Communications Officer, William Penn Foundation

The William Penn Foundation, founded by Otto and Phoebe Haas in 1945, is a leading American philanthropy located in Philadelphia with over $3.7 billion in assets and a $155 million annual grant budget. Our approach to grantmaking is focused on one central idea: let’s help make more lives better by connecting more people to more opportunities and more resources. We aim to do this work in the Philadelphia region particularly for groups of people who have often been shut out of opportunity in the past because of disinvestment, discrimination, or systemic inequities. The Foundation makes grants in five programs, primarily focused in Philadelphia and its surrounding counties: Arts and Culture – Increase access to diverse, inclusive arts and culture experiences. Children and Families – Expand access to programs and resources that support the healthy development and academic success of young children, ages 0-8. Environment and Public Space – Increase access to the benefits of natural areas, public spaces, and community assets while decreasing harmful impacts on the environment. Democracy and Civic Initiatives – Expand engagement in democratic processes and collaborative efforts that make the city and region responsive to the needs of residents. Workforce Training and Services – Support Philadelphia residents to successfully prepare for, secure, and retain family sustaining employment. In pursuing our program goals and objectives, we will be guided by the following values: Prioritize opportunities for communities that have been most affected by economic inequity, discrimination based on race, gender, or sexual orientation, and other forms of injustice. Elevate community voice. Value partnership, collaboration, and transparency. Minimize and respond to the impacts of climate change. Leverage our leadership to advance important citywide and regional initiatives and to respond to changing needs of the city and region. Share our learning locally and nationally. The Communications Officer will focus on our Children and Families, Democracy and Civic Initiatives, and Workforce Training and Services grantmaking portfolios. This individual will be responsible for helping with strategy and execution for all communications activities for the those three grantmaking programs. As a Communications Officer, this work will include managing strategy as well as implementation of a communications plan, media relations, planning and execution of convenings, release of new research or evidence, and working with our Senior Digital and Social Media Associate on developing content for the web site and social media, as well as the production of any other digital content, and other activities. This position will also help offer strategic guidance to grantees of the three grantmaking programs on their individual efforts to promote WPF-funded work and will also support the programs’ learning communities. This position will also identify new venues for sharing information about the Foundation’s work and its grantees and will help manage relationships with outside consultants. The Officer will participate in select team activities with the expectation that s/he will become deeply immersed in the grantmaking work. Lastly, the Communications Officer will work with the Chief Communications and External Affairs Officer on developing a strategic plan to support the department’s expanding function around external affairs. Responsibilities: Develop and implement strategic communications plan for the Children and Families, Democracy and Civic Initiatives, and Workforce Training and Services program teams. Responsible for shared team updating/production of the Foundation’s web site. Responsible for offering strategic communications guidance to grantees, as needed, as they seek to elevate their WPF-funded work. Generate story ideas related to Children and Families, Democracy and Civic Initiatives, and Workforce Training and Services projects by meeting with respective Program Director to identify new opportunities for press and securing coverage. Conduct interview preparation work – reporter background, search of relevant articles, prep of key messages, and spokesperson prep. Identify opportunities for commentaries and op-eds. Identify strategic opportunities for WPF to offer comments on topically relevant stories by monitoring relevant national industry news and trends. Generate related content for materials including external newsletter. Manage and produce social media content for Children and Families, Democracy and Civic Initiatives and Workforce Training and Services programs in cooperation with Senior Digital and Social Media Associate. Ensure that new, engaging, and consistent information is posted regularly on the Foundation website and other media outlets. Create and maintain Children and Families, Democracy and Civic Initiatives, and Workforce Training and Services contact management system in Salesforce. Plan and implement related events and convenings. Prepare Children and Families, Democracy and Civic Initiatives, and Workforce Training and Services teams for speaking engagements at conferences, meetings, and convenings. Other responsibilities as assigned. Expected Competencies and Qualities: Excellent writing and editing skills with experience writing for different audiences in various formats. Ability to construct a compelling narrative based on a defined set of information. Rapid generation of materials for public consumption, including PowerPoint presentations, press releases and brief comments. Ability to quickly understand information, synthesize findings, and make recommendations; demonstrated ability to learn and master new issues quickly. Demonstrated project and time management skills ensuring all deadlines are met. Able to define project scope, roles, responsibilities and deliverables. Excellent organization, prioritization, and judgment. Strong detail orientation and follow-through. Track record of strong ownership of work, active self-management, and initiative. Adaptable and flexible to changing environments. Able to identify new approaches to support a dynamic organization. Capable and willing to do work at all levels, including thinking and working strategically and performing administrative tasks. Demonstrated team‑orientation with the ability to collaborate and achieve actionable results with others; build robust and sustainable relationships through strong interpersonal skills. High degree of integrity, poise, humility, diplomacy, and tact. Good judgment and ability to make wise decisions based upon available and sometimes limited data. Education, Training, and Experience: A minimum of 8 years of relevant work experience is required in communications, 10+ years is preferred. Bachelor’s degree required, preferably in Communications or Journalism. Experience with Children and Families and/or Democracy and Civic Initiatives related organizations and activities preferred, but not required. Digital experience including website management, social media strategy and implementation, management of e-blast campaigns, and familiarity with contact management systems such as Salesforce. Creative/design experience such as shooting and editing video, audio and photography preferred. Strong media relations experience developing story ideas and success generating coverage. Experience developing communications strategies and implementing them. Experience in setting priorities, long‑term project management, coordination and management while working under tight deadlines. History of successful work with communications and event‑planning agencies and vendors. Physical Demands/Work Environment: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to walk, bend, sit, talk, lift, hear, and/or use hands and arms to operate general office equipment (computer, telephone, file cabinets, copier, fax machine and printer) using ordinary ambulatory skills. The employee may occasionally lift and/or move up to 20 pounds including chairs, tables and other meeting furniture. The noise level in the work environment is usually low to moderate. Personal computer usage requires good hand‑eye coordination, arm, hand, and finger dexterity, including ability to grasp, and visual acuity to use a keyboard and operate equipment. As stated above, this position will require traveling back and forth daily between the Foundation’s offsite meeting space, which is .3 miles away. The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The William Penn Foundation is an equal opportunity employer and considers applications without regard to race, color, religion, creed, age, gender, marital status, or sexual orientation. All who believe they meet the stated qualifications are invited to apply. #J-18808-Ljbffr Bryn Mawr College