Overview
Director of Communications Projects & Operations Jobs in United States at Institute for American Leadership
Title: Director of Communications Projects & Operations
Company: Institute for American Leadership
Location: United States
Title: Director of Communications Projects & Operations (Volunteer)
Industry: Non-profit, Education
Location: Remote
Employment Type: Volunteer
About Us
The Institute for American Leadership (I4AL) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank committed to
revitalizing U.S. leadership and American soft power, to strengthening alliances, and to countering adversaries through educational initiatives, research, thought leadership, and strategic leadership.
Description
The Institute for American Leadership (I4AL) is seeking a Director of Communications Projects & Operations to assist with advancing the organization’s development of our voice and online presence. This role will serve as an important bridge between high-level communications strategy and day-to-day execution, ensuring that messaging, storytelling, media relations, content development, and stakeholder engagement are aligned across the organization as well as across external channels and audiences. A successful candidate will serve cross-functionally across the development team, think tank team, and special projects to maintain brand and voice consistency, not only overseeing integrated communications initiatives from start to finish, but also providing up-to-date information on our audiences, analytics, and following to deliver measurable impact.
This is an exciting role for a strong communicator – both a strategic thinker and skilled operator familiar with managing multiple priorities – eager to join an education-based nonprofit. The ideal candidate has excellent project and team management skills and is eager to be a part of our expansion and growth, as well as the formation of our voice and execution of our coordinated communications campaigns and activities, which effectively advance our mission and organizational objectives.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the planning and execution of communications efforts (including campaigns, launches, publications, events, announcements, and other initiatives).
- Translate organizational priorities and communications strategy into actionable project plans, outlining key deliverables, timelines, resources, and desired outcomes.
- Represent the organization externally through media engagement, events, partnerships, and stakeholder communications, as deemed appropriate, while serving as a trusted communications advisor to leadership.
- Serve as the operational leader for the communications function, managing workflows, priorities, and resources to ensure project completion to time and budget.
- Collaborate with leadership and key departmental stakeholders to gather the necessary and
- appropriate information to align messaging and reflection of organizational values and priorities throughout cross-platform activities.
- Drive proactive media relations, including developing pitches, building and managing journalist relationships, identifying press opportunities, monitoring trends and news cycles, and securing media coverage.
- Oversee communications content and channel management across social media, website, email, video, and other platforms, employing consistent messaging and branding and promoting audience engagement.
- Manage communications staff, including the Press Secretary and consultants or vendors, providing guidance, oversight, and accountability across projects and deliverables while maintaining comms assets, templates, and systems.
- Maintain and manage the organization’s opportunity pipeline, including media opportunities, key relationships/relationship development, stakeholder engagement activity, relevant trends, and emerging issues relevant to organizational goals.
Key Attributes/Qualifications:
- 7+ years of progressive responsibility in communications, including public relations, integrated marketing, or a related field, including experience leading campaigns, projects, or initiatives.
- Experience working in or with non-profit organizations, government entities, academic institutions, think tanks, or mission-driven organizations (required)
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex policy data, research, or technical information into concise, compelling content aimed at diverse audiences, including donors, partners, funders, media, and the public.
- Strong media relations experience.
- Demonstrated success tailoring messages to target audiences across multiple communications channels while maintaining a consistent organizational voice and brand.
- Outstanding project and time management skills, including the ability to manage competing priorities, multiple stakeholders, budgets, and timelines/deadlines in a dynamic environment.
- Experience leading cross-functional initiatives and collaborating effectively with senior leaders, subject matter experts, and external partners to achieve communications objectives.
- Familiarity with various digital communications channels, platforms, and systems, including content management, social media, email marketing, development, and project management/workflow tools, with demonstrated ability to oversee specialists and vendors across all functions.
- Preference will be given to candidates with strong local, regional, and/or national networks and knowledge of the Washington, DC environment.
Time Commitment & Communication Flow:
- This is a remote volunteer position requiring approximately 10-15 hours per week. Because I4AL operates at a rapid pace where targets shift quickly, this role relies heavily on real-time verbal planning and agile communication rather than rigid, dense text-based documentation.
- This role requires regular availability for phone calls to provide timely updates and co-plan initiatives. This includes participating in a comprehensive weekly strategic alignment call with the Executive Director to synthesize objectives, followed by smaller, agile mid-week syncs to adjust and execute workflows dynamically.
- This is initially an unpaid, volunteer role while in the developing stage, however it has paid potential as the organization grows.
Employment Status:
Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the U.S. on a full-time basis without future employment sponsorship.
