Tennessee Communications Director
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
By: Maria Galle

Stand for Children, a bold independent voice for public education reform, seeks an exceptional individual to produce and manage the print and online communications content to drive the strategic messaging for our Tennessee state affiliate.

The Organizations
The Stand for Children family consists of two separate organizations--Stand for Children, a grassroots membership lobby for children exempt under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, and Stand for Children Leadership Center, a leadership development organization exempt under section 501(c)(3).

Stand for Children is an independent political voice for students whose mission is to ensure that all children, regardless of their background, graduate from high school prepared for, and with access to, a college education. To date, Stand for Children's nine state affiliates (AZ, CO, IL, IN, MA, OR, TN, TX and WA) have won more than one hundred victories that have impacted the lives of more than two million children, including playing a key role in passing important education reform legislation in five states in 2010.

Stand for Children and the Stand for Children Leadership Center work together to build broad coalitions, use a range of communications strategies, and manage staff and contract capacity in order to:

Educate and empower parents, teachers, and community members to demand excellent schools
Advocate for effective local, state and national education policies and investments
Ensure the policies and funding we advocate for reach classrooms and help students
Elect courageous leaders who will stand up for our priorities
We believe all children deserve an equal opportunity to succeed in life. Education is the key that unlocks the door to success, but far too many children, through no fault of their own, aren't getting the education they need to make it in life. We are passionately committed to righting this wrong.

Our vision is of vibrant schools where:
o Strong leaders, strong teachers and engaged communities of parents work effectively together with a shared vision of success;
o Educators receive the support of mentors, relevant professional development, and meaningful feedback so they stay engaged and inspired;
o Educators hold high expectations and are accountable for their own and student's success;
o Funding is stable and adequate.

The Position
Stand for Children seeks a leader on the Tennessee state affiliate team to manage and produce the state's marketing and communications plan, ensuring that all communications strategies, tactics, and collateral materials are compelling, effective, and representative of the organization's values and mission to improve public education. The Communications Director will serve a crucial role in continuing to build the profile of Stand for Children as a leading political voice in education reform. Along with the Tennessee Executive Director and Stand staff, the Communications Director will work to motivate thousands of parents, educators, and concerned community leaders to ensure positive outcomes for Tennessee's students.

The Stand for Children Tennessee state affiliate has already impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of low income children across the state, particularly the students and families served by Memphis and Nashville school districts. The Communications Director position represents an exciting opportunity to join the state leadership of a dynamic, highly effective, and rapidly growing national organization. The Communications Director will work with Tennessee staff to test innovative new communications tools and messages, as well as work collaboratively with other state-based members of the Communications team and national staff members. This position reports to the Tennessee Executive Director and will be based out of Memphis or Nashville, Tennessee.

Responsibilities will include:
Developing, executing, and managing a multi-platform communications strategy, tailored to meaningfully engage critical Stand for Children stakeholders state-wide;
Leading the creation of compelling, persuasive, and informative communications content that will introduce and engage community members within Tennessee to the organizations;
Cultivating and maintaining local media contacts for disseminating press releases and leveraging public relations opportunities;
Creating awareness campaigns that utilize innovative social media tools to engage members of the community most effectively;
Conducting market specific qualitative research to inform strategic communication outreach to target audiences;
Producing content for newsletters and other print communications that will support fundraising and campaign goals;
Editing a range of organizational and state-and campaign- focused written materials to ensure clarity, conciseness, and effectiveness;
Tracking and leveraging all local Stand for Children media coverage; and
Ensuring that all content is in alignment with Stand for Children's brand and adhere to network-wide messaging guidelines; and
Helping track Stand's local media coverage.
The Communications Director will be joining a national team of professionals committed to improving children's lives. Stand for Children's managers and supervisors are empowering, entrepreneurial leaders who are committed to providing outstanding supervision in order for staff to develop as professionals and grow within the organization.

Qualifications and Qualities Required
Unwavering commitment to Stand for Children and Stand for Children Leadership Center's shared mission to ensure that all children, regardless of their background, graduate from high school prepared for, and with access to, a college education;
Minimum of 5 years of professional experience preferred, with a proven track record of developing and executing communications strategies (campaign communications, digital marketing and online writing experience a plus);
Knowledge of public education issues and/or experience creating high-impact advocacy campaigns strongly preferred;
Knowledge of the use of social media in today's media landscape, including Twitter, Facebook, and the role of blogs in education policy discourse;
Skilled at developing content tailored toward varied audiences to form a persuasive argument that will resonate with a diverse range of stakeholders, with a strong ability to translate policy issues into straightforward communications;
Comprehensive strategic thinking and rapid problem-solving skills to effectively handle crisis communications;
Outstanding and fast writer and editor;
Ability to set and adhere to strict deadlines; comfortable working in a fast-paced, ever-shifting campaign environment;
Excellent planning and organizational skills;
Exceptional attention to detail;
An entrepreneurial, learning orientation and an ability to embrace and incorporate direct feedback;
A tremendous drive and strong ability to achieve outcomes;
Existing press and media relationships within Memphis and/or Nashville preferred but not required.

Compensation
Competitive salary, commensurate with experience. Excellent benefits: health and dental coverage; life insurance, and short-term disability and long-term care coverage; 401K with a match plan; flexible spending/benefits plan; holidays and vacation accrual.

To Apply
Stand for Children and Stand for Children Leadership Center are equal opportunity employers and candidates of color are strongly encouraged to apply. To apply for this position, please go to http://stand.org/careers to fill out our online application. In addition to your resume and cover letter, please provide a short writing sample. No calls please.