Responsibilities

• Develop, own, and execute a comprehensive multi-year organizational communications strategy, including national messaging, audience targeting, theme programs and correlating calendars, and alignment with the national strategies.
• Serve as the primary steward of the SADD brand while establishing identity standards, messaging consistency, and brand voice across all internal and external channels.
• Lead executive communications, including drafting leadership statements, board communications, organizational announcements, marketing templates and resources and, when needed, crisis messaging.
• Advise the Executive Director and Senior Leadership Team on communications positioning, reputational status and public affairs opportunities.
• Develop and maintain an annual marketing calendar that integrates campaigns, grant timelines, advocacy moments, and organizational milestones.
• Build, manage, and grow a proactive national media relations program that cultivates relationships with local, regional, and national media outlets across print, broadcast, and digital.
• Prepare executive leadership for media appearances, interviews, and public-facing events.
• Develop and distribute press releases, media advisories, talking points, op-eds, and media briefs for organizational initiatives, campaigns, and events.
• Monitor media coverage and press mentions; track share of voice, sentiment and report outcomes to leadership.
• Own and lead the organization's social media platforms, website strategy, SEO, and digital campaign infrastructure.

Requirements

• Minimum 7+ years of progressive experience in communications, marketing, media relations, or public affairs — with at least 3 years in a senior or director-level role.
• Demonstrated success leading organizational communications strategy for a nonprofit, government agency, advocacy organization, or similarly mission-driven institution.
• Proven track record building and managing media relationships resulting in measurable earned media outcomes at local, regional, and national levels.
• Deep expertise in multi-channel digital marketing, including social media strategy, content development, SEO/SEM, email marketing, and analytics platforms.
• Advanced written communication skills — with a portfolio demonstrating excellence across press releases, executive messaging, grant narrative content, campaigns, and storytelling.
• Proficiency with content management systems (e.g., Wix), social media scheduling and analytics tools, CRM platforms (e.g., DonorDock), email marketing platforms, and design tools (e.g., Adobe Creative Suite, Canva).
• Strong data literacy with ability to define KPIs, interpret analytics, and translate performance data into strategic recommendations.
• Exceptional organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple high-priority workstreams simultaneously, including grant-driven deadlines.
• Willingness and ability to travel for national events, media opportunities, and field engagement.

Preferred

• Background in youth-serving nonprofits, public health, prevention, mobility safety, or advocacy organizations.
• Experience developing communications strategies for grant-funded programs, including compliance documentation and grantor reporting.
• Familiarity with federal and state grant communication requirements (e.g., Highway Safety Office grants).
• Experience with legislative/advocacy communications and government affairs messaging.
• Teamwork: SADD requires highly organized, team-oriented, creative leaders who enjoy working with their peers and are prepared to collaborate across the organization to develop communications plans to meet the needs of our various grants and projects.
• Professionalism: This position will work on various projects related to different departments within the organization, therefore, it is critical for this position to be flexible and open to collaboration with internal staff, student leaders, external partners, and funders.
• Initiative: This position is required to keep very clear and accurate records of work completed for each grant assigned, as well as track grant goals related to communications efforts, requiring thinking outside the box, being creative, and developing new and updated graphics, copy, and content to align with ongoing and new projects.
• Flexibility: This role will support those working on projects throughout the United States (and abroad), as well as students and external partners. This will require attention to detail and a malleable approach to a schedule.
• Trend Monitoring: This role will ensure SADD remains relevant and engaging in current trends. It will be critical for this person to design and develop content that maximizes engagement with the youth audience across all platforms while also ensuring continued engagement with partners, adults, and communities at large.
• Evaluation: Our work relies on accurate data collection & management. This position will oversee achieving set goals, monitoring and recording metrics and data, completing necessary reports, and ensuring that SADD staff, chapters, and partners remain engaged.