A sex rights non-profit seeks highly skilled Communications Director. The applicant is preferably based in Washington, DC, but the position is largely remote and the location is flexible. Please visit www.DSWork.org/jobs to apply.
Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW) is the largest organization in the U.S. whose mission is to decriminalize consensual adult prostitution (and other forms of adult sex work) in the United States.
DSW’s team is composed of 8 full-time and 2 part-time staffers; paid lobbyists in a handful of state capitals; and a few non-lobbyist consultants. DSW’s 10 paid staffers are currently located in NYC, Austin, Nashville, Oakland, and Washington, D.C.
As a high-level DSW staffer, the CD is tasked with accomplishing all of the following, sometimes through the management of others, and sometimes by doing the actual work.
1. TRADITIONAL PUBLIC RELATIONS
Virtually any method of generating news falls within the CD’s ambit:
* writing, disseminating, and pitching news releases
* ditto for opinion pieces (whether signed by DSW staffers or others)
* news conferences
* media “stunts”
* paid ads (such as billboards) that are intended to generate news coverage
In some cases, this PR work is reactive, such as providing DSW’s perspective on a newly released government report. In other cases, the PR is in the furtherance of promoting DSW’s work, such as announcing the passage of legislation. And in still other cases, the PR is purely proactive, such as promoting a top-10 list of state laws or supportive celebrities.
The CD isn’t expected to be the creative force for these projects. Rather, DSW staffers (and others) collaboratively conceive of and execute PR operations, with the CD having a major say in which projects move forward, and almost total responsibility for ensuring that said projects are effectively executed.
Remembering that the U.S. population is DSW’s target audience, the CD can measure their effectiveness by applying the following metrics to their PR work:
* quality of news outlet
* size of news outlet’s audience
* quality of news story
2. ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS
The CD is responsible for ensuring that DSW’s PR efforts are reflected in the organization’s online properties:
* DSW’s website (www.DecriminalizeSex.Work) and subsidiary web sites
* monthly newsletter to DSW’s national email list
* the organization’s pair of Facebook and Twitter pages
There are already DSW staffers who are responsible for writing and otherwise producing the content for all of the above. As such, the CD is responsible for coordinating all of this. (The CD may also contribute their own content.)
3. EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS
DSW is committed to producing a series of one-pagers that clarify various aspects of the prostitution issue, such as summarizing other countries’ laws, the public-health advantages of decriminalization, the reasons for why feminists should support rather than oppose decriminalization, and so forth.
The content for these one-pagers is produced by varying combinations of people — DSW staffers, outside academics, and other subject-matter experts. In addition, outside graphic designers produce the graphics and overall layout of the one-pagers.
DSW is also committed to producing a series of short videos that mirror the series of one-pagers. These are intended for distribution on the Internet (as opposed to TV).
While there will be occasions when the CD would coordinate paid advertising — such as disseminating the above videos online in key states, or paying for a strategically timed billboard — DSW doesn’t have the financial capacity to indulge in advertising schemes regularly.
4. ENSURING CONSISTENCY
The CD’s purview is solely composed of outward-facing materials, rather than internal organizational “communications.”
Inherent in the production of the outward-facing materials is the need to ensure consistency — consistency of messaging, and consistency of appearance.
For example, DSW prefers to use certain terms and phrases, while others are avoided. Also, the look of DSW’s output should be consistent, otherwise known as “branding.”
The Communications Director (CD) is one of the top-four positions in the organization. A successful CD would ideally already possess the following skills, attributes, and experience when starting their tenure at DSW, but DSW isn’t expecting anyone to possess all of these skills. So if you possess some of these skills and are interested in applying, please do!
* Generating news coverage or serving as a spokesperson.
* Managing staff, consultants, vendors, and projects. (This could have been at for-profit businesses, nonprofit organizations, and/or political campaigns.)
* Working to change state-level laws and/or federal laws of any kind. (This could have been in the capacity of strategist, lobbyist, spokesperson, or another high-level position in the political arena.)
* Writing well. (This refers to the mechanics of writing, rather than possessing a flare for creative writing.)
* Possessing the emotional bandwidth to handle controversy. (While DSW’s work is usually viewed as inherently controversial, there are also controversies within that framework, such as being attacked by sex-work prohibitionists for our actual work, or being attacked by would-be allies because of movement politics or other random reasons.)
* Having some knowledge of the public policies and/or societal aspects of consensual sex work and human trafficking.
* Currently living in — or being willing to move to — the D.C. metro area or, if not, then another major U.S. city.
The CD’s overarching mission is to conceptualize, personally execute, and manage other DSW staffers to execute communications tactics for the purpose of achieving DSW’s mission.
DSW’s work and the CD’s personal efforts generally fall into two categories: (1) improving public opinion by destigmatizing consensual adult prostitution nationwide; and (2) helping to improve state laws by enacting partial measures that will lead to the ultimate goal of decriminalization laws.
The initial annual salary will be between $70,000 and $110,000, depending on experience, with an annual raise of $1,000 to $5,000 triggered each January. In addition, DSW provides four benefits to all employees:
1. Company paid HEALTH INSURANCE.
2. RETIREMENT PLAN.
3. HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNTS.
4. FLEXIBLE TIME OFF.
Please visit www.DSWork.org/jobs to apply.
SKILLS AND TASKS NOT REQUIRED
The CD need not have any of the following skills:
* graphic design
* videography
* creative writing (such as storyboards or scripts for videos)
* mastery of DSW’s subject matter
* public speaking
* fundraising
* information technology
* event planning (except for news conferences)
* legislative drafting (or lawyering generally)
And the CD is also not responsible for doing the following:
* lobbying or testifying before legislative bodies
* producing documents longer than two pages
* monitoring DSW’s web site for instances of obsolescence
* seeking news coverage outside the U.S.
* educating people on the “retail” level (such as group meetings)