Communications & Storytelling Lead

The IAN Center for the Future of Learning Job Posting Sep. 14, 2026 The IAN Center for the Future of Learning (CFL) is seeking a strategic, creative, and highly collaborative Communications & Storytelling Lead to facilitate how CFL communicates its mission, ideas, people, and impact to the field. This is a hands-on leadership role. The Lead will own CFL’s communications strategy while also serving as a primary writer, storyteller, content creator, and producer. This person will identify the stories worth telling, develop the content, capture stories in the field, manage publishing across channels, and bring in external creative partners when specialized capacity or additional scale is needed. The Lead will work closely with senior leadership and program teams to translate CFL’s work into clear, compelling narratives that build visibility, deepen engagement, and advance CFL’s influence. They will establish practical systems for consistent content development while remaining close to the work itself: attending events, interviewing educators and learners, capturing moments and stories, writing content, and turning ideas into finished communications products. This is an ideal opportunity for a player-coach communicator who can move fluidly between strategy and execution. You are someone who can see the big picture, write the first draft, capture the story, create the post, manage the calendar, activate a designer or youth creator when needed, and ensure the work gets across the finish line. Core Responsibilities Communications Strategy & Leadership — 30% Own and evolve CFL’s communications strategy, ensuring communications efforts are aligned with organizational priorities and contribute to CFL’s visibility, influence, and impact. Responsibilities include: Develop and maintain a cohesive communications strategy and annual communications priorities in partnership with CFL senior leadership. Shape CFL’s core narrative, messaging architecture, positioning, and voice across audiences and channels. Identify opportunities to increase CFL’s visibility and ensure the organization’s ideas, expertise, people, and impact reach the audiences who matter most. Translate organizational priorities into clear communications plans, campaigns, editorial priorities, and implementation roadmaps. Advise senior leaders on messaging, public positioning, thought leadership, and communications opportunities. Build practical systems that make it easier for the team to identify, develop, capture, and share stories consistently. Establish meaningful measures of communications effectiveness focused on visibility, engagement, audience growth, influence, and learning. Regularly assess what is working and adapt the communications strategy accordingly. Content Creation & Storytelling — 40% Own both the editorial direction and day-to-day production of CFL’s owned content ecosystem. Responsibilities include: Develop and manage CFL’s editorial calendar across newsletters, website content, social media, blogs, podcasts, reports, campaigns, and other storytelling channels. Write, edit, and produce a significant portion of CFL’s communications content. Identify stories, ideas, people, partnerships, and examples of impact across CFL initiatives and networks. Attend CFL events, convenings, site visits, and community activities to capture stories, quotes, photos, video, interviews, and other content in real time. Conduct interviews with learners, educators, partners, community members, and other stakeholders and turn those conversations into compelling stories and content. Develop accessible narratives that translate complex systems-change and learning innovation work for different audiences. Produce short-form and long-form content for social media, newsletters, websites, reports, blogs, and other platforms. Partner with the Managing Director of Networked Learning and Managing Director of IAN Hub to develop and produce regular newsletters and priority communications. Support the development and promotion of podcasts, reports, campaigns, convening materials, and other storytelling products. Support senior leaders with speeches, LinkedIn content, op-eds, presentations, talking points, and other thought-leadership opportunities. Maintain a consistent CFL voice and visual sensibility across communications. Manage the content workflow from idea to draft to review to publication. Use AI and other emerging tools thoughtfully to increase speed and creative capacity while maintaining human judgment, authenticity, and editorial quality. Creative Direction, Partnerships & Production Support — 20% Build and manage a flexible, cost-effective network of creative capacity that complements the Director’s hands-on work. Responsibilities include: Determine which communications work should be produced internally and when specialized external support will add value. Manage relationships with freelance designers, photographers, videographers, writers, youth creators, media partners, and other creative collaborators. Develop clear creative briefs, scopes of work, timelines, and deliverables for external partners. Provide creative direction and editorial guidance to ensure external work is aligned with CFL’s voice, brand, and strategic priorities. Develop and maintain a trusted network of creative talent that can be activated selectively as resources allow. Identify opportunities to engage youth influencers, creators, and storytellers to bring learner voice and authentic community perspectives into CFL’s communications. Manage a modest communications and creative production budget, prioritizing investments that extend the organization’s reach and capacity. Establish efficient systems for reviewing, approving, organizing, and maintaining communications assets. Organizational Leadership & Collaboration — 10% Serve as a strategic communications partner to CFL’s senior leadership and broader team. Responsibilities include: Build strong relationships across CFL so communications are connected to the organization’s actual work and priorities. Represent CFL at events, meetings, convenings, and cross-sector opportunities when appropriate. Work alongside program leaders to identify stories and communications opportunities early rather than after work is complete. Provide communications leadership for major organizational moments, campaigns, announcements, and events. Participate in team sprints, quarterly learning cycles, planning processes, and other organizational rhythms. Help build a culture in which storytelling is everyone's responsibility, while providing the systems and leadership that make it possible. Ideal Candidate Profile We’re looking for someone who brings: 7+ years of experience in strategic communications, storytelling, marketing, brand, journalism, content creation, or a related field, ideally within a mission-driven, education, nonprofit, or thought‑leadership environment. Demonstrated experience developing and executing communications strategies. Exceptional writing, editing, messaging, and storytelling skills. A strong instinct for finding the story in everyday moments, conversations, events, and community experiences. Comfort being hands‑on in the field—interviewing people, taking photos or video, capturing social content, and producing stories on the go. Experience creating content for multiple digital channels, including social media, email, websites, blogs, and other owned platforms. Strong editorial judgment and the ability to translate complex ideas into clear, compelling narratives. Strong project management and organizational skills, with the ability to move quickly from idea to execution. Experience managing freelancers, designers, agencies, or other creative partners, with the judgment to know when to do the work yourself and when to bring in additional capacity. Strong visual and brand sensibility and the ability to provide creative direction to designers and other creators. Comfort working with youth, educators, community members, and diverse audiences to authentically capture and elevate their voices. Experience advising senior leaders on messaging, positioning, and thought leadership. Comfort using AI as a thought partner and productivity tool while maintaining strong human judgment, voice, authenticity, and editorial standards. A collaborative, entrepreneurial approach and the ability to thrive in an evolving organization where priorities and opportunities move quickly. Passion for innovation in education, systems transformation, and expanding access to new ideas and approaches. Success in This Role Looks Like CFL has a clear, cohesive, recognizable, and authentic public voice. Communications strategy is directly connected to organizational priorities and consistently translated into action. CFL regularly captures and shares the real people, moments, and stories behind its work. CFL’s ideas, people, partnerships, and impact have significantly greater visibility and reach among priority audiences. Owned content is strategic, consistent, high-quality, and produced efficiently across the right channels. CFL is able to tell stories quickly and authentically from events, convenings, and work happening across the state. Learner, educator, partner, and community voices are meaningfully represented in CFL’s storytelling. Senior leaders have strong communications support and greater opportunities for thought leadership. A small network of trusted creative partners and youth creators extends CFL’s capacity without requiring a large outsourced communications budget. CFL has effective systems for planning, producing, reviewing, publishing, and learning from communications. The organization is learning what increases visibility and influence and continually adapting its communications approach. Engagement Structure Full‑time position; work is hybrid, approximately 2 days in office per week. The role includes regular travel throughout the Las Vegas area and occasional travel across Nevada for CFL events, convenings, site visits, and storytelling opportunities. Flexible remote collaboration with regular planning and team rhythms. Opportunity to lead both the strategy and storytelling engine of a local organization advancing the future of learning statewide. Salary Range: $60,000-$95,000, commensurate with experience and qualifications. We recognize that candidates may bring different levels of experience and expertise and will determine compensation based on the overall fit for the role. Health, dental, and vision insurance included (~90% employer-paid coverage). 16–21 paid holidays. Additional flexible paid time off. Retirement contribution of up to 5% after one year of employment. The IAN Center for the Future of Learning is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to cultivating an inclusive environment free of discrimination and harassment, where all employees are valued and respected. We provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran or military status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, Nevada state, or local laws. #J-18808-Ljbffr