

Nearly every interaction a person has with the justice system, regardless of guilt or innocence, comes with a bill. But for those without the means to immediately pay up or fight back, one missed payment opens the door to dire, lifelong consequences.

The Fines and Fees Justice Center was founded to end the immoral practice of governments’ using fines and fees to profit off the most vulnerable. We empower state and local efforts to end fees in the justice system and ensure that fines are fair and equitably imposed.

FFJC has achieved over 20 legislative victories and directly aided even more, authored two dozen original research and policy reports, and partnered with more than 300 organizations to advance the national fines and fees reform movement.

Job Responsibilities and Opportunities

Strategic Vision

• Work with FFJC leadership to develop and refine FFJC’s strategic communications goals.
• Develop and execute a comprehensive communications strategy to achieve those goals.
• Develop metrics and KPIs to assess impact and find areas for growth.
• Serve as a member of the senior leadership team.
• Work across the organization to lead, develop and execute communications strategies that advance departmental and organizational goals and priorities.
• Translate the vision of leadership and the organization’s mission into compelling storytelling that will resonate widely.
• Cultivate and maintain relationships with media and other influential figures and promote the publication of relevant stories, interviews, and other media coverage to increase issue awareness, grow mission visibility and maximize support.
• Envision, execute and evaluate various content, messaging, and engagement strategies to grow or create audiences across multiple platforms.
• Identify and cultivate key messengers from within the organization and among external partners.
• Identify, create and leverage compelling opportunities/hooks to advance FFJC’s communications.
• Create innovative, multi-channel communications content to educate audiences and attract support, including but not limited to: social media posts, op-eds, letters, reports, infographics and explainers, blogs, talking points, stakeholder and funder communications, and newsletters.
• Develop and oversee the Communications team budget in tandem with the Chief Operating & Finance Officer.

Infrastructure & Team Development

• Assess the current structure of the communications team and identify the key roles needed to execute the strategy with sufficient capacity.
• Coach the broader FFJC team as spokespersons, providing guidance on talking points and messaging strategies for public speaking engagements.
• Spearhead FFJC’s messaging strategy, including rapid response for political, legislative and policy priorities.
• Serve as a leader of the communications team across the organization; communicate and advocate for the resources needed to be successful in this capacity.
• Develop internal processes and procedures to ensure that the communications team and other directors and teams can collaborate more effectively; create SOPs to ensure consistency in all marketing and branding materials and accessibility to information needed for teams to execute goals.
• Design, organize and implement strategic communications initiatives and special projects in collaboration with other departments, partners and external constituents.

Senior Leadership Team

• This role is part of FFJC’s Senior Leadership Team. The SLT is responsible for responsible for:
  • Coordinate cross departmental work and ensure decisions and actions align with the organization’s long-term goals.
  • Shaping priorities, allocating resources, and defining key initiatives in partnership with the Executive Team.
  • Leading transformation efforts and fostering adaptability across the organization.
  • Identifying potential risks, planning mitigation strategies, and working with the ET to address these risks,
  • Identifying and addressing issues that impact multiple departments.
  • Shaping workplace culture and promoting employee well-being.
  • Responding to internal and external challenges effectively.

This position reports to Co-Executive Director Joanna Weiss.

This role is full-time and remote within the continental United States. All FFJC staff work core hours from 12-4pm ET, Monday through Friday, with the remainder of working hours flexible according to the time zones in which they are located and at the approval of the supervisor. Communications Director must be able to travel domestically for in-person meetings and national gatherings, as needed.

Qualifications

Candidates must meet the following minimum qualifications:

• At least ten years of professional experience, including at least five years of experience in advocacy communications.
• Experience overseeing communications for issue advocacy campaigns in states or at the national level; candidates with experience working in criminal justice reform, economic justice, and/or adjacent issue areas are preferred.
• Experience, knowledge, and expertise in all aspects of communications including media relations, audience engagement, content creation-with an emphasis on digital content and building social media presence-research, and issue campaigns.
• Demonstrated success in managing, developing, coaching, and retaining individuals and diverse teams, empowering and mentoring them as leaders.
• Experience supporting multiple teams and campaigns at complex nonprofit organizations; experience aligning messaging across multiple campaigns.
• A big-picture thinker with demonstrated success in developing and executing innovative communications plans to raise the profile of an organization and its mission.
• Experience leveraging a range of communications tactics and strategies that can include digital and traditional media, research, analysis, and working in coalition to advance a legislative agenda.
• Proven success in building an internal communications infrastructure and SOPs to support a mission.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills; the ability to build relationships across a wide variety of stakeholders.
• A proactive leader, committed to professional and organizational growth.
• A commitment to integrity, professionalism, and bipartisanship.

Nice-to-Have Qualifications and Desired Attributes

• Experience overseeing external contractors to ensure timely completion of communications deliverables.
• Intermediate proficiency with Wordpress or similar platform.
• Intermediate proficiency with Mailchimp or comparable email marketing platform.
• Experience with action alert platforms.
• Independent, proactive, and driven.
• Detail-oriented, responsive, creative, and flexible.
• Sense of humor.

FFJC encourages and welcomes those who have personal experience with the impacts of the criminal legal system, or the social systems connected to poverty to apply for this role.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should fill out the application form located here. If you need any assistance please email our team at jobs@finesandfeesjusticecenter.org.

Applications close on 4/3/25.

The Fines & Fees Justice Center is an equal opportunity employer and will consider applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic as established under law. FFJC is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, FFJC will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided with reasonable accommodations.

More information about the Fines & Fees Justice Center can be found at www.finesandfeesjusticecenter.org.

FFJC’s compensation philosophy consists of a 5-band salary structure. The Director of Communications position is a band 4 position. The starting salary for the position is between $140,000 - $153,000 based on the qualifications of the candidate at the time of hire.

FFJC offers excellent benefits including:

• 401(k) option with up to 6% employer contribution;
• Extremely generous employer-paid health, dental, and vision insurance for employees and their families;
• Pre-tax transportation, dependent care, and flexible spending account benefits;
• Substantial paid time off, including all federal holidays, the day after Thanksgiving, 4 floating holidays, 120 hours of vacation time, 96 hours of sick leave, and 24 hours of volunteer leave annually. FFJC also closes its office during the week of July 4th for all employees;
• Employees are eligible for 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave after 1 year of employment; and
• Employees who work 4 consecutive years at FFJC receive an additional week of paid vacation annually.
• Employees who work 6 consecutive years at FFJC receive an 8-week paid sabbatical in their sixth year.