Communications Manager

Description

Position: Communications Manager
Reports to: Operations Manager
Position Status: Exempt, Salaried; 40 hours/week
Salary: $55,000-62,000 with robust employee benefits package detailed below
Location: The position is based in Richmond, VA and Voices for Virginia’s Children is seeking a candidate residing in Virginia. Hybrid work schedule with Wednesday in the office is required.
To apply: The application deadline is June 21, 2023. Target start date is August 1, 2023.

The Communications Manager reports to the Operations Manager and has primary responsibility in communications development and implementation for Voices for Virginia’s Children. This position will work across the organization to provide communication support in the areas of fund development, data and research, policy and advocacy. The Communications Manager is committed to the mission, work, and values of Voices for Virginia’s Children, as well as to the principles of equity and inclusion.

About Voices for Virginia’s Children
Voices for Virginia’s Children champions public policies and legislation that achieve positive and equitable outcomes for young people. We envision a Virginia in which our systems center young people, ensuring their ability to realize their brightest potential is no longer predictable by race, socioeconomic status, or geography.

We are a talented team motivated by the significance and impact of our work. Voices values its employees, encouraging them to be their authentic selves, and works to maintain a flexible and supportive workplace. We create an environment where our team can thrive as it works to support a thriving Virginia.

DEIB Statement
We work to create a brave place that empowers others to be their authentic selves. We acknowledge and celebrate the differences within each other.

We recognize that the children and families of VA are unique in their backgrounds, beliefs, opportunities, and challenges. We strive to embody and embrace that in our work, believing that our unique identities allow us to create a brighter future for Virginia’s children. Through our efforts, we will engage diverse perspectives and inform equitable and just policy solutions that will transform children’s lives and may dismantle systems of oppression.

We are a group that learns and grows collectively. We value accountability and hold ourselves and others to high standards of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. We also create opportunities for others to join us on this journey.

Values & Cultural Promises
Accountability: We act ethically and are good stewards of the resources entrusted to us. We hold ourselves and others to a high standard of performance and ethics. We clearly outline expectations of outcomes. We commit to being true to our word and following through on commitments. We accept responsibility for our actions and the effects they have on others and commit to always doing better next time
Collaboration: We actively seek opportunities to partner together to reach our goals. We work together through a sustainable pattern of sharing, creating, innovating, and learning. We recognize and utilize each person’s unique skills and viewpoints with the goal of complementing strengths and competencies to maximize our impact. We strive to create a balance of responsibilities, keeping equity at the center of our work.
Excellence: We strive to be leaders in our areas through holding ourselves to the highest levels of learning and performance. We refuse to take shortcuts at the cost of quality or relationships. We devote ourselves to being trailblazers and disrupting the status quo.
Honesty: We commit to being upright, candid, and sincere. We will be transparent and admit our mistakes. We will lean into hard conversations for the sake of growth. We choose to be authentic and to show up as our true selves in our conversations and interactions.
Kindness: We are generous and considerate in our interactions with one another, showing genuine concern for one another. Our eyes are open to the needs of those around us and we are willing to lend a helping hand when needed. We speak and act in empathy, understanding that every person has their own challenges.

Job Duties

Communications Development and Implementation
-Create and execute a communications plan/calendar that incorporates a wide variety of communications platforms, strategies, and methods to reach Voices for Virginia’s Children’s diverse audiences
-Work collaboratively with the Voices for Virginia’s Children team to fully convey the work of the organization in all its communications
-Develop a strong and contemporary social media presence
-Manage the Voices for Virginia’s Children’s website, social media strategy and presence, and digital communications
-Design graphics and digital and visual content for communications
-Translate data related to policy issues into meaningful visualizations, such as infographics and maps
-Write, edit, and design internal and external communications
-Maintain a thorough understanding of organizational goals, priorities, and programs to support all communications, including fundraising and policy strategies and goals

Evaluation and Reporting
-Develop an evaluation structure to assess the effectiveness of communications efforts
-Create and assess reports for leadership related to evaluation, including recommendations for strategic adjustments

Collaboration
-Engage in cross-team collaboration with colleagues
-Manage relationships with vendors and contractors that support communications plan execution
-Work with partner organizations to share the work and impact of Voices for Virginia’s Children

Skills Required

Preferred Qualifications:
-Three years’ communications experience gained through any combination of lived and work experience
-Superior communication, writing, and interpersonal skills
-A passion for improving the lives of Virginia’s young people
-A demonstrated understanding of storytelling, effective communications strategy, and visual design that supports organizational goals and inspires action and change
-Experience working with Constant Contact, WordPress, Adobe, and Canva. Voices also intends to expand its use of data visualization platforms, such as Datawrapper

Work Schedule

Hybrid work schedule with Wednesday in the office is required. Typical work hours are 8:30-5.

Additional Info

How To Apply
Submit the following in an email to jobs@thesparkmill.com. Include “Communications Manager – Voices for Virginia’s Children” in the subject line.

1)Résumé
2) Three references (We will not contact references until later in the hiring process.)
3) In lieu of a cover letter, please provide responses to the following questions:
-What is the role of strategy in communications?
-Describe your personal commitment and actions toward diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

The Spark Mill is conducting Voices for Virginia’s Children’s current search for this position. The Spark Mill is a Consulting Firm that supports organizations through change and champions diversity, equity, and inclusion while supporting agencies with strategic planning initiatives, change management, and people operations.