Communications Director

Position Description

Join a diverse, fun team passionate about creating healthier and more just communities as Faith in Place's Communications Director. The Communications Director will join the Communications Department, made up of the Regional Communications Sr. Coordinator and the Digital Communications Coordinator, and will report to Kira Dault, Faith in Place's Sr. Director of Strategy.

The Communications Director provides strategic and hands-on communications leadership for Faith in Place and the Faith in Place Action Fund. This person will be responsible for establishing and maintaining a consistent organizational voice and brand, seeking opportunities for thought leadership, and translating advocacy goals into consistent and compelling narrative and messaging across the organization. The right candidate is an experienced communications professional who understands the communications landscape in the environmental movement and has the skills to execute well in a highly collaborative, fast-moving, mission-driven environment.

This is a full-time, exempt position based in Chicago with a hybrid/remote work arrangement, open to candidates located in Illinois, Indiana, or Wisconsin.

Responsibilities

Strategic Communications Leadership
- Serve as a member of the Faith in Place Leadership Team.
- Identify and pursue opportunities to increase Faith in Place's visibility, influence, and reach with key audiences.
- Serve as the primary steward of Faith in Place and Faith in Place Action Fund's organizational voice, messaging, and brand.
- Develop and maintain messaging frameworks that connect Faith in Place's programs, organizing, advocacy, and impact into a compelling organizational narrative.
- Ensure consistency of voice and positioning across departments, states, campaigns, and audiences.

Campaign Communications
- Work closely with State Directors and campaign leads to develop, implement, and evaluate communications strategies that advance campaign goals across c3 and c4 work in each state.
- Translate campaign objectives into clear, compelling narratives and calls to action across channels.
- Write and edit campaign materials, such as fact sheets, Op-Eds, Letters to the Editor, and Action Alerts.
- Represent Faith in Place Action Fund in coalition spaces, especially on communications committees.

Media Relations and Thought Leadership
- Develop and implement a regional media relations strategy that increases Faith in Place's visibility across Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.
- Identify opportunities to connect organizational milestones, campaign moments, and thought leadership to relevant local, regional, and national media.
- Prepare staff and organizational representatives for media engagement.
- Lead rapid-response and crisis communications, working with senior leadership to assess emerging issues, develop messaging, and coordinate organizational response.

Digital Communications
- Lead the Communications Team in developing, executing, and evaluating a digital strategy across owned channels, including websites, email, and social media, ensuring the overall approach is cohesive and aligned with organizational priorities.
- Ensure digital efforts support list growth, audience engagement, and campaign activation goals across c3 and c4 work.

Communications Team Leadership
- Supervise and develop the communications team, currently the Regional Communications Sr. Coordinator and the Digital Communications Coordinator, cultivating a positive, collaborative team culture.
- Lead and contribute to the day-to-day operations of the communications team across the organization, including events management, Monthly Call, the FIP Annual Report, and the Annual Environmental Spirituality Summit.
- In collaboration with the communications team, establish performance metrics and regularly evaluate and refresh communications tools and platforms.

Collaborative Leadership
- Lead collaboration between the Communications department and other departments: Community Engagement, Operations, Development, etc.
- Maintain and build internal systems and workflows that ensure the communications team has the information, stories, and lead time they need from colleagues across the organization.
- Support and coach the communications team in prioritizing, relationship-building, and navigating competing requests across departments.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications
- Location: Must be located in Indiana, Illinois, or Wisconsin.
- 7+ years of relevant communications experience, preferably in nonprofit, advocacy, or movement-based work.
- At least 2 years supervising, coaching, and developing staff.
- Strong project management skills and experience managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced, complex environment.
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a remote environment.
- An understanding of social justice movement and/or advocacy work.
- Strong interpersonal skills with sound judgement and diplomacy.
- Demonstrated ability to develop and implement strategic communications plans that drive organizational visibility and support campaign goals.
- Excellent writing and editing skills across multiple formats and audiences.
- Experience in media relations, including proactive pitching and media training and prep.
- Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate with people of different faiths, beliefs, geographic, racial, and cultural backgrounds.
- A strong and adaptive understanding of the communications landscape.
- Experience with email marketing platforms, social media management, website design and management, and basic design tools (Canva or equivalent).
- Comfort with digital collaboration and productivity tools in a fully remote environment, including project management platforms (Monday.com), shared document systems (SharePoint/Google Drive), and video conferencing.
- Experience hosting or co-hosting public-facing events in Zoom, including familiarity with webinar and meeting host tools.
- Familiarity with database/CRM systems (EveryAction experience a plus).
- Genuine passion for environmental justice, racial justice, and faith-based organizing.
- A willingness to try new approaches and learn from what doesn't work.
- Commitment to Faith in Place's mission and vision.

Preferred Qualifications
- Experience working for a 501(c)3 nonprofit with a partner 501(c)4 organization, a plus.
- Proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite (especially InDesign).
- Spanish language skills, a plus.

Hours
This is a full-time, exempt position. While most work is done during a standard workday, there are occasional responsibilities on evenings and weekends. For any time worked outside regular work hours, comp time will be provided.

About Faith in Place
Faith in Place is a multifaith, environmental nonprofit 501(c)3 organization with outreach staff working throughout Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Faith in Place's mission is to cultivate a powerful multifaith movement for environmental justice through connection, education, and advocacy. Faith in Place partners with communities of faith from diverse religious traditions, as well as people who identify as spiritual or motivated by justice but don't identify with a specific faith tradition. Faith in Place organizes faith leaders, groups, and members to advance our mission by starting and coaching Green Teams - three or more members of a house of worship who provide cooperative leadership to educate, connect, and advocate for environmental and racial justice within the context of their community's unique culture, history, and theological practices.

All Faith in Place staff also contribute part of their working hours to the Faith in Place Action Fund, a separate 501(c)4 nonprofit organization that raises memberships and motivates lobbying for environmental justice, using tools such as grassroots lobbying, legislator scorecards, questionnaires, interviews, and candidate endorsements to hold candidates and elected officials accountable for creating more environmental justice jobs throughout the Midwest.

Staff Culture
The Faith in Place team works together to create a culture focused on growth, collaboration, healing, and justice. We value a diversity of voices and perspectives, and our staff participates in Diversity and Equity training, Healing Circles, Case Studies, and more to learn from one another and professional teachers about the roots of injustice and how we can work together to create a collaborative and healthier work culture.

Benefits
A comprehensive benefits package is offered to full-time employees, including medical, dental, vision, life, and short- and long-term disability insurance, and an employer-matched SIMPLE IRA plan (beginning the first of the month following employment), plus a stipend to support professional development. Faith in Place follows a 4-day flex model workweek, allowing staff to not work or complete solo work on Fridays. Up to 16 paid vacation days, 2 paid personal days, and 5 paid sick days begin after 3 months of employment. Monthly cell phone and internet stipends are provided, along with a one-time $500 payment to help with home office needs.

Anti-Discrimination Policy
Faith in Place is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate against any employee or job applicant based on race, color, national origin, religion, caste, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, or marital status. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including but not limited to hiring, termination, promotion, transfer, layoff, leaves of absence, compensation, and training. Justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion are core values at Faith in Place. Because we believe that BIPOC and LGBTQIA communities must be centered in the work of our intersectional environmentalism, we strongly encourage applications from these identities.

To Apply
Internal candidates: one 1-hour interview.

External candidates: a 30-minute phone interview followed by a 1-hour Zoom interview (questions sent in advance); anyone invited to a Zoom interview will be asked to submit a portfolio of at least three examples of previous work with explanations.

Finalists may be invited to a final 45-minute interview with senior leadership and the communications team.

To apply, please submit your resume and respond to the application questions. This posting will be removed when filled; applications are welcome until then.