Associate Director, Media Strategy

About the team:

As one of two Associate Directors of Media Strategy, you will be responsible for developing and executing media strategy for multiple initiatives and campaigns across Vera. The ideal candidate will have significant experience in and be comfortable pitching media daily and landing media appearances and stories as well as op-eds and letters to the editor. You will also have significant experience providing media training and writing and editing content for media purposes including drafting overall messaging and talking points. The Associate Director will also play a role in establishing best practices for media across Vera. This position will work directly with staff at all levels to ensure that media strategy team efforts are supporting institutional strategy and advocacy goals. As an Associate Director, you will also be responsible for overseeing the measurement of the media strategy team’s impact across your specific portfolio and identifying strategies to improve performance.

About the role:

Development and execution of communications strategy:

• Conceive, develop, and successfully execute a communications strategy to drive narrative and policy change at the national, regional, and local levels.
• Ongoing monitoring of the media landscape for opportunities and to proactively pitch Vera based on news of the day.
• Draft messaging, including talking points, to support initiatives’ work and Vera priorities.
• Develop and execute a crisis communications plan for a variety of scenarios related to specific initiatives.
• Ongoing daily pitching of Vera’s work and our experts on staff with all forms of earned media.
• Providing media training, support and prep for interviews

Collaborate with and partner with a range of internal stakeholders:

• Collaborate with communications, advocacy, research, digital, and editorial and program staff to ensure coherent messaging development and delivery.
• Collaborate with Vera’s digital and editorial teams to ensure coordination of communication strategies and tight integration with the Institute’s overall messaging.

People Management: 

• Provide direct supervision of 1-2 media strategy staffers.
• Supervision includes oversight of writing assignments, communications plans, and quarterly and annual goals, as well as career and skill development at the team and individual level.
• Manage vendors, communications partnerships, and other consultants as needed.

Other job duties as assigned

What qualifications are we looking for?

• Advanced degree with 9+ years of work experience in communications, including at least 5 years of experience in nonprofit, government and / or media sectors. In lieu of a bachelor's degree, applicable work or life experience may be considered.

Preferred:

• Work experience that includes 2-3 years of direct supervisory experience of rising communications talent.
• Strong background in media relations and nonprofit communications strategy.
• We are an equal opportunity employer with a commitment to diversity in the workplace—specifically, we value diverse experiences regarding educational background and justice system contact.

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities you'll bring:

• Solid media pitching skills
• Exceptional writing skills
• Excellent managerial skills
• Ability & experience in working collaboratively in a large organization with multiple stakeholders
• Capacity for being flexible, adaptable, productive, and effective in a change management environment
• Experience working with policy coalitions, community-based partners, and directly impacted individuals
• Ability to consider multiple perspectives, think critically, provide an analysis, evaluate risk, evaluate time and resources, and implement solutions to complex problems
• Influential communication skills, able to justify recommendations to diverse audiences in a compelling manner, and able to provide feedback
• Highly proficient with Microsoft Office Suite
• An uncompromising commitment to race equity

Preferred:

• 1-2 years of experience managing crisis communications
• 2-3 years of experience managing media for rapid response situations on behalf of a nonprofit and/or campaign

Technical knowledge helpful for this role:

• Microsoft Office Suite
• Media monitoring services (i.e. Meltwater, TVeyes)

Location:

Please note this role will report to our Brooklyn, NY, office. Vera employees adhere to a hybrid schedule and are in-office on an alternating schedule that generally amounts to 10 days per month.