Director of Communications - New America

About New America: New America is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy institute that invests in new thinkers and new ideas to address the next generation of challenges facing the United States. New America is dedicated to renewing the promise of America by continuing the quest to realize our nation's highest ideals, honestly confronting the challenges caused by rapid technological and social change, and seizing the opportunities those changes create.

About the role: New America is seeking an experienced and innovative Director of Communications to amplify the organization’s research and policy work to policymakers, media outlets, local leaders, and general audiences across the U.S. and the world. Working closely with the Vice President of Content and Communications and our entire Central Communications team, the Director of Communications will be responsible for leading the organization’s media relations, social media, and events strategy.

Responsibilities:

Media relations

• Develop and manage New America’s media relations strategy, focusing efforts on amplifying content to journalists and editors covering all of New America’s policy topics.
• Supervise the Senior Media Relations Manager, who serves as New America’s lead media relations expert.
• Along with the Senior Media Relations Manager, develop and maintain strong relationships with journalists, editors, and media outlets.

Social media

• Develop and manage New America’s social media strategy, focusing efforts on amplifying content across social media channels such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, etc.
• Supervise the Social Media Manager, who serves as New America’s lead social media expert.
• Along with the Social Media Manager, design, implement, and monitor social media campaigns.

Events

• Develop and manage New America’s events strategy and operations, comprising dynamic in-person, virtual, and hybrid events, both on-site and off-site.
• Supervise events staff.

Audience development

• Develop strategies to build both wide and targeted audiences.
• Work closely with key stakeholders to build new audiences.

Strategy and leadership

• Design and implement a comprehensive, multichannel promotional framework to position New America as a credible voice on key policy issues and promote its products and people.
• Work with the Director of Editorial and Publications to develop promotional and narrative priorities for the organization, as well as promotional plans for New America editorial products.
• Coordinate with Central Communication’s Studio team to produce successful events, recordings, and experiences.
• Work with leaders across New America’s five thematic areas to create plans to leverage and amplify their work.
• Work with the Development team to shape and implement fundraising collateral and messaging.
• Develop reporting products that creatively showcase New America’s media relations, social media, and events wins, growth, and trajectory.
• Plan workshops for New America staff related to media training, social media portfolio growth, and event participation.
• Respond promptly and professionally to crises or challenging situations.

• Pay attention to marketing trends and best practices.
• Evaluate new tools and platforms to enhance our promotional capabilities.

Qualifications:

Candidates for this position should have the following:

• At least 8 years of relevant experience; experience in the public policy sector is a plus
• Bachelor’s degree
• Familiarity and expertise with media relations
• Familiarity and expertise with social media
• Familiarity and expertise with hosting events, and event best practices
• Familiarity with various forms of media, including press releases, digital campaigns, print materials, audio, and video
• Excellent team management skills, including the ability to manage up and down
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, including comfort and discretion with VIP audiences
• Ability to represent the organization in various venues

Location: Washington, DC-based candidates are preferred, but fully remote situations will be considered for the right candidate.

Compensation and benefits: This position is a full-time role with benefits. The annual salary will be between $120,000.00 – $150,000.00, depending on experience.

New America offers a highly competitive benefits package that includes health care, dental, and vision coverage; a generous retirement plan; observes all federal holidays; 20 days of paid time off (combined vacation and sick days) in your first year of employment and 30 days of paid time off in subsequent years; 12 weeks of paid parental leave; and an office-wide closure between Christmas and New Year.

How to apply: Submit a cover letter and resume. Applicants without a cover letter and resume will not be considered. The deadline to apply is January 31. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, so early submissions are recommended. Please, no phone calls or emails.

New America is an equal opportunity employer committed to hiring a diverse workforce at all levels of the organization thereby creating a culture that allows us to better serve our clientele, our employees and our communities. We value and encourage the contributions of our employees and strive to create an environment where everyone can reach their full potential and drive outstanding results. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, age, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, gender identity or expression, or any other basis protected by local, state, or federal law. This policy applies with regard to all aspects of one’s employment, including hiring, transfer, promotion, compensation, eligibility for benefits, and termination.