Oversees AARP Foundation’s communications and marketing department. Develops and executes an integrated, multi-platform communications and marketing plan for AARP Foundation focused on communicating AARP Foundation’s leadership toward eradicating senior poverty and marketing of AARP Foundation’s programs that serve the vulnerable older adults. The communications and marketing plan serves a mulit-sector audience including volunteers, strategic collaborators donors, program beneficiaries, AARP members, media, and the public.
Is responsive to internal stakeholders/colleagues, while providing focus and consistency across the organization for defining and elevating AARP Foundation’s profile and raising broader awareness and engagement among target audiences. Oversees the relationship with external strategic communications/PR firms and orchestrates a broad range of public relations/media activities and content generation to drive AARP Foundation’s brand awareness, positioning, and priorities.
Team and Enterprise Leadership
- Elevates AARP Foundation’s profile in tandem with AARP, with focus on accelerating AARP Foundation’s impact in the poverty and aging, economic and social justice, and non-profit and innovation sectors to leverage and raise the organization’s visibility among target audiences, including prospective volunteers, partners, and donors.
- Leads the Communications and Marketing team to achieve our strategic objectives focused on ending through program specific communications and marketing plans that seek to acquire volunteers or beneficiaries and maintain their engagement.
- Oversees the development and execution of a robust marketing communications and public relations strategy, focused on cultivation and engagement of external audiences, including influencers and the media.
- Leads identification and relationship management of external agencies and consultants.
- Maintains an in-depth knowledge of enterprise-wide strategic goals, anticipating and addressing opportunities and issues as they arise.
- Ensures deep coordination between AARP and AARP Foundation on storytelling and messaging with a particular focus on low-income older adults.
- Mentor and develop staff using a supportive and collaborative approach on a consistent basis.
Communications
- Links AARP Foundation’s experience and expertise to national priorities and dialogue through earned and paid media.
- Oversees AARP Foundation’s owned and earned communications channels, including website, blog, E-news, social media, and other online communications and media and public relations.
- Coordinates integration with AARP Brand and ICM to negotiate and develop media partnerships and integrate AARP Foundation messaging throughout AARP channels.
- Oversees identification of media opportunities and development of talking points, and serves as a lead point person on media interactions and the approach.
- Ensures AARP Foundation leadership team and other key staff receive messaging and media training for external speaking engagements.
Marketing
- Oversees development and implementing of marketing plans for each program with a focus on defining audience segment and creating appropriate channel(s) to reach segment.
Ensures deep coordination with innovation process to ensure sound marketing principles are utilized in testing and development of concepts. - Responsible for meeting specific beneficiary and volunteer acquisition targets for each program in coordination with program leadership.
Identifies challenges and emerging issues faced by programs, working with leadership team and programs to recognize internal and external marketing opportunities and solutions, and define and execute appropriate strategies to support them - Ensure beneficiary program experience constantly evaluated and incorporate into marketing plan and its iterations.
- Deep experience with multicultural engagement.
- Demonstrated ability to build a high-performing communications and marketing team in a lean, dynamic organization.
- Demonstrated ability to proactively build and sustain media relationships, shape opportunities, and position content with top tier media to achieve high-impact placements. An established network within broadcast media is a plus.
- Experience in brand marketing – particularly in a social enterprise and start-up environment.
- Experience in product development and working within a team to utilize marketing principles to inform testing.
- Experience in developing marketing to scale programs regionally and nationally.
- Experience as a market researcher and implementing market research initiatives.
- Experience working in lean startup environment.
- Experience reaching and acquiring customers through multiple channels including email, online, social, print, and radio.
- Consummate story-telling ability, with experience in executive writing. Must be adept at guiding visual storytelling, including video, photography, and social media channels.
- Ability to work effectively and calmly in a fast-paced, diverse, high-pressure environment.
- Demonstrated ability to build and maintain successful relationships with national, regional, and local media.
- Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to motivate team members and colleagues.
- Demonstrated success in marketing, communications, legislative or campaign-related grassroots development, public affairs, public relations, or branding.
AARP offers competitive benefits with a 401K, 100% company funded pension plan, health, dental, vision and life insurance, STD/LTD, paid vacation and sick, and other benefits.