The Director of Strategic Communications provides vision and leadership in designing and implementing all communications and marketing strategies to advance the goals and objectives of The Nature Conservancy in Maine with internal and external constituencies.
The Director of Strategic Communications provides vision and leadership in designing and implementing all communications and marketing strategies to advance the goals and objectives of The Nature Conservancy in Maine with internal and external constituencies. The Director is responsible for developing and implementing focused communication and media approaches that help drive organizational strategy. The Director will shape the public “voice” of The Nature Conservancy in Maine to influence conservation action and help achieve revenue goals especially with a major donor audience. They actively identify target audiences and cultivate media contacts on a local and regional level. They develop and foster relations with key internal stakeholders—in Maine and across the New England Division—and manage the dissemination of media information, identifying communication and media needs and opportunities. They provide consultation, media training, and coaching to persons serving as spokesperson(s) including developing speeches, key messages, and talking points, as needed. They manage all aspects of specific communications programs and projects, including supervision of staff and engage with our board of trustees. The Director works with key stakeholders to ensure work product delivery is consistent with the communication goals and strategies through the alignment of staff, vendors and team efforts to match conservation priorities. They manage all aspects of The Nature Conservancy in Maine’s communications program and ensure that all creative work presents a consistent voice, positioning, and platform, and meets all internal stakeholders’ needs. They ensure that Member-level donor communications reflect the breadth of the Conservancy’s work in Maine through newsletters, email, and other promotional media like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. They work in a complex matrix organization environment and work collaboratively within cross-functional interdisciplinary teams. The Director supervises a communications professional and is a member of the core leadership team reporting to the State Director.
RESPONSIBILITIES AND SCOPE
- Has primary responsibility for communications strategy design and execution of all Chapter communications, including creation and management of the Chapter-wide marketing plan.
- Serves as the primary voice for the Maine Chapter for all major writing needs–from storytelling to donor correspondence to technical writing–weaving key, consistent themes into multiple communications platforms, including digital, earned media, and video.
- Acts as a strategic partner with the Director of Development, helping to align marketing strategies with donors’ philanthropic priorities. Provides the Development team with high-level support.
- Acts as a strategic partner with the Director of External Affairs, helping to align public facing communications to further our policy and conservation initiatives.
- Acts as a strategic partner for the Conservation Programs team, helping to identify strategic communications needs and serving as a resource to solve problems.
- Manages and serves as team lead on communication, marketing and/or media initiatives.
- Supervises marketing staff, with responsibility for performance management, training, and career development.Establishes clear directions and sets stretch objectives. May also supervise volunteers, interns, contractors or short-term staff, as needed.
- Leads creation of speeches, pitch scripts, and talking points for State Director, chapter staff, members of the Board of Trustees, and others.
- Supervises the development of all newsletter and website content, including the donor, staff, and trustee profiles and stories that highlight our conservation priorities.
- Leads and manages implementation of social media and earned media strategies.
- Develops and manages program and project budgets, evaluates results and develops recommendations for corrective strategies, as needed.
- Collaborates with the Director of Development and external consultants, as needed, to develop fundraising campaign messaging and the creation of a case statement.
- Creates strategic donor support materials for a fundraising campaign such as: one-pagers for each fundraising initiative; campaign website content; and additional campaign materials, as needed.
- Oversees visual image and writing style across media to elevate the Conservancy brand.
- Responsible and accountable for meeting project goals and objectives.
- Resolves complex issues independently within program area.
- Opportunity to act independently within program goals.
- A minimum of 7 years’ related experience or equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Experience managing and implementing media strategies and measuring results.
- Experience writing, editing and proofreading messages for targeted audiences.
- Experience cultivating and managing client relationships.
- Experience developing media relations networks.
- Experience implementing and managing multiple complex projects.
- Experience supervising staff and teams.
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Multi-lingual skills appreciated.
- Multi-cultural or cross-cultural experience preferred.
- Experience developing, implementing, and measuring communication and engagement plans/strategies.
- Excellent writing, presentation, communication, mediation and negotiation skills.
- Ability to persuasively convey the mission of The Nature Conservancy to diverse groups including donors, board members, and the public.
- Demonstrated ability in managing the fiduciary aspects of planning and delivery of budgets.
- Experience and/or understanding of communication best practices at a decentralized organization a plus.
- Expert knowledge of current and evolving trends in relevant marketing disciplines. Cross disciplinary knowledge to support program objectives.
- Strong strategic sense of the Maine public and established relationships with local media, vendors, and freelancers; the ability to work with a diversity of audiences and people.
- Experience working with earned media outlets and journalists.
- Management experience that includes ability to lead, motivate, set objectives and manage performance and conflict resolution and to foster an environment of creativity and professional growth.