Job Description

ORGANIZATIONAL BACKGROUND

Kids First Chicago (K1C) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to ensuring that every child in Chicago has access to a high-quality public education. We believe that a healthy education environment where kids, schools, and communities thrive is the key to a world-class city. We believe that those closest to our students—families, community members, and educators—are best equipped to co-design policies and systems that will improve equity and lead to stronger outcomes for our students, our communities, and our city. Our strategies include:

• We support communities and families to identify, navigate to, and advocate for high-quality public education for their children and neighborhoods. 
• Together with families, we partner with city and district leadership to design and implement policies that prioritize community members’ needs. 
• We steward the facts by sharing unbiased data analysis and research with communities, educators, and policymakers to inform fact-based, inclusive decision-making on public education.

ABOUT THE ROLE

Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, the Digital Communications Manager will oversee K1C’s digital platforms and outreach, including brand and content strategy for K1C, our programs, and informational resources. The Manager will expand K1C’s digital reach to support the organization’s goal of engaging 1,000 parent leaders by 2027 and advocating for data-driven, parent-led changes in Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Through its digital platforms and programs, K1C aims to become a trusted resource for CPS parents and families on critical education issues.

K1C engages grassroots (community and parent) and grass-tops (donor, education, and civic leader) audiences through an array of communications, including dual-language social media, periodic blog posts, monthly e-newsletters, quarterly issue briefs, and impact reports. K1C also promotes monthly events and workshops, an annual fellowship, and special events that serve CPS parent audiences. 

The Manager will execute communications campaigns that build awareness of K1C and K1C-led initiatives, attract new grassroots and grass-tops partners to the organization, and keep them engaged with compelling content. The Manager will also work with K1C staff and parent champions in building their confidence as spokespeople, telling their stories, and sharing them with the broader public through K1C’s communications channel and external media. 

This is a cross-functional role that requires an individual who can manage complexity and organizational priorities and work with individuals at all levels.

Strong candidates will bring excellent written and verbal communications skills, and an ability to translate complex content to an array of stakeholders, adapting framing and messaging based upon the audience. They will also demonstrate an interest in learning new technology applications to broaden the organization's reach, with at least 3-5 years of experience in communications, ideally at a nonprofit organization. Knowledge of one or more K1C communications, content management, and design software (including Adobe, Canva, Google Suite, Mailchimp, Meltwater, Qualtrics, Craft CMS, WordPress, etc.) is highly recommended. 

WHAT YOU BRING

First and foremost, we are looking for amazing people who have diverse backgrounds and experiences, are inspired by our mission, and are highly motivated to change children's lives through education. We value diversity in terms of ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, sexual identity, gender, religion, language, ability, and experience, and our team at all levels shows this. You'll be right at home here if you cultivate strong relationships and push yourself, your work, and the people around you to the next level. We encourage those with the following identities to apply: Black, Latinx/a/o, Asian American, and Pacific Islander, Indigenous people, LGBTQIA+ and non-binary people, veterans, people living with disabilities, and others with lived experience of being part of marginalized communities.

Key functional responsibilities include: 

K1C BRAND COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING (60%)

• Manage K1C’s digital platforms, communications, and outreach efforts, including social media, e-newsletters, and the organization’s website
• Develop and execute digital communications campaigns to raise awareness of K1C and its initiatives, attract new partners, and engage existing audiences
• Create and manage content, including dual-language social media posts, monthly e-newsletters, quarterly issue briefs, blog posts, and impact reports
• Create and implement strategies for proactive content generation and storytelling
• Promote K1C events and workshops, the annual fellowship, and special events targeting CPS parents
• Contribute to the design, production, and copy-editing of briefs and reports
• Develop internal systems to streamline communications requests across the organization; provide support for cross-functional team members in creating compelling communications 
• Track and analyze performance metrics (social media engagement, email open rates, web traffic) and adjust strategies for maximum impact.

SOCIAL MEDIA & PROGRAMMING (30%)

• Manage and optimize K1C’s social media presence to drive audience engagement and advocacy actions as well as grow followers
• Support all VIP events for donors and donor prospects
• Collaborate with all K1C team members (community engagement, policy, development, operations) to ensure quality and brand cohesion among all external-facing materials

MEDIA RELATIONS (10%)

• Collaborate with the Chief Operating Officer to develop media strategies that increase K1C’s visibility and position the organization as a thought leader in education
• Build relationships with and pitch stories to local and national media, leveraging K1C senior staff and parent champions as education thought leaders
• Provide periodic media training for K1C staff and parent champions
• Manage K1C’s media relationships through Meltwater

SKILLS & COMPETENCIES

• You are passionate about the potential of kids in our city and working to provide high-quality education options for all; your decisions are consistently made through the lens of what is best for students and their families.
• You are committed to providing high levels of service to various internal and external stakeholders 
• You anticipate and work to overcome challenges, persevere, and meet goals
• You have experience solving complicated and multi-faceted problems and generating a variety of innovative, effective solutions 
• You have a proven record of collaborating with team members and partners to achieve ambitious goals; you quickly build trusting relationships and understand personal motivations; you value differing opinions and seek out dissenting perspectives to strengthen solutions 
• You thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced environment, able to strategically prioritize time and competing initiatives, focusing on those that will have the greatest impact on students 
• You crave feedback and identify what you need to excel, striving to constantly improve upon the status quo 
• You implement strong project management. You can balance the big picture with attention to detail while maintaining a high bar for quality and a high level of productivity

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 is a condition of employment at Kids First Chicago. This includes receiving a booster shot, if eligible. If you receive an invitation to interview, we can answer any questions you may have during the interview process. This includes those with underlying health conditions or other circumstances that might preclude you from being vaccinated. If an offer of employment is extended, new hires are expected to provide proof of vaccination prior to their start date.

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