Communications Director

over 1 year ago
Full time role
$122k-$132k/Year
Oakland, CA, US... more
Oakland, CA, US... more

Company

Build It Green’s mission is to help accomplish that by providing credible and accessible resources to develop regenerative communities. We ...

View Company Profile

Job Description

About You

You are a creative, compassionate, and dedicated communications professional who loves to inspire others through stories; a natural relationship-builder and leader who brings out the best in those around you. You’ve seen the housing challenges facing Californians, and you’re excited by an opportunity to reimagine the conversation about housing to support equitable, affordable, and sustainable communities that are accessible to all residents.

About Us

Build It Green (BIG) is a California-based nonprofit dedicated to transforming the California housing system in service of human communities and ecological vitality. We prioritize cross-sector collaboration to reimagine the way homes and neighborhoods are built, so we can advance equity, housing affordability, and ecological well-being. We are a human-centered organization that values the lived experiences and perspectives of our team. Learn more at: www.builditgreen.org.

More About the Role

At Build It Green, we recognize that our mission is best advanced by the leadership and contributions of people of widely diverse backgrounds, experiences, and identities. We value every voice and believe diversity drives innovation, inclusivity creates connection, and equity makes our organization stronger. Build It Green is in the midst of a transformation to center equity in our team and our work, and the Communications Director - a newly created senior leadership role in our evolving organization - will join a team working together towards that transformation. The Communications Director will help shift the narrative amongst a diverse audience of stakeholders working on California’s housing issues from a story of siloed challenges and isolated solutions to one where housing and community development holistically address affordability, social equity, and environmental challenges.

What the Work Looks Like

Strategy Development

  • Serve as a member of the organization’s senior leadership team, partnering with the Executive Director to set overall strategy and direction for BIG.
  • Work with the Executive Director and senior leadership to create, hone, and implement an organizational messaging and branding strategy that reflects BIG’s strategic priorities and commitments to a broad range of stakeholders.

Communications Systems and Partner Relations

  • In collaboration with BIG staff and partners, produce a wide range of well-crafted content including messaging, talking points, blog posts, web pages, video and infographic treatments, social shares, press releases and pitches, emails, visuals, backgrounders, handouts, slide decks, reports.
  • Implement outreach strategies, including sourcing stories from external contributors within BIG’s network, development, and maintenance of contact lists and partner relationships, coverage tracking, and stakeholder follow-up.
  • Ensure accuracy and quality in all products. Write, edit and proofread documents and other written and creative materials with a critical eye for style, grammar, consistency, punctuation, accessibility, and design. Ensure work product is high quality and reflects BIG’s brand.

Management

  • Oversee internal communications within the Communications Team, and support the development and implementation of organizational systems, processes, and budgets. Directly supervise one full-time Communications Associate.
  • Manage consultants and vendors to cover activities beyond the capacity of staff.
  • Lead by example in communicating across differences and power dynamics between executive leadership and direct reports in a way that fosters learning, understanding, and advancement of all staff regardless of identity and lived experience.
  • Work with the Communications Associate to regularly measure and analyze key communications metrics and report impact to the Executive Director and Board of Directors.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ)

  • Support and participate in equity and inclusion work across the organization.
  • Model vulnerability and accountability and invite feedback from partners, allies, funders, and staff on DEIJ work and leadership.
  • Model a sensitivity toward dynamics between white audiences and the needs and priorities of communities of color, and the ability to manage work within and for a number of different audiences, regardless of their needs or abilities.

Requirements

Skills and Qualifications

  • Demonstrated experience in the communications field with significant growth in leadership, strategic capacity, and sophisticated use of tactics to implement strategy.
  • Demonstrated experience managing an organization’s communications through a repositioning and branding, narrative change process.
  • Exceptional writing skills. Writes clearly and can communicate complex ideas. Knows how to tell a story.
  • Dedication to delivering exceptional work products, initiative in conceiving and managing projects and workflow, and good judgment in managing interactions within and beyond BIG.
  • Familiarity with developing effective brand and content distribution and promotion plans, including digital and online distribution, partner sharing kits, social media organic and paid promotion, and audience targeting.
  • Excellent project management skills, demonstrated by the ability to track timelines, budgets, and contributions from other staff and consultants while providing quality control for deliverables and effectively managing expectations with partners.
  • Digital media fluency (e.g. email and social media strategy, web design and website administration, CRM management, and Google Ad Words advertising). Sufficient technological abilities to use software for daily office work and to comply with business processes and procedures.
  • Ability to discern what makes a story appealing to a variety of audiences within California and to frame a media pitch based on that appeal.

Travel Requirements

The role may provide the opportunity for light travel including 2-4 overnight trips per year.

Location

Our office is located in the heart of downtown Oakland at 300 Frank Ogawa Plaza, close to BART and AC Transit lines. Employees based in the Bay Area will work on a hybrid remote and in-office (two days a week) schedule beginning in September 2022. The ideal candidate is based in the Bay Area, but we will also consider candidates based beyond the Bay Area.

Benefits

$122,000-$132,000 annually plus a generous benefits package, including:

  • Medical, dental vision, and life insurance, flexible savings account
  • 403(b) retirement plan with employer match
  • 15 paid holidays, accrued paid time off, and 40 hours of paid medical leave
  • A worthy cause to work on every day with a small, supportive, curious, and committed team
  • Flexible and understanding leadership to accommodate for work/life balance
  • Coaching support and professional development opportunities
  • Opportunity to attend events and meet with influential leaders committed to holistic approaches to housing affordability, equity, and environmental vitality
  • Fun and flexible work environment
  • Regular in-house learning opportunities around topics ranging from housing policy to regenerative development to environmental justice
  • The opportunity to help shape the future of California’s housing to support aspirations of affordability, equity, and environmental vitality

Build It Green is an equal opportunity employer, committed to centering equity and inclusion in our programs and across all aspects of our organization to make it a fair, safe, and inclusive workplace. We believe that diversity is necessary to meet our mission. Recruiting and supporting staff to create an inclusive and equitable organization that reflects the communities and places we serve is a priority. People of color, LGBTQIA+ people, women, and members of other underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.

Since our founding, Build It Green has operated within systems where discrimination and racism are institutionalized, leading to uneven distribution of benefits and burdens based on race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, physical and cognitive abilities, and other factors. We recognize we must take conscious action to ensure principles of justice, equity, inclusion, and diversity are central to both our organization and our approach to regenerative neighborhood development. Read more here.

Positions are open until filled.

If you require reasonable accommodation due to a disability, please email your request to jointheteam@builditgreen.org or call (510) 590-3360. We look forward to hearing from you.

Similar jobs





Build It Green’s mission is to help accomplish that by providing credible and accessible resources to develop regenerative communities. We ...

View Company Profile

Similar jobs