Managing Director of Marketing & Communications

Managing Director of Marketing & Communications

About Democracy Prep Public Schools

Democracy Prep educates responsible citizen-scholars for success in the college of their choice AND for lives of active citizenship. In close partnership with families, we empower young people with the skills and values to flourish as community leaders who will strengthen our American democracy and change the world! The Managing Director of Marketing & Communications is an executive level leader at Democracy Prep principally responsible for regional strategy and support, and the Democracy Prep brand and storytelling. Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, the Managing Director of Marketing & Communications manages at the systems level, works closely with internal and external stakeholders, and directly supervises the Marketing & Communications Team. 

Who You Are

• An educator with an unwavering commitment to the Democracy Prep mission of college success and authentic civic engagement for our scholars. 
• A self-reflective and self-aware teammate who is dedicated to aligning their work to Democracy Prep's commitment to antiracism and who is eager to use these skills to contribute to a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• A self-starter who is creative and entrepreneurial with 5-10 years of experience in and a track record of success.
• An excellent manager and team leader with a track record of leading teams in diverse functional areas.  
• An excellent systems leader with: 
• strong process and detail orientation, including experience designing complex and scalable systems/processes from scratch and improving upon existing ones, 
• ability to define strategic issues clearly despite ambiguity, provide sound recommendations, and take all critical information into account when making timely, tough decisions, 
• ability to reflect on school-facing systems using varied data from diverse sources, challenging the status quo when necessary.
• ability to manage through layers and ensure strong management and team culture through multiple levels of management. 
• A strong relationship builder with excellent interpersonal skills, a proven ability to work collaboratively across teams, and an ability to develop and maintain long-term, productive relationships internally and externally.
• A leader with a deep belief in engaging families in school communities in meaningful ways, knowing that family involvement and investment is key to maintaining a thriving school system. 
• A professional that is highly responsive to and thinks critically about feedback and works to implement change in the right ways at the right time.
• An excellent writer and skilled orator who can take information from many sources, distill it to core messages, and effectively tailor that communication to multiple stakeholders in a variety of situations.

What You’ll Do

Network Leadership and Executive Team Participation

• Consult directly with the Chief Operating Officer and other executive teammates to ensure the viability of our strategy in each region and our marketing & communications infrastructure. 
• Serve as a trusted partner to executive team leaders solving the most complex regional strategy and marketing & communications issues with empathy, sound judgment, efficiency, and reasonable approach to risk.
• Ensure fiscal responsibility for budgets in the purview of marketing & communications.
• In partnership with the Chief Operating Officer and the Managing Director of Operations, lead annual manager, leader and CMO training and development specific to work on the COO-Team.
• Attend in-person Executive and leadership meetings as assigned.
• Perform other related duties as assigned, including leadership of and/or participation in network-wide or department specific initiatives and/or projects.

Strategic Leadership and Cross-Functional Project Management

• Alongside the Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Schools Officer, co-lead the New York future footprint planning and 10-year growth plan.
• Alongside the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, co-lead the aggressive vetting of potential merger and acquisition opportunities in the New York Region. 
• Serve as lead project manager for all merger and acquisition opportunities.
• Serve as lead project manager for all new seat growth.
• Develop all Board related communications and presentations on regional strategy for DPPS and local Boards and co-present with other Executive Team members.
• Oversee and manage all communications related to regional strategy, including internal and external communication.
• Develop and maintain relationships with key external stakeholders.
• Attend and share relevant information from regional conferences, meetings, and authorizer events, as needed. 
• Drive execution of priority projects, as needed and required by the Executive Team and the organization.

Marketing, Communications and Brand Leadership 

• Lead a re-start of the Marketing & Communications function at DPPS, starting with leading an effort to codify our core pillars, key differentiators and key brand stories in close partnership with the Chief Operating Officer, Chief Executive Officer and the Chiefs and Executive Teams. 
• Create and lead Democracy Prep’s public relations strategy and reputation management.
• Build proactive relationships with media, sector influencers, and strategic partners to strengthen Democracy Prep’s voice and reach.
• In partnership with the Chief Operating Officer, Chief People Officer, and their designees, establish a marketing approach that supports: 
• Enrollment growth and family engagement, and
• Talent acquisition branding and recruitment marketing
• In partnership with the appropriate Enrollment and People leaders, ensure marketing efforts translate to increased student and talent pipelines.
• Own the enterprise approach to executive visibility and thought leadership, including strategic presence for the CEO and other leaders (including speaking engagements, conferences, panels, authored content)
• Set the standard for communication and message discipline and quality across the organization. Create communications governance (decision rights, approvals, brand standards, toolkits, training) to scale consistency. 
• Ensure Democracy Prep has an editorial calendar, strong media campaign plans, and a set plan for creative content that supports organizational needs.
• Design and implement a marketing & communications/storytelling strategy for the organization, including internal and external communications to all stakeholders. 
• Serve as the “protector” of the Democracy Prep brand, including reviewing and approving all external communications and marketing materials. 
• Oversee all public relations and marketing contracts and relationships, including enrollment and talent acquisition-focused vendors in partnership with key leaders in those functional areas (enrollment and talent acquisition). 
• Serve as the primary point of contact and steward for all media inquiries.
• Oversee exposure opportunities for the Chief Executive Officer and other key organizational leaders (panelists, forums, conferences), including facilitating the creation of proposals and submissions when needed. 
• Oversee the Democracy Prep website and all social media accounts, including consolidation and auditing when needed.  
• Oversee graphics design and video production. 
• Oversee the preparation of presentations and written materials for the Chief Executive Officer, including preparation notes, formal presentations, newsletters, panel remarks, etc.) 
• Oversee emergency and crisis communications, including creation of templates and management of decision-making stakeholders.
• Ensure effective collaboration between the Marketing & Communications Team and other CMO teams on the execution of materials preparation for events as-needed. 
• Perform other related duties as assigned, including participation in network-wide or department specific initiatives and/or projects. 

Qualifications 

• A graduate of a Bachelor’s degree program (required), Master's degree in related field (preferred).
• Operations experience or leadership within a school-based setting or high-functioning social sector organization strongly preferred.

Salary range for this role is $170,000 to $190,000 and is commensurate with equivalent experience leading development in the education or another nonprofit space. Democracy Prep staff members are provided with comprehensive benefits  and a working environment that includes the necessary technology and resources to succeed. Democracy Prep employees work on a hybrid schedule with three days based in our New York City office and two days at home a week. Some evenings and weekends will be required, including for attendance to board meetings, fundraising events, or other network events.

Democracy Prep is an Equal Opportunity Employer and will not discriminate against an applicant or employee on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, national origin, or ancestry, sex, age, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, veteran or military status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, familial status, domestic violence victim status, or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state or local laws, regulations or ordinances. Our mission is to educate responsible citizen-scholars who will change the world. We strongly believe that by building a DREAM team that represents numerous perspectives, backgrounds, and areas of expertise, we can achieve this goal together. This is a value we highly support and strongly encourage candidates of all backgrounds to apply.