Director, Communications & Writing

Job Description:

Director, Communications & Writing

ABOUT NYC KIDS RISE

Over the last decade, NYC Kids RISE has been working alongside partners in government, philanthropy, business and communities to build a first-of-its-kind universal community wealth building platform for New York City neighborhoods. 

Through the Program, nearly every public school student in New York City has an NYC Scholarship Account, starting in kindergarten, with money already invested in a 529 college savings plan, and opportunities to earn more money through rewards and Community Scholarships. Today, more than 380,000 students have NYC Scholarship Accounts with more than ~$85 million designated for their educational futures. The Program is on pace to reach nearly all ~1 million NYC public school students by 2034.

The Program expands access to mainstream financial products; builds individual, family, and collective financial assets; provides financial education for families and students; and brings schools and communities together to support all their children’s futures. As a unique vehicle for building both financial and social capital, the platform serves as a model for generational wealth building and fostering neighborhoods of economic opportunity — locally and nationally — especially for families who have historically faced barriers to financial empowerment.

In June, the City announced an historic investment, increasing the initial seed scholarship for kindergartners from $100 to $1,000. With growing national, state, and local bipartisan recognition of the power of early wealth building and our infrastructure in place, there is a window of tremendous opportunity to realize a bold vision for New York City kids.

Learn more about NYC Kids RISE at nyckidsrise.org

Deputy Director of Communications & Writing

KEY OBJECTIVES

NYC Kids RISE is seeking a talented Director of Communications to serve as a lead writer for the organization. Key objectives for the role include:

1. Strengthen engagement with diverse stakeholders - families, schools, students, civic and community leaders, businesses, government, systems, and philanthropy - through consistent, compelling, and culturally-relevant communications across channels.
2. Showcase impact and inspire deeper partnerships through co-creative storytelling.
3. Further establish the organization and Executive Director’s field-leading voice locally and nationally.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

Storytelling

• In collaboration with the Chief of Communications, set the overarching vision and strategy for organizational storytelling, ensuring alignment with broader organizational goals. 
• In collaboration with NYC Kids RISE partners, stakeholders, and champions, craft success stories for newsletters, social media, video scripts/outlines, speeches, grants, and more. Help stakeholders capture their ideas and amplify their voices.
• Craft interview questions and lead interviews with key community stakeholders to gather stories.
• Establish, oversee, and optimize the systems and infrastructure used to capture and deploy community success stories across all channels. 

Thought Leadership

• Write and edit speeches, talking points, presentation decks for organizational leaders and ambassadors.
• Research and write briefs and reports summarizing theory, policy, impact, evidence, best practices, and emerging ideas and recommendations, drawing from a variety of disciplines, including asset building, child savings accounts, financial empowerment, education, community wealth building, urban poverty, neighborhood effects, social capital, collective impact, and more.
• Write and edit content for statements, op-eds, press releases, or other earned media.

Communications Campaigns

• Write and edit content for web pages, brochures, direct mail, texts, toolkits, phone scripts, signage, ads, and more in order to inform audiences about complex topics and drive actions, such as NYC Scholarship Account activations, event attendance, or donations.

Leading the Organization’s Newsletter Strategy

• Developing and managing the organization’s editorial calendar for email newsletters to diverse audiences, encompassing families, students, schools, civic and community leaders, business, government, systems, and philanthropy.
• Author letters from the Executive Director and the organization and its ambassadors.
• Leverage email communications to build community with stakeholders.

Communications Systems

• Maintain the organization’s editorial style guide and messaging tools. Lead and support training for teams to use these tools effectively.
• Manage content review systems and approvals using shared project management tools.
• Edit content across the organization and ensure consistency and compliance with core messaging across audiences, touchpoints, and channels.
• Lead and support message testing and refinement based on feedback from diverse stakeholders.
• Maintain plain language standards and systems for ensuring communications are accessible to all audiences.
• Support progress to communications team and organizational goals.

QUALIFICATIONS

• At least five years of external communications experience.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills supported by a portfolio of compelling writing samples and a demonstrated ability to copy edit with high precision and accuracy.
• Proven ability to communicate with audiences from diverse backgrounds and write culturally-relevant and asset-based content.
• Expertise in email newsletter software and editorial systems and best practices.
• Experience writing for print and digital media in a range of formats.
• Adaptable, flexible, and effective problem solver in fast-paced settings.
• Passion for and commitment to increasing economic opportunities and long-term financial security for low-income New York City families and neighborhoods, and combating wealth inequality and the racial wealth gap.
• Familiarity with issues impacting financial empowerment, economic mobility, and public education systems. Experience in the economic empowerment sector or in a similar public interest sector is strongly preferred.
• Experience with project management software is preferred.
• Experience working in the metropolitan New York City area is strongly preferred.

SALARY AND BENEFITS

The salary range for this position is $109,500 - $136,900. NYC Kids RISE provides a comprehensive benefits package including 30 days of paid time off (15 vacation days for new employees increasing with tenure; 5 personal days; and two weeks of office closure per year, one in early July and one at the end of December), plus sick time and holidays; medical, dental, vision, life, short- & long-term disability insurance; healthcare FSA with employer contribution; dependent care FSA; and a 401(k) with 4% employer match after one year of service. 

LOCATION AND WORK SCHEDULE

NYC Kids RISE currently maintains a hybrid work environment where staff work both from home and in the office, as determined by the staff member's preferences as well as the needs of the organization and the specific responsibilities of individual roles and teams. The offices are in Long Island City (Queens, NY). 

APPLICATION INFORMATION

To apply, please submit a resume, writing sample, and brief cover letter via NYC Kids RISE Careers page .

NYC Kids Rise is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate in employment on the basis of gender, religion, race, creed, color, national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, marital status, caregiver status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, unemployed status, or any other characteristic protected by law.