Faith in Place Job Announcement

Title: Communications Director

Hours: Full-Time Exempt Staff Member

Introductory Salary Range: $60-$70k

(commensurate with experience) plus generous benefits package

Reports to: Deputy Director

Faith in Place empowers people of all faiths and justice to be leaders in caring for the Earth, providing resources to educate, connect, and advocate for healthier communities.

Background on Faith in Place

Faith in Place is a multifaith, environmental nonprofit organization. Our mission is to empower people of all faiths and justice to be leaders in caring for the Earth, by providing resources to educate, connect, and advocate for healthier communities.

Faith in Place partners with Houses of Worship to address environmental issues through five program areas: 1) Energy & Climate Change; 2) Sustainable Food & Land Use; 3) Water Preservation; 4) Advocacy; and, 5) Youth.

Faith in Place believes strongly in approaching environmental care through a justice lens and works with likeminded people in diverse faith communities across the Midwest.

Position Description

The Communications Director provides creative and visionary leadership connecting the dots between justice, environmentalism, and spirituality through digital and print communication strategies. The position works collaboratively with programming, outreach, operations & finance, development, and advocacy staff of Faith in Place and is responsible for developing and leading a robust plan for internal and external communications and marketing and press outreach. This position also serves as the Communication Director for the Faith in Place Action Fund (the 501(c)(4) affiliated lobbying organization of Faith in Place) overseeing direct lobbying and advocacy for environmental justice policies.

The Communications Director currently manages two full-time Communications Coordinators and a database contract staff person in order to accomplish communication goals.

This position is currently remote and may require some travel for local meetings, quarterly in-person staff meetings, and events in the Midwest. Pre-approved work-related travel costs will be reimbursed.

While most of the work for this role will be carried out during typical office hours, there will be occasional meetings, events, press conferences, and site visits that require in-person attendance, possibly on evenings and weekends.

Communications Director Responsibilities

General Oversight

· Create, implement, and assess the success of an annual Communications Plan in collaboration with the Communications Team.

· Track digital communication metrics, update monthly reports, and use data to drive decision-making.

· Manage the Communications budget.

Supervision

· Supervise two Communications Coordinators to create a positive and collaborative team.

· Manage database (EveryAction) updates, utilization, and maintenance along with data entry in collaboration with the database contract staff member.

Social Media

· Oversee the planning and implementation of an effective social media channel strategy for Faith in Place and the Faith in Place Action Fund across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

· Create and optimize ad campaigns on Facebook to increase likes, acquire emails, and market videos, events, and programs to a wider audience.

Website

· Manage updates to the Faith in Place and Faith in Place Action Fund websites to maintain high SEO ranking and UX while ensuring content and copy is up-to-date, events are publicized, and the blog includes creative thought leadership pieces.

Emails

· Oversee the creation and sending of regular email campaigns, the maintenance of automated email campaigns, and onboarding campaigns.

· Ensure email acquisition efforts (in-person and digital) are successfully integrated with the database.

· Lead efforts with Outreach Directors to create and send monthly regional e-newsletters and a Youth newsletter.

Videos

· Lead the Video Team, planning, filming, producing, and editing videos for the organization for events, programs, and educational efforts.

Webinars & Podcasts

· Collaborate with the staff team to create, market, and host engaging educational webinars and podcasts for the Faith in Place audience.

Media Relations

· Oversee media relations, ensuring events, policy initiatives, and organization successes are pitched to local media and coverage is tracked internally.

Design

· Design flyers, annual reports, sponsorship materials, print mailings, presentations, brochures, videos, and graphics to support programs and events in collaboration with outreach, program, and development staff.

· Collect, manage, and publicize photographs/videos taken at Faith in Place programs and events.

· Oversee the creation and production of direct mailings.

Other

· Participate in weekly Communications Committee meetings with Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition partners and lead the Digital and Grassroots Communications Subcommittee.

· Coach staff and Faith in Place representatives in effective communication with the public.

· Convene the Communications Sub-Committee of the Board monthly.

· Other duties as needed to support the mission and vision of Faith in Place.

Qualifications

· Leadership Skills

· Passion for faith-based environmental justice, a strong work ethic, and a positive attitude.

· 7 plus years of relevant communications experience.

· Strong project management skills, organizational ability, and experience meeting established goals within a tight timeframe.

· Ability to work independently and stay motivated in a remote work environment.

· Experience creating a positive and supportive environment for direct reports and broader staff and collaborating with contract staff.

· A demonstrated commitment to Faith in Place’s mission and values.

· Communication Skills

· Demonstrated ability to creatively create and implement successful and comprehensive communication plans.

· Excellent writing and editing skills with an inspiring, engaging, hopeful, and professional tone.

· Demonstrated ability to communicate clearly and effectively in-person.

· Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate with people of different faiths, beliefs, geographic, racial, and cultural backgrounds.

· Technical Skills

· Strong understanding of effective communication and marking channels.

· Experience leading webinars and meetings in Zoom, creating social media and social ad campaigns, producing podcasts, designing email campaigns for optimal deliverability and engagement, utilizing project management systems (like Teams and Asana), optimizing database usage, creating SEO optimized websites (specifically in Wix and Squarespace), utilizing Canva for graphic design, video editing, and media relations.

· Spanish language skills, a plus.

· Car is not required but license to drive preferred.

· Experience working for a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a partner 501(c)(4) organization, a plus.

Additional Benefits

A comprehensive benefits package is offered to full-time employees of Faith in Place after the first six months of employment (health insurance plans are offered for starting within the first month of employment). These benefits, with some employee contributions, include medical, dental, vision, life, and short-term and long-term disability insurance, employer matched SIMPLE IRA plan, twenty paid vacation days, two paid personal days, two paid sick days, office supply stipend, and internet and cell-phone stipend.

Anti‐Discrimination Policy

Faith in Place is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate against any employee or job applicant based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, or marital status. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, termination, promotion, transfer, layoff, leaves of absence, compensation and training. People who identify as BIPOC and/or members of the LGBTQ+ community are encouraged to apply.

To Apply

Please send a cover letter, resume, and a relevant writing sample to Elena Canler at elena@faithinplace.org.

Applications due: 9/24/2021