REMOTE IN NYS: Deputy Communications Director

Citizen Action of New York is a statewide grassroots membership organization that fights for social, racial, economic, and environmental justice. We collaborate with organizations and coalitions in communities across New York to win on key issues and elect progressive candidates at the local, state and federal levels. Citizen Action is seeking a deputy communications director to oversee our day to day communication strategy statewide. This role will be a good fit for you if you’re a strategist with experience coaching and managing a team to implement a robust communications plan. Qualifications: Communications 5+ years of progressively responsible experience with developing and managing strategic communications, media relations, and marketing programs Including at least 2 years of direct supervisory experience Demonstrated experience managing communications for a nonprofit, business, political candidate, or similar Exceptional writing and copy-editing skills, as well as the ability to make complex policy proposals and concepts accessible and compelling Advanced understanding of how to use social media and other digital platforms for organizing Familiarity with the following tools strongly preferred: CRMs (ActionNetwork, EveryAction/VAN), peer to peer and broadcast SMS (Hustle, ThruText, Strive, Spoke), digital advocacy (New/Mode, Phone2Action), story collection (Soapboxx, Flipgrid), database (Airtable) Experience developing relationships with members of the press, fielding press inquiries, writing press releases and successfully pitching stories to the media An eye for graphic design and experience effectively managing an organizational brand identity Project Management Experience coaching a team to reach goals on multiple fast-paced projects at once while meeting tight deadlines Experience managing projects in collaboration with external partners, including coalitions and vendors/consultants High level of organization and extraordinary attention to detail Willingness to think big and drive forward creative solutions, and also take on routine tasks as needed Familiarity with project management tools like Asana strongly preferred Values & Characteristics Commitment to Citizen Action’s mission and vision and passionate about issues of social, racial, economic and environmental justice Ability to think strategically and creatively to solve problems A high degree of professionalism and professional maturity Collaborative work style and demonstrated ability to work as part of a team and with people from a variety of different racial, ethnic, socio- economic, educational, religious, gender and generational backgrounds Core Responsibilities: Manage a communications team consisting of a Digital Campaigns Coordinator, Media Strategist and Regional Communications Coordinator Providing effective mentoring, coaching, support, and guidance Oversee the organization’s day to day press and digital communications strategy Work with the communications staff of partner organizations to implement joint communications strategies that advance coalition goals Manage communications department team meetings and cross-departmental meetings Assist in ensuring coordination across departments to achieve organizational goals Draft and maintain updated messaging guides on each of our campaigns to inform communications content across the organization Edit and/or draft press releases, statements, op-eds and copy for digital content as needed Build relationships with state and national reporters Identify opportunities daily for rapid response communications and work with the communications team to implement them This position may be based in one of our regional offices around the state (Albany, Utica, Rochester, Buffalo, Binghamton, Kingston) and reports to the Communications Director.