Los Padres ForestWatch, one of the premier land and wildlife advocacy organizations along California’s central coast, is seeking a Communications Director to grow our messaging and marketing programs and effectively promote our mission of protecting Los Padres National Forest. This full-time exempt position is based in Santa Barbara, California and entails a combination of remote and office work.
Our reach spans more than two hundred miles of some of California’s most spectacular landscapes, from the famed Big Sur shoreline to the backcountry of Los Padres National Forest, Carrizo Plain National Monument, and other public lands in Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo counties. The Communications Director will help us build on our successful twenty-year track record of land and wildlife conservation throughout our region.
Overview of Position
The Communications Director works closely with the ForestWatch team to build and execute a communications and marketing program that is creative, compelling, and effective in promoting our organization, our mission, and the lands and wildlife we work to protect. The position reports to the Executive Director.
The ideal candidate will be passionate about narrative storytelling, digital communications, strong media relationships, and land and wildlife conservation. We are looking for an experienced and capable writer who is comfortable creating content and copy that will further the organization’s voice and identity in creative and compelling ways. The position requires strong attention to detail, a commitment to excellence, and the ability to develop and maintain strong, trusting, and effective relationships.
Overall Strategy & Collaboration
• Collaborate with staff and Board to develop and implement a comprehensive communications and marketing strategy including media relations, social media engagement, online communications, community events, and speaking engagements.
• Maintain quality and consistency of ForestWatch brand identity, credibility, voice, and values, in keeping with the mission and goals of the organization.
• Develop overarching messaging and talking points for ForestWatch programs and campaigns in conjunction with staff, and leverage key moments to advance and amplify our goals.
• Curate good stories to connect people emotionally to our work, and experiment with new, creative efforts to contribute and grow our communications advocacy and work.
• Establish and develop spokespeople for the organization, pertinent topics for each, and a plan to strategically deploy them across digital media, news media, and key events.
• Build a master communications calendar that incorporates programming, events, advocacy, and community engagement initiatives across print and digital platforms.
• Ensure that all aspects of our communications and marketing continually reflect principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Social Media & Web
• Establish and execute a digital content strategy. Manage all aspects of our social media platforms, develop and schedule content with staff, build and engage followers using organic and paid promotion, and regularly monitor metrics.
• In conjunction with our web designer, manage and update the ForestWatch website including posting content and updating pages as needed to keep the site fresh, engaging, and relevant. Improve search engine optimization and interpret analytics to improve our content quality and reach.
Relaciones con los medios
• Build and maintain relationships with key media outlets and journalists, including local, regional, and national newspapers, radio, television, online news, and influencers.
• Identify media opportunities, work with staff to prepare and distribute news releases, orchestrate op-eds and letters to the editor, and shape larger news narratives.
Production
• Produce monthly eNews, bi-annual newsletter, and annual impact report, including content development, layout and design, and delegation of tasks.
Assets & Archive Management
• Organize photos, videos, and design assets so that they are readily available for all staff, and work with staff and volunteer photographers to procure compelling content. Travel as necessary to field locations to capture content.
• Manage our email database, keep our 30,000 email subscribers engaged, and develop strategies to increase our audience and engagement.
• Maintain the ForestWatch media archive.
Event Marketing
• Assist the team with communications and marketing of all ForestWatch events.
• Participate in webinar production and work with staff to identify and recruit participants, create content, and moderate as needed.
• Coordinate ForestWatch participation at community events and festivals, including scheduling of staff and volunteers. Build out a compelling suite of tabling material including brochures and fact sheets.
Budgeting & Fundraising
• Oversee the communications and marketing budget and provide data for the annual budgeting process.
• Partner with the Director of Development to co-create all donor digital and direct mail communication.
To view the full job announcement including compensation package and application instructions, visit our website at https://forestwatch.org/job/communications-director/
