Director, Communications

December 3rd, 2021
Director, Communications

Director, Communications

  • Full Time
  • Senior Level
  • Applications have closed
Job Category: Communications
Location: Manhattan
Job Sectors: Other
Salary Range:

Organization: Philanthropy New York

Job Title: Director, Communications

Supervises: Communications Manager, Consultants

Reports To: Senior Vice President

FLSA Status: Exempt

Work Location: Philanthropy New York is currently operating in a hybrid remote work model.  The candidate must be able and willing to work two to three days a week in our Manhattan office starting in 2022. Vaccination is required of all employees and all visitors to the building.

Salary: $85,000 – $95,000, based on experience.

* We will consider candidates at a Senior Director level at a salary of $100,000 – $110,000 with two or more years of experience in philanthropy or at a similar philanthropy-serving organization.

About Philanthropy New York

Philanthropy New York is a trusted community of nearly 300 grant making organizations that develops forward-thinking guidance and programming to address the unique challenges of philanthropy and convenes funders to strengthen ties across the sector.

Philanthropy New York champions effective grant making by building a vibrant philanthropic ecosystem that strives to advance meaningful social change. Through our work, members:

    • Convene and collaborate as a community – We bring together philanthropic professionals to share across issues and across professional roles. Practitioners have a place to build collaborative efforts, share practices and learn from peers.
    • Share knowledge, skills and transformative practices – We design robust programming and professional and leadership development that equips our members to understand and adapt to shifting norms and emerging trends in the field. Our programs help members cultivate key skills and implement practice models that fit their unique needs.
    • Amplify the voice of the philanthropic field – We catalyze collaboration to leverage the power of our members’ collective voice. By championing the opinions of the philanthropic field, we help our members strengthen their advocacy skills.

Philanthropy New York seeks candidates aligned with our Vision, Mission and Values.

Position Summary

The Director of Communications leads external communications efforts to strengthen Philanthropy New York’s engagement with its members, crafts messaging that amplifies and aligns with PNY’s vision, mission and values, and builds the organization’s communications capacity. As a member of the

Philanthropy New York Management Team, the Director of Communications is responsible for stewarding organizational culture, collaborating on annual planning and organizational learning and evaluation processes, supporting the development and implementation of racial equity commitments into the core work of the organization, and aligning relationships across teams.

Key Responsibilities:

Communications Strategy

    • Working with the Senior Vice President, develop and lead implementation of an overarching organizational communications plan that engages members, amplifies learning and catalyzes action.
    • Provide guidance to Senior Leadership Team on building a compelling brand identity and voice for Philanthropy New York that is rooted in our organizational values and our vision for a more equitable, sustainable and democratic future. Work across the organization to integrate this voice and messaging into all communications.

External Messaging

    • Partner with Senior Leadership Team on PNY’s external messaging and narratives, including messages from the CEO to the membership and editorial oversight of member-produced content.
    • Lead the engagement strategy and editorial direction, design, production, and distribution of all PNY electronic and print communications from concept to completion, including program marketing and collateral, social media content, weekly e-newsletter, video content, and membership collateral.
    • Develop, implement, and evaluate targeted digital marketing strategies for PNY’s programs, with a focus on email campaigns and LinkedIn engagement.
    • Serve as a thought partner to the VP of Learning to envision and articulate key program messages and take-aways.
    • Ensure that all aspects of PNY’s communications use an anti-racist lens and are built with an intersectional equity lens.

Oversight of Integrated Digital Communications Platforms

    • With support and direction from the Senior Vice President, lead content and user experience strategy for PNY’s website and ensure that the site facilitates member engagement, provides high‐quality and up‐to‐date content, and is intuitively organized; supervise the Communications Manager and other staff in content management.
    • Partner closely with colleagues across departments to build the organization’s capacity to use data to inform digital engagement strategies.
    • Support Communications Manager and Member Services Coordinator to ensure the organization has a strong data infrastructure in place between Drupal, Salesforce, and MailChimp.
    • Serve as an organizational representative to the United Philanthropy Forum’s Knowledge Management Collaborative, managing relationships with philanthropy-serving partners, keeping PNY staff and leadership informed of new website developments, and sharing and implementing best practices for using our integrated technology platform.

Organizational Leadership & Management

    • Supervise the Communications Manager, providing direction, supervision, coaching and professional development to ensure retention and growth within the organization.
    • Promote organizational values and use PNY’s values as a lens for decision-making and action.
    • Create a culture with colleagues to think beyond specific tasks to the overall organizational mission and context.
    • Support the development and implementation of racial equity commitments into the core work of the organization.
    • Collaboratively create an annual operations plan aligned with the organization’s strategic plan and monitor progress and learnings each year.
    • Annually prepare and manage a budget for departmental and organizational work.
    • Build strong relationships with the organization’s members and support membership retention and recruitment efforts.

Skills and Knowledge:

    • Ability to apply communications tactics to advance an organization’s mission.
    • Exceptional written communication skills with adaptable style for different audiences and a keen eye for proofreading and editing.
    • Excellent verbal and interpersonal communication skills with the ability to listen, engage, and persuade internal and external stakeholders at all levels from diverse backgrounds.
    • Ability to apply critical race equity analysis to written communications and imagery and proven ability to guide consultants to produce materials that reflect a racial equity lens
    • Strong comfort with and fluency in technology platforms including Microsoft Office, CRM database, print/web publishing, and social media; Salesforce database, Drupal and Adobe Creative Suite experience preferred.
    • Masterful multi‐tasker with attention to detail and a proven track record of simultaneously organizing, prioritizing, and managing complex projects with distributed ownership on time and on budget.
    • Demonstrated skills in building strong supervisory relationships, including setting clear expectations, coaching and training toward performance, and giving and receiving feedback.
    • Demonstrated understanding of structural racism and of the ways that white supremacy culture operates in institutions. Knowledge of and commitment to personal growth and development on issues of racial equity and diversity and to supporting others in growth around issues of racial equity.
    • Strong analytical skills with ability to interpret information from diverse sources and draw meaningful conclusions that inform the organization’s strategies.
    • Strong member service orientation with the ability to maintain diplomacy, and negotiate successfully at all levels of management
    • Experience with or strong interest in organized philanthropy

Qualifications and Experience:

    • A minimum of 7 – 10 years of experience in communications or related work, preferably in the nonprofit field.
    • Experience contributing to and executing highly effective strategic communications plans
    • Experience creating marketing campaigns, engaging audiences via email and social media, and catalyzing stakeholder engagement.
    • Demonstrated experience in managing relationships with outside vendors to produce high‐quality projects within time and budget constraints, especially for print and digital production.
    • Experience in strategic media relations a plus.
    • Experience developing and deploying website and knowledge management or CRM platforms, social media, and e-communications tools.
    • Demonstrated understanding of the role of a membership association.
    • Demonstrated understanding of structural racism and the role it plays in communications, both external and internal.
    • Four-year college degree or demonstrated complex analysis, writing, negotiation and project management skills equivalent to higher education

To Apply:

Please apply at: https://chaloner.com/searches/#!/400eb7ad-1c89-43e8-9095-2eff3373b9f6/detail. 

No phone calls, please. Please note that due to the high volume of resumes we receive, we are unable to respond to all candidates. We will be directly in touch with candidates for first round telephone interviews.

Philanthropy New York is committed to creating a more equitable workplace. We value diversity and are dedicated to the recruitment, inclusion and retention of people of color, LGBTQ, women, trans and gender non-conforming people, people with disabilities; and/or formerly incarcerated people.

Philanthropy New York

  • New York, NY 10017
  • Phone: